Great instructor/dancer
356255
I wish she had more workouts-a great instructor with a great voice-no pump you up yelling. Good dance moves and a really good separate segment teaching the steps as well. You can tell she's a real dancer.
3559931
I am a former dancer and do a lot of barre/ballet workouts to stay in shape and this is one of my favourites. Although it is not an intense workout, it definitely works your muscles, and you feel energized rather than exhausted afterwards. I also think Jessica is a wonderful instructor. Her choreography is unique and challenging, and she is never annoying. I definitely recommend this workout!
2091464
I really enjoyed this DVD. It has a lot of great instruction and combinations for Tribal & Cabaret (Tribaret) bellydance.

The DVD is sectioned into basic Bellydance isolations (the foundation of bellydance.), Oriental Flow and Tribal movements, shimmies & combinations.

The Isolation section covers pretty much all the isolations that are the basis of bellydance. Carrie's explanations are very easy to understand and she breaks everything down, but moves through each one pretty quickly. Those who have never had any dance experience might have to go through this section a couple of times to get comfortable. A beginner with some class time or some experience will find it great for working on your technique.

The Oreintal Flow section Carrie teaches bellydance combinations, using layered moves that are based on what was taught in the isolation section. She breaks down the combination but assumes you know how to do the basic movements (Chest circle, reverse undulation, etc.).

A short practice session follows each combination taught. There are no on-screen cues or voice over, it's just follow-along.

The Tribal section covers some of the basic Tribal movement vocabulary- Basic Arabic, Basic Egyptian, Choo Choos, Turkish Basic, Double Hip Bumps, etc. The break-downs are great and it is explained well.

There is a Shimmy section that teaches the egyptian shimmy, 3/4 Shimmies (both up & down), and the bycicle shimmy.

The next sections cover Intermediate & Advanced combinations that combine the Oriental Flow & basic Tribal sections. This is the main material of the video, where you learn a series of Tribaret combinations (10 in each section). There is a practice session after each combination. Again she breaks down the combination & foot work but you need to know how to do the basic movements (omi, maya, 3/4 shimmy, etc.) & be pretty comfortable with them. Because you will be layering them over other movements & taveling steps.

The final section of the DVD is a practice flow with the shimmy combinations. There is no voice-over, just music and follow-along dancing.

Last there is a costumed performance by Carrie, in the beautiful costume she wears on the the cover of the DVD.

Also inculded on this is DVD is a short warm-up & cool-down section.

Overall alot of great material here to get a good understanding of the Tribaret style, and lots of nice combinations you will enjoy incorporating into your dance.
A beginner with some experience will enjoy it and should be able to accomplish the isolation and first few sections. The combination sections will give you a challange, but they are still fun and a great learning tool. This DVD is perfect for the Intermediate stundent.
337291
Anyone can dance East Coast, for me Kasia ant Donald explain the steps very well. They are good pedagogues. Rose
1718555
i have been a fan of cal pozo eversince i bought his first video dance lessons from way past when he still had hair.  i learned a lot from his video dance instruction series and he is one of a few teachers who gives good dance instructions that is easy to follow.  he makes them simple and fun to learn.  this new dvd dance lessons of cal pozo is recommnended for the beginning students of salsa and samba.  i wish that cal pozo could have given equal time to samba lessons as he did in this salsa lessons. he gave more emphasis on salsa in this dvd.  but although the samba lessons are much shorter than the salsa lessons, cal was able to give the secret techniques to some of the samba steps.  i am awaiting the second of a series of these dvd lessons or the more advance lessons if cal would do so in the future.
4557828
A lot of fun : ) easy to follow choreography which caused me  to work up a sweat. Very upbeat instructor!
2204503
This is my favorite exercise video, for when I have the time.  She focuses on fitness and strength for the floor exercises and the final dancing sequence, and spends most of her time working on exercises to train the muscles used in ballet.  I have never been much of a dancer, but the music and structure of ballet classes always appeals to me and this video is perfect.  Jessica leads a fairly large class of variously-shaped and -skilled students, so it is not intimidating but is very inspiring.  I find it to be quite a challenge, with the high number of repetitions involved and then the dance routine at the end, but it is certainly do-able and extremely well taught.  And if you ask me, I'd rather do a muscle-strengthening and cardio routine to Tchaikovsky music than to anything else!
2336629
I have been using this DVD for about a year and I appreciate it now more than i did to start with. I have 4-5 years belly dance experience.

