baladi
Learning to Belly Dance from Videos: Instructional & Performance VHS and DVDs for Belly Dancers
Learning to Belly Dance from Videos: Instructional & Performance VHS and DVDs for Belly Dancers
Written by Mellilah
There is a plethora of professional performance and instructional DVDs and videos that will help support what you’re learning in class. Performance videos will help you develop an appreciation and better understanding of the dance, while assisting you develop your own unique style. A good instructional video will further develop your skills and can be used as a practice aide. However, there are also a lot of videos that contain poor quality dancing, unsafe movement, and/or erroneous information. Hopefully, as you grow as a dancer, you’ll learn to recognize great dancing and great teaching of dance. Below are some recommendations on how to practice with videos/DVDs and names of videos/DVDs I recommending being the very best.
Learning from Performance Videos:
-Pay attention to entrances/exits, technique, isolations, use of space/stage, musical interpretation (knowledge of rhythms/accents and transitions), stage presence, transitions, and stylization (Egyptian, American, Turkish, etc… as well as personal stylization)
-Listen to the music/instruments- how does the dancer move/interpret the different instruments?
-Pretend you are a judge and this is a competition. Use the above criteria to score the dancer. What did he/she do well? What could he/she do better?
-Personal stylization- Are there arm/hand, turns, or other movements that seem unique to this particular dancer?
-Choose something great from the dancer that you can incorporate into your practice sessions or into choreography of your own. Incorporating a move or a combo into your own dance is much different than stealing someone else’s’ choreography. Be aware of the etiquette around this and the importance of giving credit when it’s due.
Learning from Instructional Videos:
-DVDs are the best as you don’t waste time forwarding and rewinding
-Incorporate parts of your favorite DVDs into your practice sessions; start with a couple of easier things and graduate to the more advanced concepts
-Organize your practice time, delegating part of the practice session for practicing with a video. Just be sure this isn’t your entire practice session
-Try not to emulate the dancer’s personal style, charisma, and/or facial expressions. Be yourself and add your personality, even during practice sessions. It will take time, but eventually you will develop into your own dancer.
How To Choose a Quality DVD/VHS:
-Do some online research and learn about the dancer’s credentials first.
-Does the dancer teach only subjects in which he/she has a lot of experience and/or background in doing?
-Use what you know. Does this dancer appear to have good technique?
-Video production is sometimes an indicator of poor/high quality instruction but not always. Remember that anyone can pay to have a video produced.
-For the most part, stay away from YouTube instructional videos. Unless it’s a trailer, if it’s free, it’s most likely not worth your time. This is the number one place for erroneous information in regards to dance instruction.
-Learning to belly dance cannot be achieved from any “one” DVD/video. Anyone that claims you’re going to be a pro at Saidi, sword, cabaret, etc… by watching their video, is most like presenting erroneous material. Belly dancing takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Study DVDs, take lots of private lessons and workshops, practice, watch dancers perform live, and do your research.
-Ask for recommendations from the teachers you respect.
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Mellilah’s Favorite DVDs (videos) with a “thumbs up”:
(Check back for updates – More coming soon!)
Sahra Saeeda I recommend any performance or instructional videos/DVDs by Sahra Saeeda for her authentic Egyptian style and excellent historical and practical knowledge of Egyptian style dancing.
Hadia I recommend Hadia’s “Oriental Belly Dance System” for technique and knowledge of warming up, stretching, and body mechanics that all dancers should know. Hadia also has a series of choreography DVDs that will help reinforce good technique. Every dancer should own these!
Ranya Renee’s “Belly Dance Egyptian Style- The Baladi” – Ranya has definitely done her research, and this DVD contains two discs for the price of one. She teaches you the parts of a traditional baladi progression, introducing you to the instruments and rhythms you will hear. She breaks down belly dance moves appropriate for each section and provides improvisational drills. (For excellent references to which muscles are being used for moves I’d see Hadia’s DVDs for this.) I love how she drills each section of the beledi separately. All and all, Ranya’s is a remarkable DVD. Although some of the moves may be difficult for beginning dancers, it’s definitely appropriate for all, beginning through professional.
Aziza – Aziza does a great job, too. Her “Hands, Arms, and Poses” DVD is well organzied and appropriate for all levels.
Yasmina Ramzy’s Belly Dance Technique Volume 2 – I really like how Yasmina breaks down the movements, making it easy for all levels. In this DVD she uses mostly a Gawazee 3/4 shimmy (up down up) with the exception of chapter 9. I prefer the Hagala myself for a more Egyptian look, but it’s easy enough to make that switch yourself. A definite plus was how she performed the variations of each movement with the band so you could see it applied in a performance setting, and there are a lot of interesting ways in which she layers a 3/4 shimmy. I’m looking forward to reviewing more of Yasmina’s DVDs. Even if you don’t buy here DVDs, you should check out her school and performances!
