Thread: American Belly Dance Legends dvd

Check it out!

Hollywood Music Center

Originally Posted by Rosemarie

Check it out!

Hollywood Music Center

OK, link doesn't work.
Go to HMC and look under the Instructional Bellydance DVDs (although it's a performance dvd.

WOW, that's EXCITING!!

Stellar list of truly legendary performers!

Oooh, I can't wait to get this!! I saw Amir perform with Marliza in 1979? 1980? Here in Las Vegas!! There is some awesome talent on this video, people that were big names when I was a baby dancer!

AWESOME! Since I had to be the first one on the block with this, I just ordered it ... AND they had By Dancers, For Dancers vol 1, which I thought was out of print, so YAY!!!!!!..g.:..g.:..g.:..g.:..g.:

Great!

OMG that is so cool! Amir of Boston (rip) was one of the most beloved dancers ever - he was just adored by those who knew him.

The lineup looks AMAZING! Is it archival footage or current I wonder?

I'm pretty sure it's archival footage. I've been chatting with Amaya with the hopes of having a release party at the Vegas Intensive -- can't confirm at this point if that will happen. But I'm so excited that she has put this together. It's such a treasure.

This sounds great but I am bit confused is this instructional or performance DVD? It is listed under instructional ..c::

I got to preview some of the footage during her wise woman retreat 2 summers ago. I was sitting on her living room floor with my mouth open in awe at some of what I saw. It was primal.

Oh, man, I can't wait, I will need to stalk the mailman this week! I ordered the DVD immediately, and I recall that Amaya talked about the project last year, great that it is out - this so is so exciting!!!!

wow!
it is about time a dvd like this gets out on the market.
I am adding this to my dvd library.

Just ordered, can't wait to see this one!

Originally Posted by anala

I got to preview some of the footage during her wise woman retreat 2 summers ago. I was sitting on her living room floor with my mouth open in awe at some of what I saw. It was primal.

Is this footage of some old workshops by these legends or footage of their old performances?

I guess both would be very interesting but I was hugely disappointed to Nadia Gamal dance workshop DVD (for the point just to be able to see her teaching was naturally great but could not get anything out of that learningwise) so would like to know what this DVD is about before ordering (well, probably I will get it in any case as there are names that are "must see" and there hasn't been much material especially outside US)

Okay, I got mine last night. Super quick shipping on the part of HMC!

Overall -- Not exactly what I was expecting, but still good.

The DVD was produced by Amaya, and narrated by her like her previous documentary DVDs.

I would consider this a biography/documentary rather than a performance dvd. Basically what it consists of is a brief history of bellydance in the United States (complete with some very lovely photography) and then it moves to individual biographies of the dancers, and when available, a short clip of that dancer performing.

The individual biographies (when footage is available) show some very short clips of the dancer, lots of still photos, and some very interesting information about their contributions to Oriental dance in America. For some dancers (like Jamila Salimpour) there is hardly any actual film footage AVAILABLE, so what you see here is pretty much recycled from other sources. Many of the short performance clips are pulled from other sources such as DeAn's videos, Aisha Ali's performance DVD, Dahlena's performance videos, etc.

While the information is very interesting about the dancers, unfortunately the actual DANCING footage is very very short -- in most cases less than one minute. I was really excited to see Aida Al Adawi on the list, but her actual performance is like 20 seconds :(

I assume this was done largely for copyright reasons, as it looks like the clips could have gone on much longer.

Oddly enough, the BONUS footage is super long, so if you want to see performances by Amir and Ahmed Jarjour this "bonus"was great.


All in all, it's a great dvd to get to know some of the greats in American belly dance history, but if you're looking for "lost footage" of them, you really won't find it here.

I was sort of disappointed, but not really. Although I would LOVE to see more footage of people like Aida, I realize that it's probably very limited. What I was hoping to get was something like what Sausan did for the Egyptian greats in the movies. But what I got was more of an encyclopedia or "Who was who" of bellydance legends in America. I don't regret my purchase at all, but I think people need to know what the actual content of this dvd really is before buying.

:) Amanda (feel free to ask questions about specifics -- I really just buzzed through this dvd quickly last night.)

Thanks for the quick review Amanda.

It's unfortunately not quite like I thought it would be.

I guess I was assuming that it would be "lost" footage....