The best of this DVD set is that it contains several sections (15-30 min each) that you can combine and include in your own practice, so it is very flexible to use according to your needs. Each section is at the right pace to be followed like if you were at a dance class, with the right number of  repetitions so you get the movement without getting bored.

 The first DVD is technique. It is similar to a classical tribal-fusion dance class. It is very good practice: you can feel the muscles work at the end, the coordination is tricky at first but gets better after practicing a while.  It includes most of the basic isolation moves, without  much explanation. To each movement with the body there is a routine with different steps associated, which is a good idea. Most of the yoga training is similar to the basic stretching that a dancer would do. I did not find it  improved my backband.

The second DVD are two choreographies. Yes, the music is kind of weird like many people pointed out- however, it is tribal fusion, AND, most of the combos can be easily adapted to other music- they are not that specific to the music piece. They are full Rachel's style and can add different combinations of ondulations and isolations-shimmies to any dancer's repertoire. Especially, the footwork and some details in posture to obtain the final effect are made clear.

All this said, Rachel's technique is definitely great, and, if this DVD has had so many good reviews, probably it is worth to try it. It will give you new ideas and combinations, and each of the sections is  a good workout by itself.
2802465
I think this is an excellent instructional DVD.  Vashti explains every move clearly and demonstrates each from both front and back.  She is relaxed and confident at all times. Her dancers display different body types which is an advantage when producing a DVD for a wide audience.

Her choreography is interesting and varied with use of both arm movements and skirt flourishes to emphasize the steps, which are mostly Spanish fusion.  These steps are based on the Spanish Gypsy style of dance, and I feel that to complain that it was not 'gypsy enough', as some reviewers have, is totally unfair.  Belly dancing was carried from India, throuhout the Middle East and into Spain, by the travelling gypsy bands, and developed its own footprint in each region.  The Spanish gypsy style developed into Flamenco, which is danced in Spain to this day.

The production is good quality, with just one point where the sound seemed to fade slightly.  The dancers costumes are beautiful with sufficient changes to keep the viewer interested.  The movements of the dancers are always clear, whether viewed from front or back.

Altogether I feel it is a very worthwhile purchase, good value for money and one of the best instructional DVDs I own in the belly dance fusion style.
1013855
Leyla is an awesome teacher. This Dvd teaches many different layers to be used in choreography or for improvisation. What I really like about Leyla is that she takes time to demonstrate and explain how to do each move with her drummer. I found belly dance instruction with live drumming is the best way to learn. There is a lot to learn from this and be ready to work and learn.
It includes different segments of layers with traveling steps on these moves:
  Shuheir Zaki
  Camel
  Reverse Camel
  Torso Rotation
  Hip Rotation
1437216
This dvd workout is great if you are very familiar with dance moves and can go quickly as she explains them! The instructor isn't a true teacher and doesn't spend enough time coaching you through the moves by a step-by-step slow pace so that you get the correct posture, footing, and rountine. The instructor starts off quickly to the workout beat with the dances, explaining while quickly keeping to the beat and rhythm, which is ok if your a dancer that's familiar with these moves. I found myself having to pause the dvd in increments in the beginning to get the footing down. This makes the learning process very frustrating to get any heart rate up in the workout until you learn the steps. I would like to see this dvd have an intro section for beginners to learn the steps and patterns then, have another segment for the workout for those who have it down.

With that said, I think it is a very good dance routine to have and I would recommend that if your purchase this, as most any age group up to 60 could participate, be warned that it will take awhile to learn moves & routine before really getting your cardio heart rate up.
3435068
Kelli is an amazing instructor and has so much to offer for beginners in her instructional DVD. I bought the DVD while I was taking a classic Egyptian style bellydance class and used it to practice the basic movements in between my classes. I felt I improved my movements much faster than the other women in the class because of this.
If you are looking to learn advanced belly dance techniques you should consider attending a class or hiring a personal instructor to work one-on-one with you.
If you are a beginner wanting to learn some beautiful belly dance movements while improving your abdominal strength, this is a wonderful DVD for you. It's worth every cent!
1666184
I like this DVD!  The instruction is good.  The moves are not innovative, mostly ones that I've done before with Tracey Mallett and Physique 57.  But they are presented in a different manner so it makes for a different experience.  I do like that this is a total body workout, including all major muscle groups.

