[.ca] Bellydance Superstars

GOOD VIDEO!!!:
I almost didn't buy this video b/c of all the negative comments and I have NEVER written a review for Amazon before but I just HAD to after watching this video!! It is fantastic! Let me begin by saying, I am a professional working dancer for 8 years, Classical Egyptian style. I really thought I would hate this video but I was SO impressed by the quality and professionalism! I am so sick of spending $30+ on bellydance videos that are POOR quality, shot on someone's home video camera and edited badly. This video is beautiful! Even the dancers that I don't usually like picked pieces of music that really complimented them. Finally bellydance videos are being done PROFESSIONALLY!! It is about time! I think this video is not shot with only bellydancers in mind so maybe that is why people were complaining about it. It is shot for the general public which means a lot of different camera angles, a lot of fades in and out (done beautifully), close-ups (not too many in my opinion), and basically very artistically. Parts of it remind me of scenes I have seen in movies. It is lovely. I don't think anything lost and you can see all the movement fine, with the exception of Rachel Brice's first piece which did focus too much on her face and not enough on her body which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. I have never been moved by Tribal style, not even FCBD, but now that I have seen Rachel she has changed my mind! I also thought the way Suhaila's violin solo was shot was soooooooo beautiful! It was so cool and I was mezmerized watching the camera slowly rotate, although I am not a fan of her dancing. If I could afford to do a video I would do a piece shot exactly the same way. I also am not a fan of electronic music for bellydance but once again I couldn't pull myself away from Amar's first performance with the wings of ISIS. She is such a strong dancer! I think this is a proud representation of American style bellydance. Jillina, as always was awesome with her drum solo! Wow!! It really showed why (most of) these ladies are Bellydance Superstars. Anyone who enjoys good American bellydance should BUY THIS DVD!!!

Interesting addition to dance dvd collection:
I hesitated before buying this DVD, however I did have the CD so I was curious to see the choreographies that accompanied the music that I listened to all the time. That was a bit of a let down, not all songs from the CD are featured, such as "Khayarouni" my favorite. As well, the reviews from other buyers have been mostly negative due to the questionnable camera work. I can understand the dissapointment, however, I just look at it as a different type of representation of dance. I am happy to have it as an addition to my dance videos, however, having said that, I was surprised at some of the dancers that everyone raves about. For instance, Suhaila, what's up with that chick? (as someone else put it, she looks like she's having a seizure, and I also cannot watch the violin performance one more time) mind you often things that look very good live don't necessarily translate well on video, so I can believe that she is probably an outstanding dancer under different circumstances, in her defence, she does appear to really "feel" the music. As for Jillina, I was kind of indifferent,(enough with the hair already!) I will have to watch her a few more times to appreciate her expertise. My instant favorites were Amar Gamal, an energetic and interesting dancer -Sonia, very elegant and graceful. A real surprise was Rachel Brice, I am not in to the tribal look, but this woman is amazing, her performance no.1 is hypnotic, I think she has the most graceful arms of anyone I have seen, ever. Her arms remind me of snakes, and her drum solo performance no 2. shows how she masters isolated movements, again the only word I can find is hypnotic, so the DVD is worth it for her alone, since there appears to be little else (visual material) available on this dancer.

What is the camera person on???:
First, let me say that most of the dancing is good. Jillina and Amar Gamal do a wonderful job, and the overall dancing is pretty decent. The costumes for the most part are lovely, although I didn't care for Jillina's pink snake (I liked her other one, it was very pretty and sassy!) and Suhaila's costumes were rather strange looking in my opinion. The set was pretty, although crowded and a bit too smokey. The price was VERY reasonable for a belly dance video. Even a regular movie is more expensive. Some of the camera angles were nice, such as the slightly overhead shot during veil work. However... The camera work over all is extremely annoying. The camera person used constant close-ups and sometimes the dancer danced out of the shot. At a few points, the camera jerked violently when the camera man made an obvious mistake and lost the dancer. The camera work seemed very amateur. The close-ups made the dancing seems vulgar, despite the fact that all these dancers are very classy. The props such as candle holders were sometimes used in the foreground, which covered the dancer up. Several times you had to watch the dancer through shier fabric. Either the camera man was on crack, or they thought the dancing wasn't interesting enough to go without annoying camera tricks. Rachel's skill was not shown to its full potential. Her drum solo was so cut-up by CONSTANT camera changes that it's very hard to follow. It seemed to be the worse chopped up of all the segments. I could tell it was amazing, but I couldn't follow it. Ansuya and Rania's performances didn't show their full potential either. They just weren't on the ball. I think they may have been limited to music from Mile's company, instead of music they were most comfortable with. Ansuya's breasts had constant close-ups. Sonia seemed to repeat the same movements over and over. The camera man was obsessed with her face and tummy. Her dance segments were obviously edited to put moves in places where they were not, so her dance is not fluid. She may be a nice dancer, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't have the ability to be using veil, then make it disappear for a hip shot, then retrieve it again in a split second. This was also done with other dances. Suhaila looked like she was having an epileptic attack. I don't even watch her dance segments. I haven't even watched the violin one all the way through. During one of Ansuya's segments, it was obvious they taped someone using zils over her playing, so you don't get to hear HER play while dancing. Overall, the DVD isn't expensive and the dancing is pretty good. The camera man may be on crack, but the video is OK if you can get past it. Also, my version has both of Tamalyn Dallal's dance segments. Someone said one was missing on their DVD. Perhaps this has been fixed.

just let them dance:
I had mixed feelings, mostly sympathy for the dancers whose performances were mangled by the camera work. Yes, I'm repeating what has been said, because I hope the powers that be take notice, stop playing with the camera - just because you can zoom in doesn't mean it's good - and show some respect for the art form. The first few seconds of Rania's (PRODUCERS: check the spelling!) the camera work was interesting, then went to hell. Jillina's drum solo was terrific, as a former percussionist, I found her feel for the drum incredible. Those dancers I'm familiar with, like Sonia Rania, and Amar were misrepresented by camera madness and, I felt, even constricted by the cluttered set. Some performers were disappointing, but I don't feel right singling anyone out given the production problems mentioned. This DVD is worth it for some interesting performances nonetheless and exposure to different styles. Message to the Producers: next time, save the close ups, etc for a photo gallery and just let the ladies dance - they know better than you what they're doing.

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
I almost didn't buy this video, because of all the complaints about the video editing. I had really low expectations, which probably helped me to love this!!! The editing, while annoying, wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. And the dancing -- OMG!!! All the dancers were fantastic. I was eager to see Rachel Brice, since I've only seen her dancing on tiny clips on her website and I was fascinated by her. I'm sure she's not everyone's cuppa tea, since she has pretty much invented her own style of dance, but I found her mesmerizing to watch. I was holding my breath a lot during her performances, and the video editing bothered me most on her pieces, since I wanted to see every unique movement. Suhaila's performances nearly moved me to tears. So expressive, she truly was the music brought to life. Jillina was also a joy to watch - the pink snake costume might have been a distraction if I hadn't already been told to look past the costume and really see the drum solo. Rania's performances were good, as always, but nothing I hadn't seen already on the Divas DVD. I wasn't in love with every performance, but frankly, with what I usually have to pay for a good quality performance video with only one decent dancer on it....if I'd paid twice as much for this dvd I'd be happy with it. Can't wait to show it to my students!!