Bellydance Superstars Live in Paris at the Folies Bergère
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This DVD offers a mixture of 9 solos, 9 group pieces, and 1 duet. It covers the dance styles of Cabaret, Folkloric, Hawaiian Hula, American Tribal Style, Bollywood, and Spanish infused. Prop routines include double and single veil, zills, canes, Isis wings, and gourds. The routines are danced to both live and taped music as well as being danced in both heels and bare footed. This is a live recording of one of the tour shows in Paris at the Folies Bergere. I think that this is an excellent production. I enjoyed it so much more than the first Bellydance Superstars DVD. I think the camera work is infinitely better because in this production they aren't constantly zooming in on the dancers' faces, so you see a lot more of the routine and the movements of the dancer as a whole; although they do have an appropriate amount of close-ups on the body to show off certain moves.
I also think that this DVD probably does each dancer better justice, in that I mean you are better able to see how the dancer enter acts with an audience and more of their stage presence comes through and because of that I found myself liking some of the dancers more than I had previously based solely on the first bellydance superstars DVD. It's true that most of the solo performances on this DVD are the same routines from the first DVD, but I think seeing them in this live project gives them a new light. I really enjoyed all the group pieces as I hardly get to see a troupe perform since I'm usually dancing with the troupe myself. I really liked the way they meld the Tribal dancers with the cabaret dancers in some of the group numbers. If your troupe is a majority of one style over the other, but you have some individuals who like the other style you might watch this for ideas of how to mix the two. This DVD has given me inspiration as I'm choreographing for the troupe and for my own solos.