Product Description

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15746 in VHS
• Released on: 1999-11-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 30 minutes

Amazon.com
"Belly dancing provides us with a way to stay healthy and fit, and a way to stay relaxed and open," say professional belly dancers Veena and Neena Bidasha. They start by teaching the isolations that they'll incorporate into dance movements later: moving the head from side to side on an imaginary line as if separated from the neck, "snake arms" that seem to float in the air, "shoulder punches" (as if your shoulders have fists) that turn into shimmies when speeded up, "rib slides" (using your torso muscles to push your ribs from side to side), and a variety of hip moves. Then you put it all together and voilà--you're belly dancing! After too short a dance, you get down on the floor for stretching.

Of the four tapes in this series, this one will make you feel the most like a belly dancer. It's not really an exercise routine as much as a 30-minute class of basic belly-dancing moves, though your abs and hips will certainly get a workout from all that rib-pushing and hip-rolling action. --Joan Price

From the back cover
Welcome to the World of Bellydance Workout!

This ancient form of artistic movement has been practiced for thousands of years and remains exceptionally popular throughout the world. Once performed as entertainment for royalty and common people alike, these beautiful movements evolved with strong links to womanhood, sensuality, and even fertility. But Bellydance is also one of the safest, simplest, and most effective ways to achieve lasting fitness.

Join Veena & Neena Bidasha for a wonderful introduction to the extraordinary benefits of Bellydance. They have practiced Bellydance since childhood and traveled throughout the Middle East and India to perform and develop their techniques. They teach popular classes for a wide variety of folk dances from around the world and have performed in film, television, theater, music videos, and even during the Academy Awards. Their amazing talent and delightful style will keep you captivated and totally motivated.

In this production, you will learn the basic moves needed to use bellydance for fitness. The program is easy to learn, will thoroughly exercise your body--from head to toes, but is low impact, relaxing, sensually stimulating, and fun. You will also find that the Bellydance Basic Moves are a delightful way to express yourself, fully and joyfully. Combined with the Middle Eastern rhythms of the original soundtrack, you will find Bellydance Fitness the most pleasurable workout you have ever experienced.

Customer Reviews

Good Workout for a Beginner
I disagree with the people who say this workout doesn't teach you to dance -- a lot of what I've learned from just this video I've used while dancing. The two times I've gone dancing, in fact, people have turned and cheered me on when they saw I was shaking my hips like there was no tomorrow.

But it probably is a poor video if you're looking to create dances out of what you learn here. It's an EXCELLENT video, though, if you want something unusual and fun to add to your workout routine, which is why it's called the Bellydance Fitness WORKOUT.

If you don't have a lot of money, go with this video first. If you're out of shape (like me), it WILL get your heartrate up and stretch your limbs. Then when you get to a point where you're able, go for one of the other three.

I recommend it for a workout. There are moves in here that make a woman feel sensuous and sexy, even if she doesn't have Neena or Veena's body :)

Basic is Good!
I ordered this video at the same time as "The Goddess Workout". I suspected "Goddess" might be beyond my ability to grasp right away and I was right. Don't get me wrong - it's a very nice video, but I am an EXTREME beginner to bellydance. I am also a KLUTZ. I don't dance. At all. However, bellydance looked intriguing (and way more fun than aerobics, which I have always detested). I received "Goddess" first and put it into the machine. I saw right away it involved more skill than I had or could pick up the first 20 times I did the workout (and I'm not talking about being able to dance like Dolphina - I'm talking about getting the basic moves down). I knew I would end up frustrated and stop trying unless I learned the basic moves. Then this video arrived. Watching Neena and Veena, I understood better what Dolphina was trying to show me. I fell in love with this video. It's an exercise tape. You won't be learning the dances on this tape. But, if you're anything like me and take forever to get "Grapevine" right at your aerobics class, this tape will really help you learn and master the basic moves. Then you can move on from there. When I was a little girl, I saw "The Nutcracker". I wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy. I took a ballet class and discovered that I'm not a natural. I'll never dance professionally (in any genre). I gave up ballet. But I have come to learn that no one becomes the Sugar Plum Fairy overnight. Or in a week, month, or year. This time, I'm in it for the long haul. No, I'll never dance as well as Neena or Veena (or Dolphina). But I will develop strength and grace. And I'll get better at bellydance.

I'm babbling. Bottom line: I enjoyed this video very much and have ordered the others in the set. And Dolphina will be revisited in a couple of weeks, to see what I've learned that can be applied.

Basic and fun
This is a pretty fun way to get a beginning taste of bellydance. The 30-minute routine doesn't feel strenuous, but the next day I could really "feel the burn" in my shoulders and hips. The soundtrack is Middle Eastern-type music and keeps up with the tempo of the workout. The instructors are also pretty easy to follow, although it's easier just to watch them rather than to strictly listen to the narration, which can be kind of vague. All in all, though, it's a fun tape, and I would buy others from the same series.