Learning to Belly Dance from Videos - Page 7
© Shira
If you can't afford to purchase your video, you may be able to borrow one from the library or rent it from a video store. If you're a teen-ager, you probably won't have much luck finding a suitable video in your school's library, but your city library may have one. If your local library does not have a good belly dancing video, try asking the librarian if it would be possible for them to borrow one for you using inter-library loan.
There are certain videos that are especially common in libraries. Here are some you're likely to see, along with my recommendation on whether they're likely to be helpful:
- Bellydance! Magical Motion. By Atéa. I recommended this one above.
- Bellydance Fitness for Beginners: Basic Moves. By Neena and Veena. I recommended this one above.
- Belly Dancing For Fun and Fitness. By Janine Rabbitt. Although I haven't actually seen this one, I've been told by people that I respect that it's terrible. For that reason, I don't recommend it.
- The Art of Oriental Belly Dance, Volume 1. By Alexandra King. It's okay, but I don't recommend it because she includes some extremely difficult moves on what is supposed to be a beginner video. Many beginners have told me they find this video intimidating, and I can see why.
If your library doesn't have the video you want, you might encourage them to buy it. Explain to them that belly dancing is becoming very popular, and suggest that if you are looking for this sort of thing, other people may be too. Many libraries are happy to consider buying items that people ask for, because the reason libraries exist is to provide people with access to information.
Respond to Our Poll
This article is part of the Suite101 "Middle Eastern Dance" topic area. For the other Suite101 articles, discussion forums, and opinion polls related to Middle Eastern dance, music, and culture, see the Welcome page on Suite101. For other articles written by Shira about these topics, please see Shira's own popular web site at www.shira.net.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Shira's Middle Eastern Dance topic, please visit the Discussions page.