Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Yoga, Isolations, and Drills: A Practice Companion with Rachel Brice
Reviewed by Anala Rabari
This DVD has an introduction by Carolena Nericcio, creator of American Tribal Style belly dance. It has 3 different workout options in 15 minute increments in which you can turn the instruction on or off. It has a 3 minute bonus performance of Rachel Brice and outtakes from Carolena's introduction as well as information on other Bellydance Superstar products and merchandising.
Carolena's introduction gives a brief history of American Tribal Style dance and segues into information from Rachel on the program such as supplies needed for the workouts, these include basic yoga supplies such as a mat, blocks, and a blanket.
The workouts themselves are great. I love that you have 3 15 minute increment options so you can always fit some workout into your busy schedule. When I first got this DVD I felt that she talked very fast while trying to explain some of the yoga poses in the warm-up section and it was hard for me to follow. However, by about the fourth viewing this was no longer a problem. Also if you aren't use to doing yoga you may think some of the positions are impossible. Be sure to be patient with yourself and don't push yourself to stretch further than you are comfortable with.
After the warm-ups she starts each belly dance move at a slow speed and then increases the speed as the workout continues. Again you may have problems processing the instructions at the speed she gives them for the first few views. And each workout option ends with a set of yoga cool downs.
The 15 minute workout covers hip lifts, stepping hip lifts, hip drops, stepping hip drops, chest lifts, and chest down to stomach undulations.
The 30 minute workout has a slightly different warm-up, and builds on the previous workout by doing all the previous moves and adding chest drops, stomach up to chest undulations, pelvic tucks, and hip circles. The cool-down is also slightly different.
The 45 minute workout has the same warm-up as the 30 minute one and it includes all the previous moves covered, except for the hip drops, and it introduces the moves of combining chest lifts with chest drops and vertical ribcage figure 8. The Cool-down is slightly different from the other 2 routines.
So as you can see each successive workout builds on the previous shorter workout.
My main criticism about the DVD is more info on optional moves and positions. Brice does a really good job of saying if you have weak wrists do this, or if you are new to yoga stay in this pose and do not go on to the next. I like that she does this, but I wish the production had taken it a bit further. She does not always demonstrate the optional pose or move and when she does it goes by very fast. I wish they had thought to have more people in the room who could continue to demonstrate the optional beginner moves.
Also I wish that there were chapter selections with in the workout programs. There are times when I would just like to practice certain moves and it would be nice to go directly to that section of the DVD rather than having to fast forward. And finally when Rachel is doing hip work such as lifts, drops, or circles she is doing these really nice hand movements that I think are wrist circles, but they look nothing like mine and I think it would be nice if she took a few seconds to explain what she was doing.
The camera work during each workout routine is great giving you a variety of close-ups and full image shots at appropriate intervals and lengths. The setting of the DVD is a dance studio in front of a mirror which is also really nice as you can see different angles at the same time. The background music during the warm-ups is from the Tribal Metamorphsis CD by Pentaphobe and I really like this music. The workout music is from Issam Houshan which I also really like. The bonus performance piece is hard to critic. There are a lot of severe cuts and changes in camera angles which makes it hard to follow the motion of the dance; however, these artistic cuts and angles do flow with the movement of the music even if they make it hard to watch the dancing.
I think the main thing a potential viewer needs to know is that you do not need to be a tribal dancer to benefit from this DVD. These are basic moves that all dancers need to know and everyone needs to repetitively practice these moves as they are done in this program. I will also say that you do not need to know yoga to use this DVD either. The movements are very simple and easy to pick-up and they make for wonderful warm-ups and cool-downs.
If you find that you have a hard time practicing your moves over and over and you need a little encouragement to do so, I think this just might be the DVD you need in your library.