“The Legends of Belly Dance (1947- 1976)” – Performance footage; an excellent collection of the most prominent belly dancers of the past. A DVD every dancer should own.
“Leila presents Bint al Belad”- A performance DVD with Leila of Cairo and her band. Contains post modern Egyptian style dancing. Her music CDs are excellent, too!
Bellydancers of Cario – Not an instructional or performance DVD, but rather a look at the current dance scene in Cairo from a few dancers’ perspectives. I found it very interesting. Available on Netflixs. Article about the production of the movie.
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Additional Reading:
You will also want to read this excellent article about the subject written by Yasmin. To Buy or Not to Buy – A Guide to Mass Market Belly Dance Instructional DVDs
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For more info about the author, Mellilah, please visit www.mellilah.com
Baladi Dance (Raqs Beledi)
Right now I’m currently in love with the baladi style of belly dance. I’ve talked to many people and seem to get a lot of different perspectives. For my own benefit, I’m going to attempt to put it all together. Please feel free to comment if you disagree or think I’m missing a major point. I will most likely revise this as I learn more.
Raqs Baladi
The Arabic term baladi (beledi) means “of the people.” It represents the everyday life of the people, their culture. The term itself is quite confusing as there are several contexts in which this word is used, including:
1. To represent a particular rhythm found in almost all oriental music, recognized by the structure of accents, the “dums” played on the tabla. However, it should be noted that it’s purely an American practice to associate the term baladi with this specific rhythm, the masmoudi sagheer. In other words, if you went to Egypt and asked the band to play a baladi rhythm, they probably wouldn’t know what you were talking about. Variations of the baladi rhythm include maksoum and saidi.
2. To represent a central part of the oriental dance routine known as the taqsim baladi (baladi awad or baladi tet). This is also called a baladi progression.
3. To loosely label what is currently popular (of the people)
4. To represent a common style of dance found in Egypt today. It’s the style of dance people use at haflas, weddings, at home and in dance clubs. The Egyptian people use this style when dancing to all sorts of music, including Al Jeer (pop) and Western music.
5. Raqs baladi (baladi dance) is used to represent a folkloric style of Egyptian dance, which is very grounded and earthy. Raqs baladi includes saidi, fellahin and bambootia dance. Baladi dancers wear an ankle length, baladi dress with a hip scarf. 
Baladi is the most ancient form of Egyptian solo dance. Raqs sharki or oriental dance, more commonly known as belly dance, is a by-product of this original style of Eyptian dance.
Video footage taksim baladi:
Sohair Zaki
Fifi Abdo
Fifi Abdo
Orit Maftsir
Orit Maftsir
Yasmina of Cairo and Mohamed Kazafy A beledi song, not a taksim beledi or beledi progression
For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com
Brief History of Belly Dance
A Brief History of Belly Dance: Belly Dance Origins by Mellilah
Seen as an ancient dance form, belly dance evolved through various ancient dance traditions throughout North African and the Middle East.
Baladi means “country” or “folk” and refers to a particular style and costuming. Primarily in the US, baladi is also used to represent a specific rhythm, the masmoudi sagheer. Prior to the twentieth century, when performed, baladi was performed primarily for weddings, outdoor festivals, coffee houses and private residences. The baladi style was performed in small spaces and was improvisational, utilizing movements of the shoulders and hips. Traditional instruments accompanied Baladi dancers, including drums, wind or string instruments, and tambourines, and their costumes consisted of an optional headscarf, a floor length dress, and hip scarf.
Although today belly dance is practiced all over the globe, the Golden Era of belly dance rests in the mid-twentieth century in Egypt. In 1926, Badia Masabny, Lebanese dancer and actress, opened “Casino Badia,” a nightclub in Cairo that was modeled after the cabarets in Europe. Casino Badia featured Eastern as well as Western entertainment, which both European and Middle Eastern audiences found appealing. Similar nightclubs emerged in Beirut, Algiers and throughout Cairo. It is at this time, that the evolution of baladi to raqs sharki, the sophisticated art form that we know today, began.
Baladi was transformed into a refined art form, utilizing more sophisticated movements, veils, and encompassing a larger stage area, as well as embracing ballet inspired arms, posture, and foot placement, on the balls of the feet. Dancers wore bedlahs, two-pieced, sequined costumes, inspired by Hollywood, and for the first time, dancers reached celebrity status and gained prestige. Products of this period are famous dancers Tahia Carioca and Samia Gamal.
The translation of Arabic term “raqs sharki” is “dance of the East” or “oriental dance.” It has been said that French travelers referred to raqs sharki as danse du ventre (dance of the belly), as what they witnessed was bizarre to them. The terms belly dance or raqs sharki are widely used today.
For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com
