Dynamic Combinations- Traveling in Style

This is another well produced instructional from the INternational Academy of Middle eastern dance. For dancers who have enough floor space, this dvd teaches several different combos that move around the room, beyond the usual walking steps typically seen in bellydance. As you'd expect from the title, there's lots of traveling steps and plenty of turns, pivots. For a light day, this could be a gentle cardio session. the dvd is well chaptered by combo, so you can always cue up one that you like and practice it. The combos are taught without music and the music is played during the preview for each combo. I thought this worked well so I could try to mentally hear different tempos and think about how the combo would work at different speeds. Ava also demos different variations you can add to the basic combo to make it a bit different. There is a performance at the end, and part of a second one while the credits are rolling. Ava has a quiet demeanor, but moves beautifully and often shows you what you don't want to do. Overall, her instruction isn't flashy, but she does seem friendly, if reserved and she dances well. For dancers with some experience, this is a dandy addition to your practice library, especially if your lesson venue doesn't allow for alot of travelling steps (but your practice site does).