I was SO excited when I saw this, and bought it immediately. I got it today, and will hopefully get to start watching it tonight after the kiddos go to sleep. I'll post my impressions of it after I get a chance to view it.

Wow, I just took some time to read this thread! Incredible how fast the word got out on the Legends dvd! Definately NOT instructional. It is a documentary. Please remember that some of the Legends where dancing in the 40s, 50s (Adriana for example). There was no film footage of this time. Some of the images have never been seen before and some are compilations of more current Legends (De Ann, for example). Money and time constraints kept this from being a longer dvd with more footage. (Note that this is one in a series. It will be awhile, but there will be more to come.)

It was meant to be a delicious taste of many of the American icons. I certainly didn't cover everyone! The best thing I have heard is that people wanted to see MORE of their favorites. Coool. You can contact me directly at <maria@amaya.com> if you have ANY questions on this dvd.

I really enjoyed watching this DVD. It made me feel proud of American Belly dancers and I got to see some of these famous dancers for the first time. They were all impressive.

Amayas here...Amayas here!!! Wooohoo Amayas here!! Amaya is in the hissle!!! (sorry). Ordered mine direct last night.

My DVD had a bit of an odyssey before it arrived: HMC accidentally sent it to Aziyade, who then sent it to me. Thanks a million!

DVD is a narrated history of a number of influential, old-time dancers, with moving and still pictures. The narration combines facts, stories and quotes. I love the DVD, it is full of great information. Like Aziyade pointed out, it could be good to emphasize that this is a documentary, and not a performance DVD, to set the right expectations.

I enjoyed Amaya's narrative, it set a personal and intimate mood. And, I am very excited that the video coverage includes a lot of dancers I had never seen in performance before or footage that was new to me. Now, I am sure that one can come up with a constructive critique, e.g., some who watch this may have liked to see a different selection of dancers included, or some may have found a different order (as opposed to the alphabetic order) preferable - but that is the nature of such a project. To me, it seems as if the producers worked very hard to make the best possible choices to share their knowledge.

Personally, this is the kind of DVD I get all into. I was excited about the coverage, and very much enjoyed what I learned, the main critique *I* have is that this was by far not enough ;-)

Originally Posted by kahire

This sounds great but I am bit confused is this instructional or performance DVD? It is listed under instructional ..c::

Depends on how you interpret it. I would consider it performance but then again you could probably get a lot of instruction out of it as well.

I am putting my check in the mail today. I cannot wait to get this!

I would not consider it instructional, but it is educational about the history of the dance in the U.S.

Originally Posted by anala

Amayas here...Amayas here!!! Wooohoo Amayas here!! Amaya is in the hissle!!! (sorry). Ordered mine direct last night.

Kewl!! Hello Amaya!!! :cr:

My copy is on it's way. I am so excited!! SQUEE!!!

It's funny because this dvd shows footage of Aziz, and both my husband and I both shouted out "He's like a male Rachel Brice!" -- and then somebody else mentioned that on another thread. :)

The more I watch this, the more I love it. And yes, I want MORE MORE MORE!!! I love tastes, but I also want full meals - lol.

Good work Amaya!! Can't wait for volume 2!!

ooooo I got it!!! And I really LOVE it!

Yes, of course, I want more too, but when you realize that the whole point is to give someone an overview of the numerous legends on this DVD, it's easy to understand why it was edited the way it was. It makes me want to see a full DVD on each of the individuals presented!

Aziz was one of my teachers in Salt Lake City. He was such an amazing dancer and teacher. I LOVE him!!

And I've also heard rumors that this DVD has sparked a fair number of new booking inquiries for those featured!! I think that is fabulous as they are instructors who should really be revered and truly have much to offer!! I know I'm trying to pursuade John Compton into headlining at the 2010 Vegas Intensive (keeping my fingers crossed that he'll say yes!).

Got this and really like it. I'm recommending it to my students. Love the clips of Helena Vlahos rolling quarters! And the Amir footage was amazing. I've heard a lot about him but have never seen him dance.

Amaya, we're ready for volume 2!

I can't wait to see this one!!!

I got it and so far I am really impressed with it. I haven't watched all of it yet but so far I've watched at least half, as I didn't want to rush through it but savor each and every moment. It is a masterpiece, no other way to describe it.

I cannot wait for the second version too.