Raks Al Asaya has been sitting on my shelf for a bit, and I’m sorry that I hadn’t gotten to it sooner! This DVD by Virginia of Miami is a wonderful resource for more cane. The instructions, both visual and verbal, are very clear. The material was easy for me to follow along from the [...]

If you love cane and can get your hands on it, you should. This is one of those DVDs that everyone recommends and after managing to get my own copy, I can see why. Nourhan Sharif, who is an internationally famous dancer and instructor of Middle Eastern dance, manages to cram in a lot of [...]

Disclaimer: I received this DVD as part of a give-away on Bhuz from Michelle Joyce, the producer. I was excited to receive Icing on the Drum Solo for free and early, because I am a huge fan of Lotus Niraja (and we’re both from the same area). This DVD offers much more than drum solo [...]

I realized yesterday that we have roughly a month until the performance for Meiver’s recital. While I have enjoyed the training and think it was good to be taken out of my comfort zone, learning 4 choreographies for her and 2 for Bharatanatyam has left little time for my own personal things. I’ll still need [...]

And I’m quite tired. I didn’t party hard or do anything miraculous; I just did an overnight medical study yesterday (I arrived on Wednesday and got out on Thursday during the evening). I like doing these things for two reasons: one, I make money, and two, I learn something. One of my educational- regrets, perhaps, [...]

Ironically after I wrote my review yesterday, I read an article in the Gilded Serpent about whether reviews on instructional DVDs are important anymore. The writer’s stance is that they aren’t so much anymore, because there are notable companies who routinely produce high quality DVDs for dancers. I disagree with that. Obviously, the writer is [...]

Bringing back weekly (or semi-weekly) reviews. During one of my bouts with cold/flu, I watched Combination Nation Vol 1: Belly Dance Instruction with America’s Hottest Performers. What is it? A DVD of combinations from dancers that are on the By Dancers, For Dancers series that Michelle Joyce puts out through Cheeky Girl Productions. The series [...]

Carrara Nour decided yesterday that we (or at least she)  begins her 90-day practice challenge. She started it off with a doozy- 4 hour practice. Not to be expected to be completed at once. I decided to see if I could fit in two 2-hour practices today. First practice, consisting of drills and zills, is [...]

I spent yesterday sick. Coincidentally, right as I began administering the exam for my students, my nose began dripping like crazy. I came home yesterday and slept like crazy. Dance class (I was going to try drop in ballet tonight) is not in my best interest right now. However, I do plan on starting back [...]

Aziza is releasing a new instructional DVD, right before the holiday. I think it’ll be a winner. The title is “Hands, Arms, and Poses.” Aziza has fabulous, well, hands, arms, and poses. Her other DVDs that I’ve seen (the veil one and the practice companion) were good in terms of information and production quality. If [...]