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Books
Stories From Inside the Mirror
Stories from Inside the Mirror a Bellydance Anthology by Sharif
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
Stories from Inside the Mirror is a collection of 40 articles written by a wide range of dancers including cabaret, tribal, fusion, and male dancers. The topics range from heartbreaking poignantency to roll on the floor laughing humor. There are stories of family being supportive and condemning. The struggle to gain acceptance in a disapproving community, the struggle to gain self acceptance. Stories of the dance healing medical conditions and being an escape from abuse. The humbling experience of costume malfunctions and the stories of childhood dreams being fulfilled.
Although there weren't any articles that I didn't like the ones that stood out the most to me were a collection of interviews with dancrs and their husbands, a few articles written by a dancer's husband, and an article by a male dancer. These stood out the most to me because they are a side of the dance I rearely get to look at.
The book ends with 4 choreographies for you to try. Some are geared toward solos and some for groups. The song & artist information are included for those who really want to learn them. Also included is information on picking a dance name complete with a short dictionary, As well as a guide to Middle Eastern instruments and rhythms.
A number of the articles are written by non-native English speakers and a few of the articles also include a version of the article in their native language. I feel this was a lovely touch to help the author express themselves. Beautiful photos and illustrations are included with each article helping give a more personal touch to the project.
My only complaint is that some of the articles were just too short and I wanted to know more about these dancers. Luckily geographic lcations, emails, and website address are included for most of the authors
If you love learning how others found belly dance, why they love bellydance, what they've gained from bellydance and how it has tought their lives than this book is defintely for you.
Bellydance
Bellydance by Dolphina
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This book is broken into 9 sections. The intro covers the typical information on history, benefits, what to wear etc. I like that she included some muscle diagrams and that these are more detailed than others I've seen.
The stretching routine she gives is for warm-up and cool down. The directional arrows are drawn in a way to indicate movement which I found helpful. At the end is a quick reference with mini photos of Dolphina doing all the moves.
The book is than broken into 3 different experience levels for moves and routines. 12 moves are covered in the beginning and intermediate levels and 9 moves are covered in the advanced level. Each choreography is broken into 3 sections of 8 counts each.
Short notes are included with the instructions for the moves and routines that point to various body parts to help you know what every part of your body should be doing. Occasionally images are super imposed on each other so you can see progression of the move. After all the moves have been covered in the routine you get a “flow chart” of the whole dance. Several other chart summaries are included for quick reference. Also when explaining moves she listed pages of related moves. For instance when going over chest circles she listed the pages for chest slides, lifts, and drops.
Throughout the book she includes boxed information to supplement her main text these include: 33 Tips & Technique boxes, 21 workout repetition boxes for beginner and intermediate, 3 suggested variation boxes, and 6 points to watch boxes that often include photos of how it looks when things are done wrong. After a point she stops giving repetition suggestions for advanced moves.
A lifestyle section is included that covers costumes, music, and performing. The Dance style section covers ATS, Cabaret, Turkish, Modern Egyptian, Folk and Ethnic. A Resource section covers websites, music companies, costume vendors, magazines, books, events, festivals and study tours. The only CDs and DVDs included in the resource section are Dolphina’s.
I'm disappointed that this book did not come with a spiral binding as it would have made the book so much easier to use, but there is enough good information in it that it is worth the struggle. This book is better than other books because of the use of directional arrows, the “at a glance” breakdowns, workout repetition suggestions, and the full color photo illustrations that are very step-by-step frame by frame. At times it is difficult to see directional arrows and page turn arrows because of the color in the background photos. I like that they often give an insert photo of basic stance which is a good reminder of posture.
I like the “at a glance” section because it shows 4 pictures of the current move and 4 pictures of either the move before or after, so you see how the moves connect to each other. It would have been better if they had used the “at a glance” layout to show moves in the opposite direction as well. They say to practice moves in the opposite direction, but some students would probably benefit from having those pictures too.
During the routine sections I would have preferred it if Dolphina gave suggestions for specific songs or artists that her routines would work with, even if the music had just been from her own CDs.
I like that she layers movements. Other books layer hand and arm movements in the pictures, but Dolphina actually takes the time to suggest arm movements with body movements. The advanced routine is a veil piece and I was disappointed that she doesn’t even go over how to hold the veil.
One the whole I think this book is pretty good for instructional purposes and it includes more instruction per move than most others I’ve seen. In some places the photos look more like a flip book of the move. So this would be a good book for those that don’t have a teacher in their area or need re-enforcement of material covered in their classes. More experience dancers probably won’t benefit from this book very much other than perhaps getting ideas for move combinations.
