Thread: Belly by Sandra

hello everybody!!

I've realized there is quite a bit of interest for beginner-level reviews here. So far I have been timid to review because I thought a beginner (or a bit advanced beginner) cannot contribute that much.
So from beginner to other beginners, I can tell some on having watched Belly by Sandra for the first time tonight (preview review - like my ohter 2 reviews on Ranya and Autumn, which are a bit advanced for me to get practicing with right away - I watch them and soak up information ;) ):

This dvd (Sandra's) is probably among the absolute best for beginners, for one reason:
It really does what the title suggests, it focuses on ISOLATION with every movement, and does not just mention the concept, and then go through all sorts of movements.

This one repeats very simple movements (after having explained the muscles not only in the body parts to be used, but also in the body parts which are to remain MAGICALLY STILL, ideally) in different tempos to very nice movement, soothing or happily bumping (very nice music!)
she really reminds you of ISOLATION throughout and tells you how to do it in great detail.
Need I say Sandra is SUCH a great dancer, technically? (and drop dead gorgeous as a woman, which doesn't do any harm! ;) )

Also anatomically she gives great advice: One example - I can do a hip drop pretty well, learnt it "socially" at a pretty early age. However i really just bump the hip down - she gives thorough advice on what muscles to use in order to not harm the hip joint (my Mom had always told me to be cautious with such movements to not damage the hip - I did not believe her ..c:: well I'm glad I've done no damage so far, and will do more muscular movements, if I can. TO RElearn is sooo much more difficult than learn well instantly - so that is why I think this video is GREAT for beginners to somewhat advanced beginners).

Due to the nice practice parts of all isolations, which I think I will run through repeatedly, different focus on different days, this is a great video to polish moves also for more advanced dancers, I think.
It is a VERY thorough practice video, and well marketed for all levels IMO. Also the title is more accurate than I would have thought - this is not just a creative name for yet another beginner video. Sandra really does give information I have seen nowhere else (I own probably 100 dance dvds, MANY of which are beginner level bellydance videos).

To sum up:
one of the best bellydance videos for beginners to learn and more advanced dancers to practice with (she drills every moment in nice ways - different tempo, variations.. nice to follow her!) ever. Very well rounded and cleverly thought out package.

I think the information could be great for teachers on the search for inspiration in how to explain concepts to beginners - her explanations are among the best ever.

Hope this helps!!!

I forgot something:
She does interesting level changes with all kinds of isolations.
This is rare on beginner dvds.
Her explanations of posture and muscle control are great.
I think I might try these :) (so far, the level changes kind of scared me off :) )

I'd like to add something as of today:
I've made it through to 1hour 10 min the 3rd time I am working with the dvd. (It s 1,5 hours long)

What s great: THe glute isolation has NEVER worked for me. I am in shape, but it somehow was impossible for me to engage them while dancing. Now the 3rd time I am working with the dvd, and the first time I made it to the vertical figure 8 section, magically the glutes are working! I ve been doing vertical 8 movements for a long time with the help of heel lifts, without muscle engagement (or with minimal one). It felt great to be able to tense the right glute at the right time :)))))
So this dvd does what it promises: it really teaches isolations!!!

I agree, I think this one of the best beginner DVDs I've seen in a long time. Sandra explains everything very clearly, and offers some interesting variations. I think the level changes are ok.

I would definitely recommend this dvd to beginning dancers.

are you kidding me?
I tried them today they re HARD, at least for me haha!
:))))

I made my way through about 40 min of the one and a half hours instruction.
VERY nice warm up. pretty unusual.
I never noticed how sloppy my hip and chest slides are. They improved quite a bit whilst following her!
The chest circle variations looked undoable for me (I give up too easily) - ok the level changes are hard as hell for me. I can't seem to keep my balance AND do chest circles. But I tried.
Also walking with chest circles I saw tiny improvments today.

So I as a not-too-courageous beginner must say this was a great dvd to make me try and improve. Very encouraging, great explanations and demonstration!

