Product Description

Modern Tribal Bellydance opens with a warm up and conditioning section that combines bellydance technique drills with a total body muscle conditioning workout.

In Technique and isolations Asharah flows through intermediate drills with a detailed breakdown of each movement. The drill sequences take each movement to the next level step-by-step through accelerating tempo changes. In the hipwork section, Asharah adds weight transfers, traveling steps, and level changes.

One of the signature features of Asharah's dynamic and futuristic dance style is strobing, ticking, and robotic accents and freezes creating an impression of non-human, mechanical precision. In the Modern Tribal Movement section (30 min.) Asharah teaches this powerful and unique style of accent execution by breaking upper and lower body bellydance movements first into three and then into four segments, drilling each at accelerating speeds. Regular work using the conditioning exercises and drills from the previous sections of the program will make your body move with Asharah's clockwork precision!

In the choreography section Asharah first demonstrates the six combinations that together make a dance, then breaks down each combination step-by-step. The choreography integrates bellydance technique and modern tribal movement taught earlier in the program.

A calming cooldown (8 min.) concludes Asharah's instructional program.

The DVD also contains two performances by Asharah, displaying her dramatic and futuristic dance style, that takes tribal fusion bellydance into a new realm.

The instructional program is set to world electronic music by Maduro, and also features songs by breakcore and experimental artists Venetian Snares, Hecate, and Cdatakill.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36508 in DVD
• Brand: STRATOSTREAM
• Released on: 2008-01-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 180 minutes

Features

• Modern Tribal Bellydance opens with a warm up and conditioning section (45 min.) that combines bellydance technique drills with a total body muscle conditioning workout. Strengthening exercises alternate with bellydance movement and yoga-based stretches. This great daily routine improves muscle tone and strength, prepares the body for dance, and promotes a stronger carriage for everyday life. T

Customer Reviews

A worthwhile purchase, even if you're not into tribal fusion
This video is very long, and I haven't yet worked with the entire thing. However, I thought I'd post this up to give people considering purchasing it some info... I may come back and edit this later.

I need to say to begin with that I'm really not fond of the dancing on this video. I'm not that crazy about tribal fusion anyway, but I've definitely seen tribal fusion I've liked a lot more than this.

So, weirdly, as much as I don't like the dancing here, I think the video itself is pretty well done, and can actually foresee myself using it. The main reason for this is that its "Warmup & Conditioning" section is actually a 45 minute exercise and stretching video for dancers, and it's pretty much the answer to my dreams. Seriously, I've imagined what I'd like in a program (often because of exercises I've had in live classes), and this is it.

This section alone could stand alone as a full-priced DVD, and would be worth the money. It's a combination of movements from three groups: yoga, ballet (i.e., the kind of stretches you have at the start of a ballet/ballet- inspired class), and Suhaila-type seated abdominal and chest work. Nothing terribly new, but having them all together in one place is incredibly cool. There's deep plie work, thorough leg stretches in every possible direction, the shoulders and neck are not ignored, and neither is the back. Asharah also gives frequent knee placement reminders, so although the practice is challenging, it won't kill your back or knees.

The next section is a Technique & Isolations section of 55 minutes. In this section, Asharah goes over pretty basic movements in bd/tribal fusion vocabulary, but explains them in detail with the appropriate muscle contractions. She's very Suhaila-based (and, in fact, thanks Suhaila in the credits). Here she covers:

- Shoulders and arms
- Chest squares
- Chest circles
- Glute contactions
- Glute contactions - up
- Glute contactions - down
- Vertical hip 8s down-to-up
- Vertical hip 8s up-to-down
- 3/4 shimmy up
- 3/4 shimmy down
- interior hip squares
- interior hip circles

These are pretty basic moves (I know the last one as an "omi"), but it's good to have the breakdown and practice, especially for those of us who are far from being experts anyway.

