Bellydance for Romance

This video is led by bellydancer Jayna. The goal is to teach you more than just bellydance moves per se; the goal is for you to learn how to add sensuality to your bellydance practice. The DVD is well-chaptered, and the main instructional segment is broken down into several shorter segments, including glances and arms (4.5 minutes), upper body (7.5 minutes), lower body (3 minutes), and travelling steps and turns (13 minutes). Not surprisingly, the last section is the most complex, as you begin work on more complicated footwork and to combine this with the arms movements. You then practice all the moves with three very brief (only about 30 seconds) combos with instructors Emily, Donna, and Jayna; each combo is performed once with Jayna giving voiceover direct and then secondly with little instruction. Following the instructional portion, there is a short group combination dance (1.5 minutes) and a slightly longer solo dance by Jayna.

I consider the main part of this video to be more instructional rather than a true workout, especially given that Jayna introduces each new move slowly and there are frequent pauses while she provides additional information. However, the DVD does include a 10-minute bonus workout. Here you do a series of basic bellydance moves--eg, chest and hip isolations, hip circles, figure 8s--in a nice flow. This was at best a gentle workout; Jayna says at one point "your hips should be burning!" but mine really weren't, just nicely stretched and opened. An additional bonus freature on the DVD was trailers from Natural Journey's "For Wimps" series as well as their other titles. Overall, if you are are looking to fine-tune your bellydance practice and become a better dance, these video has plenty of great tips, but if you are hoping for a good bellydance workout, this probablly is not the video for you.