Bellydance a Guide to Middle Eastern Dance
Bellydance a Guide to Middle Eastern Dance, its Music, its Culture and Costume by Keti Sharif
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
The book is divided into 5 parts.
Part 1 is Dance of the East which covers history, sound quality of instruments and gives suggestions of movements. It also covers modes of music and how they are often interpreted by dancers and there is a Rhythm section that covers popular rhythms from different regions like, Egypt, turkey, Lebanon, Nubian, Morocco, and Arabian Gulf.
Part 2 is Art of bellydance - This examines the physical and emotional benefits such as body confidence, birth, menstrutation, and meditation. Then movements are broken down into warm-ups, upper middle and lower body isolations, hip accents, shimmies, walks & traveling. She gives suggestions for tempos & rhythms to use for different workout sections. She gives a suggested drill routinue for movements. She doesn't always explain moves fully which is disappointing. Like with hip undulations she says they are similar to torso undulation, but I don't think she explains indepth enough how they differ. The photos are too small to really give details & often not of the best angles.
Part 3 is Routines and techniques. The emphasis is on improvising rather than choreography. She devotes a few pages to Transitory steps explaining more indepth than most publications how to change feet or transition from one hip to the next. She breaks it down in cue words like "drop, step right, drop step lift," but also by counts 1 & 2 & 3 where the beat is a drop & the and count is a step. The book includes 6 routines of 16 counts each. Photo illustrations of the routines would have been nice. Videoes of these routines are suppose to be on her website, but I was unable to find them. Veil work photos of wrapping, and other veil technique are hard to get anything from because they are sepia tone so you don't see details well. Also the 6 photos need a label and that label included in the text as reminder. The Canework also needs better photos of the basic twirl. She gives Zill tips on best time to play and key points to remember, like less is more.
Part 4 is Cultures and dance which looks at how dance varies in different regions of the middle east, med., etc.
Part 5 is Costume and performance - Here she gives basic sewing instructions for a folkloric dress, dark photos make it hard to see details on costume diagrams. She also covers henna, kohl, headwear. She addresses the use of turbans, but doesn't give tips on how to pin the turban. A Basic cabaret costume is included with tips on how to make your own bra, belt, skirt, and accessories. Performance tips for the hobbyist circuit and for more professional venues are included. The author also includes a glossary.
My main complaint about the book is that a number of pages have dark photo backgrounds with light colored words on top making it hard to read the book at times. Short segments make it easy to fit reading into any busy schedule. There is a lot of good information included in this publication which is why it is disappointing that sometimes the beautiful artwork detraches from the ablity to read it.
Snake Hips
Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love by Anne Thomas Soffee
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
I want to make it clear as Soffee does that this is not a history of belly dance book and it is not an instructional book. This a belly dancer's memoir. However, she does include a small resource section at the back of the book that covers well-known dancers of different styles, musicians, suggested readings, and useful websites. This section concludes with a glossary of terms used in the book that some readers may not be familiar with.
This book was published in 2002 by the Chicago Review Press. This 262 page book is a must read for any belly dancer. No matter where you are at in your belly dancing, be it a beginner or a well seasoned veteran, you will be able to enjoy this book. Soffee is a Lebanese American and the majority of this book takes place in the Richmond, Virginia area which was also charming to me since I'm from the South. For some of the characters she writes their dialogue phonically so you can really hear the Southern accents in your mind as you are reading. Her attention to details and her style of writing makes the stories vividly come to life in your mind. I found myself remembering my own belly dance story as I went along reading her story. It was so wonderful because I constantly was thinking “oh, yes, I remember being in a situation like that” or I would be thinking “Thank God I've never experienced something like that.”
The book is full of wry razor wit from chapter titles such as "Your Daddy Ought to Smack your Face: Nice Girls Don't Undulate" to the hysterically funny telling of her first performance where she was caught topless while trying to change costumes at a county fair. The book starts with her trying to recover from the heartbreak of being dumped by her longtime boyfriend and her friend jokingly suggests taking a belly dance class as a way to get over her depression. I found this interesting because it seems that so many of us find our way into belly dance because we are searching for something to make us feel better about ourselves and to heal some sort of wound that we have endured.
