I'm watching Belly Dance Show for Beginners with Tanna Valentine. This video is such a little gem. I rented it from Netflix. Now I was lucky enough to study with Sabrina and Amira Jamal, both of whom taught me the 5-part routine and how to do either a restaurant show or a bellygram. But often, I think this information is hard to come by. It's full of tips like how to recover from veil mishaps, cute things to do for photo-ops if you have a special guest, veil wraps, even makeup tips. It goes through each part of the American Cabaret routine and then has extras on floorwork, makeup, costumes, staging, and so forth. Each little section is packed with information, the sort of thing we would have spent entire classes on in Amira Jamal's class. These World Dance New York videos are always packed with information, so that you can work with them for a long time, revisiting. I do that with my Ranya Renee Baladi video. But anyway, I am glad I got it from Netflix. I would say it's probably a nice complement to Secrets of the Stage.
Her voice and demeanor reminds me of my own voice. She sounds to me almost exactly how I sound when I watch myself on video, with that same frank, straightforward way of speaking. Also the gestures, facial expressions, cadence. This is exactly how I talk when I'm giving speeches. Since I took a public speaking course last semester, I am intimately familiar with my own voice.
The only change I would have made to this video? I would have filmed it with a "fake" party guests, in a party situation – either a pseudo restaurant or a living room set up. Because it would have been nice to be able to demonstrate some of the situations she's talking about, particularly the audience participation section.
I totally agree with her comments on ciftelli/taqsim section. Those movements – the snake arms, belly rolls, and hand articulations – are what people think of when they think of bellydancers. Contrary to popular belief, it's not boring – it's what people have been waiting for. I really liked how she described that.
The only thing I find a little odd is that it's very much taught at a beginner level, especially the technique (ex: breaking down snake arms), but by the time most people are ready to dance professionally, they should have already learned their technique. So it's almost like the video has two audiences. I'm mostly skipping the technique sections and just watching the concept sections. Not tha the technique sections don't contain a lot of interesting information too (I sat through one), but they also describe what an arabesque is. So, I don't think that if you need to learn snake arms, you should think that if you do this video, you can now go out and get a restaurant gig. This video is just a taste, just a preview, of the kinds of things a professional needs to know. But it's good, you know, because this information doesn't necessarily get out there. We're so lucky in Boston to have so many teachers that have had long professional careers, but that isn't true everywhere.
