I was wondering about the "Goddess" tapes too. Thanks for the info!

I wanted to tell you about a lovely book I'm reading: "Grandmother's Secrets" by Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi. It concentrates on the deeper meanings of the dance.
It was funny when I asked for it at the bookstore; the guy looked it up and read the title and the subtitle which is "the ancient rituals and healing power of bellydancing"----and then he looked up and gave me the old once-over while I stood there and grinned at him. He probably thought from the title 'Grandmother's Secrets' that it was a book about how to bake a nice pie! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have heard wonderful things about that book-it should be in every dancer's library...

I will have to check the local library for that book EYdie -thanks!

Aphil- I checked out Dolphina's web-site last night - wow! It looks really professional, I loved the sound bites for the CD's ( I want them all! :D ) and the samplers of the tapes.

I am going to go to the store I saw them at and buy at least one to try out.

I am going to be a vendor for the tribal workshop in September, so last night when I was a t Wal-Mart I checked through the clearance fabrics and remnants to see if there was anything I could use to make some stuff out of...I found some great heather grey knit fabric to make a couple classroom/practice knot front choli tops out of, and a GREAT remnant of upholstry fabric in a rich sage green, with a great pattern on it in golds and taupes...I have been looking around online for information on making some tribal style dance belts with the big wool tassels, and this upholstry fabric can be used to make a really pretty one...I was thinking of doing the embroidery and wool tassels in the golds and taupe colors. :)
If any of you are handy with the sewing machine-I totally recommend you take a look at :
http://shop.auctionwatch.com/guardcat/home.html
Check under the patterns section-they have a GREAT selection of bellydance costume patterns. I am a thrifty person myself, and love to skim through the clearance fabrics and make stuff from that, and purchase the items that would be too much of a pain to make-like coin hip scarves.
You can also find some great free patterns at www.shira.net for making dangely beaded earrings to match a costume, for other stuff like harem pants in the "costume goddess" section of the site. FUN FUN FUN!
Mauvais-I hope you like the Dolphina video-my favorite is the first one and its cd soundtrack-I even clean my house and drive with it playing a lot!
Aphil

Thanks for the Websites Aphil!

I have been toying around with the idea of making jewellery for the next bellydance bazaar ( in the fall) and renting a table.

I am thinking of making some bead necklaces with matching earrings and selling them at a reasonable price.

I may get a friend in on it too-she is very talented at beadwork :)

That is cool-the earring pattern isn't too hard, and you could make up a few pairs in some basic costume colors like black/silver, white/silver, black/gold, etc. and if people like them you can do some in custom colors. Lots of craft places sell a nice selection of seed beads.
I went rummage sale-ing today, and found a great queen sized sheet that is light sage green and taupe tie dye...I am going to use it as fabric to make a couple practice/classroom cholis. :)
I have a tribal coin belt that is black cord with antique silver coins (not the fake ones like on regular hip scarves) and silver pewter bells and some shells woven into it, and at Wal-Mart they have some Panama Jack brand choker necklaces and anklets that have black cord and the same kind of shells on them-I may have to go get them so I have a matching set of tribal jewelry! :D
I also found a free online pattern onhow to make an 8 point accent skirt which I am going to try sometime...and a free pattern to make some crocheted zil covers/mufflers. :)
Aphil

Dolphina Warrior Goddess Workout Review
 

Well, I watched/participated in the Dolphina Warrior Goddess Workout yesterday, and here is what I thought:
What I liked:
-The camera work was much more effective in this second video, as far as showing her entire body rather than so much focusing on her face-so you can see what she is doing much better.
-The choreographed piece she teaches at the end of the video goes much better with the music chosen than the one in the first video
-She taught some nice new hip moves!
What I didn't like-
-Some of the moves she taught without good form-in one move is seemed to me like her arms were just flailing about.
-The warm-up salutations went kindof quickly-she walked you through the long series only once, and then sped up and did it a few more times faster-ie you better have gotten it the first time, 'cause she won't explain it again! :lol:
Neutral-some observations that you may or may not like-more of a personal preference thing.
-In this video, Dolphina is on a white circular platform surrounded by water, with a white wall and the sky as a background. Some may find this a very peaceful and serene backdrop and may love it-this is much different than the lush exotic changing backgrounds in the original Goddess Workout video-I preferred the backgrounds in the first video-but it is a personal thing, you may love this new background.
-Dolphina does not have all of the costume changes like in the fisrt video-she wears the same thing for the entire warm-up and workout, and changes for the choreography and cool-down. Once again, some people maynot care at all about this, but I liked seing her many changes (for each segment) in the fist video.