This memoir covers all the important milestones of a belly dancer's career, experiencing going to see your first belly dance stage show, attending that first class, the first time performing, picking a dance name, buying that first costume, getting publicity shots, joining a troupe, first solo, dealing with troupe conflicts, roadtrip with fellow dancers, first workshop, having to leave a troupe, getting indecent propositions, seedy venues, and unappreciative audiences, and on top of all that just dealing with regular life experiences such as crazy family situations and getting into dating life again. Soffee leaves no stone unturned.
Looking for Little Egypt
Looking for Little Egypt by Donna Carlton
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
I have to say when I first found this book in the store I was very excited. The one comment that was made to me over and over when I started belly dance was "Oh, are you going to be the next Little Egypt?" After the hundredth million time that I heard this I decided I really needed to get to the bottom of who this Little Egypt was. I mean I had heard the name even before I started bellydancing, but I had never really learned who she was or more importantly who she was suppose to be. And because of this I never really had an answer for all those people asking me if I was going to be the next Little Egypt. I wasn't even sure if it would be a good thing to be the next Little Egypt. I'm happy to say that after reading this book I now feel a little more confident in a reply to all these questions about Little Egypt.
This book is broken into 7 chapters, including a bibliography, illustration credits, and index. The two things I loved about this book are 1) that Carlton obviously set about to write a book that was thoroughly researched and she used a lot of primary and secondary sources and included those in her bibliography so the reader can consult them if they choose to do so themselves and 2) is that even though she set about to write the results of her academic study she didn't write it in an academic, stuffy way. Carlton has a very relaxed easy going way of writing almost as if she is just talking to a friend over coffee about her research.
The purpose of Carlton's book was to discover the real woman behind the legend that is Little Egypt. Thus it also tends to be a history of bellydance in the Western World. She starts with the 1893 Chicago's World Fair and exams all the possible ethnic groups that presented dancing girls and the community's reaction to what they perceived as immoral movements. She then follows the spread of bellydance and some of it's variants, like the hoochy coochy, to amusement parks, carnival and circus sideshows, burlesque houses, vaudeville stages, and even the opera. And Carlton examines the lives of several specific dancers as possible Little Egypts.
Throughout the book wonderful visual aids ranging from historical artwork, historical photographs, maps of the Chicago's World Fair grounds, historical ads, political cartoons, and photos of modern dancers are used. I particularly liked the fair maps and photos as they really added to the author's words and made me feel as if I were actually on the Midway in Chicago.
Although there were a few places that I felt the author came up short, such as not even addressing how the term belly dance came to be used, on the whole I feel that this book is a must read for Western dancers to learn the historic roots of the dance in their regions. It is also a good read for anyone who has ever been asked "Oh, you're a bellydancer? You mean like that Little Egypt?"
Rough Guide to World Music Vol. 1
A Rough Guide to World Music Vol. 1 Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Published by Rough Guides.
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This book is organized in 4 parts. They are Europe, Middle East, Africa, and directories. There are a total of 87 articles covering roughly 71 countries. Some countries are covered by multiple articles for instance there is an article for Spain on flamenco music and then there is an article on regional music. The articles in this book are chalked full of information. From the history behind instruments, to the structure of the music, to the way it is used in its region of origin. Each article then concludes with a discography section that covers compilations, and then specific artists and their CDs. Part 4 which is the directories section concludes the book with a listing of record labels and record shops. There are a ton of great photos, maps, and even more insert texts in each article, I only wish there were more photos or drawings of the instruments themselves. This is a truly great reference for anyone interest in world music. There is also a Vol. 2 that covers the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
The Art of Belly Dance
The Art of Belly Dance: A fun and fabulous way to get fit by Carolena Nericcio
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This kit includes a spiral-bound lay-flat book, a sample DVD and CD, a pair of zills, and a belly jewel. This book comes from an author who practices American Tribal Style belly dance, so most of the information is geared toward that style of dance; however, even a cabaret dancer can find the information useful. First, I love the lay-flat book. How often do you get an exercise book that has regular binding and you spend most of the time wrestling to keep the book open while you try to do the exercise? The book covers the author's view of the history of belly dance, how Tribal is different from other styles, costuming, music, and illustrated / written instructions for basic and some advanced steps. Like most exercise books, there are those instances where the reader will have problems understanding the written instructions and how they fit with the photos; however the enclosed DVD helps with that. The book ends with a zill lesson and a suggested choreographed routine. I like the zill lesson as it has charts that help break down how the strikes are suppose to occur on which part of the beat.
