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).