A few picky things:
There are 4 exercisers; one performing beginner, two that are the presenters and they trade off performing intermediate, and one that is advanced.  Three of the girls are similarly dressed, sleeveless exercise tops and cropped yoga pants.  Then Ashley, the advanced exerciser, is as scantily clad as she can be and still be considered "dressed".  I'm not being a prude, and have many DVDs with instructors in various degrees of dress. I think that it is an odd choice to make her stand out so much.  I appreciate being able to see that this exercise routine is worth the effort, but I could still see that she has a nice body if she had on the same clothes as the other girls.

The last issue is the instructor Andromeda.  Whenever she tells you to do a tough move, she says "I know, I know".  And this is repeated throughout the session.  I guess it is her way of being empathetic with you, but it turns out being annoying.  She must be used to teaching live classes, where this would be more appropriate.  Otherwise, both instructors are very good.

Try this workout, if you are into the "barre" it is a good option.
3000715
Very instructive for beginning dancers and low end intermediates. Coupled with actual lessons, its a big plus.
3889388
Love Potion from World Dance New York is the unofficial sequel to Luscious, a previous entry into the bellydance fitness market with the same instructors:  Neon, Blanca and Sarah Skinner.  Using American bellydance technique, they put together a drill session and workout.  In addition to drilling the movements, the instructors make note of head angles, posture, and grace - the little details that make the dancer.  As always, beautiful and flattering costumes are worn by the three instructors, varying by each section, and each of them trade off leading.  The DVD is split into 7 different sections, each with a different inspiring name such as "Creative Flame" or "Goddess".  There is a feel-good element to the DVD as well, little mantras uttered at the beginning of each section about loving yourself, talking about how shimmies give us joy.  So, if you need a bit of a psychological boost, this DVD may just give you one.  If not, these sentiments easily fade into the background.

It is more advanced than Luscious, as few movements are drilled consecutively and everything is mapped quickly into a combination.  The viewer is expected to pick up on the combinations quickly and follow them, which is the reason why this is more of an intermediate/advanced DVD.  There is, however, a beginner's practice flow, which goes through each of the sequences slower.  I actually consider this to be a good thing, as the DVD will keep me entertained even if I repeat it over and over, which as a fitness DVD, I intend to do.

The movements themselves are not advanced - ranging from smooth moves like pelvic circles and infinity loops to hip accents and shimmies.  You will get a core workout if you are utilizing proper posture, maintaining your core, and - as my teacher says - squeezing your princess.  After the 40 minutes, I'm actually feeling it!  For the cardio aspect, it's hard to gauge, since I'm 8 months pregnant and we don't seem to have the air conditioning on.  I was sweating, but I don't know if the average person would.  You might even see it as a "interval" workout, since the sections varied from undulating and circling movements to the more intense hip drops, accents, and shimmies, and back again.

The DVD is set to new-agey music.  Most of it was OK.  As a huge fan of Arabic music, the music on this DVD didn't really get going.  It did make for nice backdrop music, but I wouldn't run out and buy the CD. The last section, where many of the combinations are joined into a dance, is set to a composition "Goddess".  I found myself a little embarrassed - I just don't go in for this sort of thing, sung in English. It's very goddess-power type stuff.  I don't object to the message, but it's not really my thing either.  Luckily I was alone in the dance studio because otherwise I would feel pretty silly dancing around to "I'm a Goddess, Set me Free" if anyone could see me.  That said, it's really nice to see the combinations and movements displayed in a dance, that was obviously connected to the music (as dance should be), and the dancers/instructors on this DVD display grace and, well, a goddess-quality when they demonstrate this section.
I should also mention that either of the two workouts on this DVD, Love Potion and Beginner Flow, can be done without voice cues, with the music only.

Overall, I got exactly what I ordered, a fitness dvd that works my core, drills my bellydance vocabulary, and keeps me entertained as I do it.
1682276
This instructor is very good.  I will say however, I am not exactly as flexible as she is and some of the movements are difficult for me to achieve.  However, if I modify the movements, I do ok.  The instructor is very enthusiastic and gives good instruction.  Of course, please see a doctor before beginning any strenuous exercise.
2357838
I enjoyed this DVD. My only disappointment was that the dances seemed kind of short to me, other than that I liked them all. There are three dances and each dance is danced by a different person. Each of those dancers has an instructional part on the DVD that gives step by step instructions for each dance. The dancers are Autumn Ward, Isidora Bushkovski and Ariellah and the DVD comes from World Dance New York studios. There are two other DVD's in the series, but I haven't seen them yet. They are FANTASY BELLYDANCE:MYSTERY and FANTASY BELLYDANCE: DESIRE. You can find their website at  [...]