The DVD is a compilation of parts from other productions done by the author/troupe. It includes sections on warm-ups, slow and fast movements, zills, and a dancing demonstration. I found the zill section very helpful as it concentrates on how to PLAY the zills and not how to DANCE with the zills. The images are all close ups of the dancer's hands playing the zills so you can really tell what they are doing. Then for ideas of how to DANCE with the zills you can watch the dance demonstration.
The CD features cuts from Tribal Dances Tribal Drums and Itneen. It is broken into three sections: slow movements, fast movements, and a complete dance suite. Its an excellent introduction to the sounds of traditional instruments and rhythms.
The zills are great for a beginner or for practice (I say this as a beginner). They are lightweight with two slits at the center (not a center hole) as to allow better control. I find the timber of the ring to be nice and they have some nice designs on them instead of just being plain. I did have to change the elastic on them to better fit my fingers, but I suspect that this is something that may have to be dealt with when buying any zills.
Lastly, the belly jewel, well its obvious that this is not the main attraction of the gift set, but it is a cute, fun little addition to the set. In my opinion, this is a very nice set that helps one explore a lot of the foundations of belly dance and well worth the price (ranging from $10.00 - 15.00).
The Oldest Dance
The Oldest Dance by Zarifa Aradoon, Illustrations by Antonio Miriyo
Reviewed by Delilah
*Note: It appears that this book is currently out of print, so look for it at your local library or used bookstore.
This is a wonderful book that I was lucky enough to find at the Springdale Public Library. This book covers the full history of belly dance in every aspect. The book is divided into ten chapters which cover everything from the dark ages of dance to the future of belly dance. Chapter six, which covers the musical instruments used in belly dance, really got my attention as I have a particular interest in dancing with a tambourine (def). There are numerous maps, songs, illustrations, and even actual photographs of early dancers (such as the infamous Little Egypt). At the end there is a reference guide, poems written by belly dancers, and information about the author and illustrator. This book is an easy read and very informative. Anyone interested in belly dancing and its history is sure to enjoy this book.
Greek Cooking for Everyone
Greek Cooking for Everyone by Theoni Pappas & Elvira Monroe
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This cookbook begins with a short chapter on what it means to have the "Greek Touch" in your kitchen by covering the staples of Greek cooking such as having a bowl of yogurt, a platter of cheeses, wedges of lemon, and Greek olives always included at the table. It also covers the staples of a Greek spice rack, pantry, wines, and coffees. The book then proceeds to layout 22 full meal menus. It breaks these down into meat, fish, poultry, and vegetable meals and each menu has about 5 dishes. Some are easy and probable more familiar to you such as roast chicken & potatoes with a spinach & feta salad; while others like fried squid or fish head soup might be more, shall we say challenging, for most chiefs. The cookbook concludes with chapters on breads, desserts and a chapter on delicacies commonly found at food stands in Greece, such as roasted chestnuts or spinach pies.
I feel this is an excellent cookbook with a great variety of recipes to both excite the palate and wet the appetite for Greek foods. The fact that they layout full meal menus is wonderful to me as I often find myself floundering when it comes to figuring out side dishes that will compliment the main dish for many of my meals. They also do a wonder job of including both the Greek and English names of dishes & giving the reader glimpses into Greek life. It includes beautiful photos of Greece; however they are all in back & white. I only have two small critics of this book. One is that it doesn't include photos of the food itself; the other is that its not a lay flat binding which I love in the kitchen when I'm cooking. Of course these small flaws can be overlooked and completely forgotten after you taste some of these delicious recipes.
Belly Dancing Basics
Belly Dancing Basics by Laura A. Cooper
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This book has 8 chapters and a resource section. All the chapters are short and even subdivide into smaller sections, making the book a quick read and easy to find a stopping place if needed. Like most books it starts with the history and origins of the dance. It then covers how to get started such as what to wear, how to relax, and how to select music. The next chapter goes into more details such as how to count music, posture, and warm-ups. Chapter 3 covers basic moves, Chapter 4 focuses on the art of veil work, chapter 5 features the sword, chapter 6 highlights Isis wings, chapter 7 covers candles, cane, and zills, chapter 8 discusses performance topics such as stage fright, costumes, make-up, repertoire, and etiquette. The book concludes with a resource section with suggested books, vendors, music, classes, and dancers.