Overall it is a nice video, with improved camera work. Dolphina is very nice, and loves the dance-and it shows. You will learn some new moves and combinations, but if I had to choose between the two-I still love the slower pace and the overall charm of her first video! Now I need to check out her zils video and review it!!!
Aphil

I found both of dolphina's videos at Best Buy for $14.99 each instead of the $20 each at the other store so I got them both and I plan on test driving them this week.

I asked if I could order the veil work one and the Zill one but they said no unless it is something they usually stock. Which makes no sense to me since they stock the other two from the same company :mad: but there is one other place that I may be able to order them from and I will probably check into in the next week or so since I am kind of broke right now.

That is dumb that they couldn't order those videos for you...they could order them whenever they restocked her other two videos...you might also check on Ebay if you ever order online-they have had them on there before.
I bought both of my Dolphina Videos at Suncoast video-and I know they also have them at Borders-so if you have any of those places around maybe they can order them for you.
Aphil

Thanks for the info Aphil! :)

I did the introduction to bellydance tape this morning and really enjoyed it. It was exactly what I am looking for to keep my moves up over the summer until I start class again in the fall.

Funny, I was reading some reviews of these tapes on-line by some people who bought them and they hated the costume changes and were very critical of Dolphina herself. :shrug:

I thought she was fine and I loved her clothes-they gave me some ideas- and the sets were beautiful - love the morrocan courtyard scene- I don't see what their problem was with her :?:

The only thing that bugged me a couple of times was when they focused on her face too long when I thought they should be focusing on the movement more and they didn't show her feet much in order to see the correct positioning.

I am really interested in getting the veil tape and the zill tape as well as the CD's if I can find them in a store here. That way I can pay in Canadian $ and not pay the shipping :) but if I have to order them on-line I will.

You seemed to have the exact same thoughts on the video as I did!!!! I liked the costume changes-it gave some great ideas for combining your class wear with some extras to make it more exotic. I also thought the same thing about the camera work-about focusing on her face a couple too many times!
I think the only people who really have a problem with her are the straightlaced ones who don't really get into the spiritual side of belly dance-the ones who just do it as just another exercise video. They may not like the "hippy/spiritual/free" side of Dolphina. You know, the type who only buy a belly dance video so they can try to do something to impress their husband. :lol:
We have one girl in our class like that...arrghh.
Aphil

Well a lot of the comments were about her personally. Like saying that the costumes changes were like her own personal fashion show and that the camera work made it look like the tape was just a personal showcase for Dolphina and that overweight people would not be comfortable doing this tape. Whatever:rolleyes:

From the type of comments being made I got the feeling some people didn't liked the fact that she was an athletic and attractive blonde woman ;)

I think she looked great and had nice dancers hips and a realistic body. Maybe I can relate to her more since I have the same kind of shape- smaller on top and bigger on the bottom (I'm really a weeble :lol: ).

I know what you mean about the spiritual side of it though - I find belly dancing very uplifting and empowering :df: :flow1: :strong: :angel:

I know it sounds weird but when I am dancing I just let the music wash over me and take over and I just go with it - know what I mean? I feel like a whole other part of myself surfaces at that point. Okay now who's getting hippy/spiritual :o :lol:

I didn't feel that way about her at all either...I felt that she was genuinely friendly, and unintimidating. I also felt that the way teh video was portrayed that any woman of any shape or size would feel wonderful doing it-she talks of how EVERY woman is a goddess, and her voice is very soothing. I guess the stereotypes against thin and pretty people are just as bad as against heavy people-a lot of people will automatically think you are snooty/snobby and that you think you are better than everyone else...
I didn't think the costume changes were her own personal fashion show-I think she was just trying to portray a lush and exotic experience with the costumes and the lush backgrounds.
I totally agree about feeling free and letting go when I dance...I feel the same way. Veilwork and slow bolero music makes me feel exotic and beautiful and graceful...and faster rhythms like Siaidi with its tribal sound makes me feel very empowered-especially with moves like tribal 3/4 shimmies and playing zils.
I feel like most of my life I hated to exercise...I hated gym class in school with the basic track running, playing basketball, and all the other stuff you normally do. I hate playing most organized sports like baseball/softball and volleyball. I felt my whole life I was unathletic and uncoordinated. When I was in high school I took some jazz and modern dance lessons, and my mother sat in on a few lessons-she said she couldn't believe it, that I finally took to something athletic so well! I guess it just took me a while to find out that while most everyone was on some sort of sports team in school or cheerleader-that I marched to the beat of a different drummer, and that my physical fitness interests were peaked more by things that included my love of music (dance) and were more SELF challenging (yoga and weight training) rather than a team effort like in a sports team.
I find that my love of music and being able to play a few instruments really helps me in dance, because I can pick up and recognize rhythms very easily, and find it very easy to stay on time with the music. I have seen in performances and in my class a few dancers who have flawless technique in their execution of a certain dance move, but it is uneffective because they cannot stay "on time."
I think with the undertaking of more spiritual and self oriented physical activity like belly dance and yoga, that I have truly found the exercise that "fits" me.
Aphil
-as far as my body shape-I am an hourglass figure...big boobs, big butt and thighs, and smaller waist. Luckily my problem areas are my chunky butt and legs, and I tend to hold onto fat in my upper arms, but I am longer torsoed...so actually a belly dance costume with a long sleeved or 3/4 sleeve choli is actually very flattering to my figure. It covers up the not so good parts and shows off my best parts-my chest, waist, and small framed shoulders...give me a long fulls skirt to dance in and nobody has to know I have cellulite! :lol:

I'm SOOO with you about the spiritual aspects of bellydancing. I've told several friends 'if you want to feel like a goddess, take up belly dancing'! When I'm dancing it's almost like I'm watching myself on the other side of the room, and I don't know what my body's going to do next. It's wild!

Tonight is my first class in the continuing level-I am really excited about it. I am also excited to not be in the "basics class" anymore when more intermediate and professional level dancers ask me how eperienced I am! hee hee hee
I cannot wait to see what new things we will be learning-we should get a handout tonight breaking down what we will be learning each week-at least we did in the first class when I was in basics.
Yesterday for my daily exercise, I did one of the Veena and Neena "Discover Bellydance" series of videos called Basic Dance, along with some weight training for my upper body and some abdominal work. I only have one of their exercise/fitness videos-well, actually two. I have the basic moves and fat burning videos together on one dvd. I find that the fat burning video is not so much belly dancing, but more middle eastern folk dancing, with lots of hopping moves like you would see a dancer dancing with a cane. I have all three videos in their Discover Belldance series though. I would like to get their other fitness dvd, the upper and lower body ones. I prefer to get these on dvd simply because they have two videos on one dvd, and it takes up less space in my cabinet. I have also been wanting to try their fitness belly dance video called Slimdown-has anyone got this one that can tell us about it?
The Discover Bellydance videos of theirs that I have are more dance oriented in that they teach the moves like the fitness videos, but they also teach a small choreography at the end of each segment. They are Basic Dance, Beyond Basic Dance, and Mystic Dance. The last video also teaches a touch of veilwork, if any of you who do the videos but are not taking a professional class want to learn a bit of veilwork. (I believe in the beginning of the thread we talked about how to make your own veil.)
Is there anyone out there besides Mauvais and I that have or play zils? I LOVE it-it is very empowering. Being in a musical family, I find that I am sort of picky about zils, and only like certain ones due to their sound quality-namely I like zils by Saroyan, Turquoise, and the ones by FatChanceBellyDance. I play with Nefertiti zils made by the Saroyan company. (They are cool-with little engraved pictures of Nefertiti goddesses on them.) When I fist started playing around with belly dance, I got a pair of cheaper made zils from Aliah's closet, and after buying a better brand like Saroyan-I will never go back! They are lighter in weight and easier to play, have much nicer engraving and shape, and have a much richer tone. The bad thing is, that they were only like a $1 or so more than the cheaper made ones!!!!! Oh well-my daughter likes to play with them now! :lol:
My exercise today will be my hour dance class this evening, and I will do a short 20 minute session of Pilates today-abs are the only body part you can strength train every single day due to their quicker recovery time-and I am going to take full advantage of that!!!:lol:
Aphil