Thread: Quick book ?

Thinking about buying these books are they worth it?

The Compleat Belly Dancer - Julie Russo Mishkin; Paperback

Oriental Belly Dance - Kemal Ozdemir; Paperback

Bellydance: A Guide to Middle Eastern Dance, Its Music, Its Culture and Costume - Keti Sharif; Paperback

The Secret Language of Belly Dancing - Maria Strova; Paperback

Dynamic Belly Dance, The Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing - Ramona

the Ramona is good. Ideas for teaching. Discussing improv patterns etc.
i heard Keti Sherif is hard on the eyes with coloured print across pictures

I like Keti's book - short, sweet, strong on contents, what's there is really worth haivng the book. Layout - oh well, it is not great, but it has it's own style, which I can appreciate.

Kemal - has some fabulous pictures, especially old Turkish paintings, and quite a few of very scarcely covered dancers. I can't stomach the writing.

Compleat dancer - didn't do it for me. I sold it.

I like Keti's book too.

I have or have read a couple of the books you ask about....

*The Compleat Belly Dancer - Julie Russo Mishkin; Paperback -- I think this one is a fairly good retro or 70's (?) American bellydance book. It has descriptions of how to do moves, how to make costume items like a circle skirt and a little about putting a dance together. It is aimed at beginners and has a lot of black and white photos of one of the authors in a retro coin costume.

*Oriental Belly Dance - Kemal Ozdemir; Paperback-- This book is kind of interesting if you know what to expect, but I don't think it is worth the price it is commonly list for (I picked up my copy for much less in a second hand book store). It had many color pictures of Turkish dancers through the years in often gorgeous but very revealing costumes and sometimes rather skimpy unflattering costumes. The writing is a little hard to take--I don't know if it has something to do with the translation into English? And the author is very focussed on sex and basically has the opinion that Turkish Oriental Dance is all about sex. It does seem to have some interesting information, but it is hard for me to sort through all the pervy comments.

*Dynamic Belly Dance, The Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing - Ramona -- I like this book a lot. It includes theory and tips on putting together a performance including information on choreographing, improvising, costuming, learning about music, dealing with stage fright, etc.

Thank you!
Off to amazon...