DinaVienna - I think your contributions are valued. For some of us, it's very hard to remember what it was like to be a beginner and we might not do as well at reviewing a video for beginners.

Plus with your note that there was a practice drill section - it actually sounds like a good buy for me now. Previously I was interested because it's Sandra, but thought it would only be very slow instruction for beginners and I like something a little more fast-paced. But I could really use another practice drill - it's the only way to get myself to drill - if I get to look at a lovely lady on the screen :-) j/k...mostly it's that I need someone to tell me what to do or I get distracted.

I'm the same - need to be motivated by a good teacher in order to practice. In my beginner's class, there was no way for me to practice at home, to music I love in my living room. It just wasn't possible :)
Now that I've discovered videos at least I do something (not as often as I promised myself at New Year though..).

I can imagine it s hard to look back with the eye of someone you're not anymore. It s like when you begin to master a foreign language it becomes very hard to mimick the accent you had when you were new to it I guess? :)

I'm the same - need to be motivated by a good teacher in order to practice. In my beginner's class, there was no way for me to practice at home, to music I love in my living room. It just wasn't possible :)
Now that I've discovered videos at least I do something (not as often as I promised myself at New Year though..).

I can imagine it s hard to look back with the eye of someone you're not anymore. It s like when you begin to master a foreign language it becomes very hard to mimick the accent you had when you were new to it I guess? :)

Dina, how long is the drilling section with Sandra? 1/2 hour? Does it have a lot of variations in it? I had Amira's 101 instructional and I absolutely could not stand her drilling section. I didn't like the 20 of this then 20 of that ect. (from what I could remember).

hey!

well Sandra explains movements for 5 to 10 minutes, then says "let s do it with music".
Since there are about 5 sections (hip slides, chest slides, chest circles, figure 8s,...) I d say drilling is at least 45 min. I have not measured it but it makes up at least half the dvd i d say.
It is completely different from Amira's: the drilling for me as a beginner is hard, but interesting, I cannot follow her through it entirely. She does not speak to it a lot, though instructions are written on the screen.
She varies tempo and movements nicely, I find it exhausting and challenging!

Can you chapter out the instruction? Thanks for your quick response.

I'm going off memory, but I think it's something like this:

Hip slides
Chest slides
Chest circles
vertical figure eights (maya)
hip drops
omis (interior hip circles, she does some squares here, too)
Horizontal figure eights

Most of the chapters have some variations, though not all (the horizontal figure eights does not, for example).

LOL. Thank you, but what I meant was do you have to listen to the instruction if you want to drill? I wasn't clear.

Originally Posted by dancerose

LOL. Thank you, but what I meant was do you have to listen to the instruction if you want to drill? I wasn't clear.

There is not much to listen to when drilling! She's not talking, but lovely music is playing!
The first few times you'll probably have to keep an eye on her because she s changing tempo, direction, and often variation pretty often (the instructions are spelled on the screen, so aside watching her do the actual movements, you get the explanation what s next, and most importantly she s such a joy to watch!).
(this is precisely what I like about her practice sessions! they are HARD for me, like I do not all the time keep my eye on her, but go more easily, but I know I can work up to something).

Btw:
This is a review by my lovely friend MALA from India - she does the best reviews in the world. Everybody loves to read her them, so in case you have not come across her: You might want to read her reviews on amazon and on her blog, they're such a delight to read! She does interviews with dancers, too (Autumn, Neon, Sarah Skinner, Sadie, Michelle, etc so far!)
MUCH better than my review, and way more relevant for seasoned dancers:

Belly by Sandra • ::more than somewhat::

(I have included this tip in another thread, but maybe it makes sense here too: Internet Explorer seems to cause trouble opening her wonderful blog. I am running Firefox as a second browser for years now, it does not slow down speed at all, and with these two browses (or Safari and Firefox for mac users) no problems should ever come up again opening any site. It s free software btw).

Oh Dina, Mala's review was the bomb! Thanks!

I know :)