Thread: Mesmera, Jasmin Jahlal, Tamalyn Dallal

Hi everybody!
I came across two artists who ve produced dvds, and for whose dvds I have not been able to find any reviews..
mesmera s beginner bellydance, and her garden of exotic dance are among them. especially the latter sounds fascinating.
anyone willing to give a review and say a bit on why they liked the dvd (or not), and what s special about it?

same for jasmin jahlal, i think she has a few ones, now sold on hollywoodrecords..
and as for tamalyn dallal s serious bellydance, i d also like some info on what is covered, what level of difficulty (i know at least intermediate, but details would be great).
thanks!!!!!

Mesmera's beginning belly dance is good. All the standard moves are there and she breaks them down well. Where she really shines is the Mesmera's Garden dvd. She takes all those moves and creates little variations & minicombos that help you start putting moves together and create variety out of the moves you know. She'll take a simple move like hip bumps, then show you some arms to layer with them, moving with them and a little 8 beat combo.

thanks a lot catwomyn!
would you think getting the beginner is worth like does it offer unique teaching given the fact i own many beginners from WDNY and also a couple of others (amira s 101..)? thanks:))))

I have Tamalyn's Serious Bellydance DVD.

It's fantastic. However, it's not a slick production DVD.

It was filmed on location at the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange - Tamalyn's studio at the that time and now owned/run by Bozenka - so you can hear the ambient noise of the street and studio and the editing is a bit choppy in places. Though Tamalyn teaches to the viewer, there are other students/dancers in the background. (You get to see Bozenka in her baby dancer days!) The instruction is accompanied by live as well as taped music.

The movement vocabulary she covers are: arm/hands, chest circles (horizontal, vertical & horizontal & vertical chest fig 8s) one-sided hip drops, hip crescents (forward, back, in, out) & fig 8s, horizontal forward & back fig 8s, vertical up & down fig 8s.

What makes this an intermediate/advanced level instructional DVD is the focus on adding depth and texture to the movements by using the core abdominal muscles and/or adding belly rolls! She then teaches some basic zill patterns and adds them to the movement combinations she has taught earlier.

If you want a BDSS type of production from your DVD then this is not for you. If you want INSTRUCTION on the level of the IAMED style DVD productions then this is well worth your money. In addition, a portion of the profit goes to providing for retired Greyhound rescue.

Hope that helps.

thanks a lot bellybabe!