I think this is an excellent book to cover the basics of the dance. The moves that it covers are broken down in easy to understand language and a number of photos. For instance, wrist circles are broken down into 7 steps and there is a photo to accompany each step. I also think the book does an excellent job of featuring all types of women in the photos( there is a pregnant woman, some senior citizens,and women of all sizes and ethnicities). And the variety of costumes used is stunning. I do have a few criticisms. Even though a number of props are covered in this book, tips on how to select props to buy, how to make them, and how to take care of them is not included. I also feel that candles, cane, and zills should have been covered in individual chapters with more information included on each rather than being lumped into one chapter. But I remind myself that as the title clearly states this is a book on belly dancing basics and in my opinion just by including props it delivers more than the title promises. This book will be a great beginning to any dance library.
Grandmother's Secrets
Grandmother's Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing by Rosina-Fawzia B. Al-Rawi
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
As a reader you need to understand that this book is not really a history book or an instructional book. This is the type of book that Anthropologists call Ethnography. It's a more personal account of how the author views the history and meaning behind the dance and of course the author's view is colored by the way she was raised, her personal living experiences, her living environment and various other elements. It is also a book that explains how she has incorporated the dance into her life for physical benefits, personal growth, and spirituality.
The book is divided into 4 sections and throughout the book these sections are divided into shorter segments which make it easy to find a stopping place which is nice if you have the type of lifestyle where you can only grab a quick minute here or there to read. One criticism I have for the whole book is the lack of information about the photos. Credit is giving to the photographers; however, credit is not giving to the subjects in the photos and I would dearly love to know who some of these dancers are in the photographs because they are all striking women that I would like to see more photos and perhaps video footage of.
Section 1 - How it all began
This section is simple memories of childhood life lessons written eloquently. Most of the these stories feature an adult in the author's life, mostly women. It starts with remembering how her grandmother taught her the letters of the alphabet in terms of body carriage and movement. The lesson starts with drawing a dot that is the navel of the world and moves onto the first letter of the Arabic alphabet which is the alif, for English speakers it kind of resembles a lower case "L." As the author states "The alif is three dots sitting on top of each other, it is the dot's longing to show itself." Soon the author sees the alif in everything including her body as a living alif. I can't say how much I wished I had these simple alphabet lessons when I was taking Arabic classes. The chapter concludes with the author becoming a young woman and being invited to dance at the women's only party to celebrate her rite of passage. I love this chapter because of the great vignettes of Middle Eastern life through the eyes of a child. I find myself enchanted by the similarities and differences of her childhood to mine. My only criticism of this chapter is that there is only one visual aid. I think this section could have benefited from more family photos or other photos of normal Middle Eastern life.
Section 2 - A history of women's dancing
This section offers a very brief, easy to read history section hitting all the important highlights of the history of women's dancing, and that is the history of women's dancing not just the history of belly dance. I think this section is good for people that are a little curious about the history of the dance, but who also aren't real history buffs. If you are a history buff this will just wet your whistle or be a re-hash of things you may already know, presented in a very simplistic straight forward style. Covering the history of women's dancing is a very broad topic and other books offer more in depth exploration of the topic for those interested. This section also benefits from pretty good visual aids of artifacts, photographs, and artwork.
Section 3 - From Head to Toe
This is the more exercise, instructional part of the book. Like with any book, reading instructions for movement is hard. For dancers with some experience it will be easier to understand these directions; however, beginners may struggle. I like the fact that she covers parts of the body that many other books/DVDs leave out such as eyes, ears, nose, and feet. Some of these exercises are more in the vein of body awareness and wellness instead of actually belly dance, but I feel that these exercises can be useful to dancers as a way to become more aware of how their body works which will improve the way you move your body and thus improve your dance. And these activities exercise the body both physically and mentally. This section also offers lovely photos of dancers and candid shots of Middle Eastern cultures.
Section 4 - Variations and Rituals
The dances discussed in this section are the floor dance, stick dance, veil dance, walking and whirling, menstruation dance, wedding dance, birth dance, trance dance, and mourning (or death) dance. This is the chapter that I think can be the most confusing for some readers. This is the chapter that mixes fact and personal opinion the most. But I love this chapter. I love reading how this author has taken the historical nature of these dances and mixed her own feelings with them to make the dance more meaningful to her. Visual aids for this chapter include photos of dancers and these dancers are of all ages and body types. I think this chapter means the most to me because I learned the most from it about how I can make this dance mean so much more in so many aspects of my life and how I can use it to help me through dramatic changes, both good and bad, in my life.
So if you are looking for an accurate history of the dance or actually instruction on how TO belly dance this book is probably not the book you want to buy. If you ARE looking for a book that will let you peak into what the dance means to another dancer and how she incorporates the dance into all aspects of her life and suggestions on how you too can incorporate the dance into more aspects of your life this is the book for you.