Next comes the "Modern Tribal Movement" section (30 min), in which Asharah teaches how to break down a single movement into three or four smaller segments, so as to achieve a strobing or robotic effect. She does this with: shoulders & arms, chest slides, chest locks, undulations, and vertical hip 8s up-to-down. I haven't watched this section all the way through, and like I said, I don't really like how the result looks in dance, but it did strike me that some of the exercises were similar in concept to those on Aziza's Practice Companion. So, weirdly, although I don't want to dance like Asharah, I can imagine using this section as a drill and exercise tool.

Finally, there is Combination instruction of 30 min, which you can also play with practice music. And an 8 min yoga-based cool-down. And performances.

I suppose it figures that if you put three freakin' hours of material onto one DVD (runtime is 180 minutes, no joke), you're going to please a lot of people. Asharah is relaxed and straightforward on the video, and there is really just so much material to work with, at such different levels, that it's an incredible value. I think people who are actually *into* tribal fusion will probably adore this video, although they might find the isolations section a little basic. However, even people who are not can use this DVD as a dance training video, rather than a dance instruction video. The actual dance section makes up 30 minutes out of 3 hours -- the rest is really a conditioning program for dancers.

Killer Driller
Halfway through Asharah's workout and technique drills, I begin to have decidedly sugary fantasies. They quickly progress to vivid hypnotic images of soft sweet sponge cake oozing with caramel sauce...

Asharah's 3-hour video on isolation drills, a strength workout and six combinations is solid hard work - make no mistake about that. But I, for one, love it.

If you're looking for a few quick and cool combos to do on the dance floor, this is the wrong video. This one is about getting a dancer's body, her strength, her flexibility, stamina, and most of all, her precision. Nope, this video isn't for anyone looking for a quick fix. It's for the determined belly dancer to whom every component of a muscle isolation matters.

In this, the 6th tribal fusion instructional DVD to come out of World Dance New York, the conditioning and isolation exercises have been taken to another level altogether. These sections add up to 130 minutes with 60 minutes given to learning six combinations -- and there are two performances. If you're wondering about value for money, there's your answer. There's a mind-boggling amount of content for very little money.

I won't describe the strength and conditioning section because it's been adequately described everywhere else. But I can tell you that I've been working with it and found some difference in a matter of two sessions. I felt the effect on a) my range of movement b) sharpness and ability to break an isolation down into 8 parts c) stamina and strength d) balance. As I continue with this workout, I hope the next step will be to develop the ability to make each part of an isolation really distinct and visible. Working with this video fits right into my approach. I like working hard at the preparation and I totally revel in seeing the difference. I have the tribal videos to thank for where my muscle isolations have reached so far, and am grateful that this instruction seems to be improving on that.

One new development in Asharah's video is her 30-minute amazing section on breaking down movements into tick-tock precise parts. In tribal fusion, you can use those to get that automated robotic look which is visible in this sometimes wacky genre. But if you don't want to dance that way (and I don't) you still end up with perfect control to use with any style. Some of Asharah's exercises will have you doing very controlled movements standing on your toes! Or on one foot! Tht makes you less dependant on cheating with your feet and instead actually using the muscles you're supposed to.

I haven't got to the combinations yet but plan on working with them because they're the most challenging of all the 6 tribal fusion videos (all of which I have). I tend to use the combinations as exercises and drills in themselves and dance more in the oriental style.

Overall, this is a mammoth treasure house of a video. Sometimes, I feel outright grateful for a video - and this is one of those times.

But I have to confess I've sometimes eaten a Mars bar in the middle of it.

GREAT INSTRUCTION AND CHOREOGRAPHY
This DVD is DEFINITELY a keeper! Asharah provides very sharp clear instructions on how to execute each movement while detailing the body mechanics involved.

Movements are presented at various levels of intensity providing challenge and range for growth. I will definitely be utilizing the DVD for a long time to come!

Throughout the choreography and instruction sequences, the music utilized is perfectly synchronized with each movement and isolation allowing the dancer to feel more deeply into the movement.

The DVD is flawlessly broken down so that you can select each segment from the menu. The segments are then further broken down so that you can select each movement taught within a segment individually for review. Combinations are demonstrated and then instructions are broken down and provided with and without music.

Choreography is fantastic and the performances are nothing less than mesmerizing.

I strongly recommend this DVD!!