Thread: Combination Nation Vol 1 - so fantastic!!

Hi everyone!

I finished my first look at Combination Nation 1.
It is SO much more than I had expected!

Who will be happiest with it:
Advanced dancers, who will pick up the combos in no time and have much to practice the movements with (every combination is playable with music only, a run-through of about 5 full repetitions each; quite a bit of a workout I guess!).
Many advanced dancers complain about a lack of good dvds for them to practice on a reasonable level - I think this one will be great!

Intermediate dancers: One needs to be able to execute quite many moves without further breakdown like belly pops, Omis, layered shimmies, arabesques.. After a couple of beginner dvds or a few months of classes, or for people who love to follow along what's happening on the screen and can do so easily this will be a nice alternative to drilling. great inspirations how to string moves together.

The combos themselves are very generic - the trailer says some are to fit the music perfectly, some are more generic. I think most of them are quite generic, and can be adapted to different songs. I can see myself take bits and pieces of many combos rather than the entire ones, and adapt them to a more personal style. The ones I do not see myself doing (I am not a big fan of very ballet-esque moves, arabesques with straight high leg lifts, poses with the arms over the head, and the front leg elevated high etc) will be great to step out of one's comfort zone a bit.

The format is GREAT - being able to watch the combos with music only, or the instruction, or both in a row. The bonus performances were great - I watch them first, and it made me fall for a dancer called Zafira I had not known previously.

My favorite combos are the ones by Aradia (this one is great for most styles close to Mideastern music and dance, both Egyptian and Lebanese I'd say) and Ahava, one of the nicest Egyptian style US dancers. I also REALLY adore the combo by Lotus Niraja - I had not known her, at least not very well. Has she performed on an IAMED performance video? Hers would be very nice for an entrance I think, it's travelling quite a bit, forth and back, left and right, so the dancer could introduce herself to the entire crowd. A couple of other combos like Shoshanna's, Ruby's and Summer Sahar's are also very energetic moving around a lot.

Bahaia's is called Saidi twist, but could be used for most kinds of music. I think her 2nd combo has knee lifts, which I am not quite feeling.. would love to see how it looks in a costume there, maybe she does them on a By dancers for dancers video?
Ruby is a gem, and it makes me look forward to her floorwork dvd even more.
Shoshanna's performances I had not quite felt on the By dancers for dancers Vol 2 - my attention span for veilwork is pretty short, and I am not a big fan of dancing to slow music with mostly spinning and twirling with veils. Now this combo shows quite a different side of her. YOu can see the combo to pretty fast music, I liked it a lot.

My favorite from the performance section Zafira does a lovely drum solo combo.
Farhana shows a combo that is very much in her unique style, so fans will sure want to try that one for sure.

Hope this helps people get an impression of what the dvd is - I am not a big fan of the IAMED Ultimate Combos 1 and 2, which I own. They somehow did not speak to me.
With this one, I can see myself use bits and pieces or even the entire ones by some of the dancers very readily. I actually found myself doing a part of Aradia's to my favorite version of Ya Bahaia in my living room after watching the dvd for the first time! It entered my mind immediately :)

Now as for difficulty: I am nowhere close to executing them CORRECTLY as they are intended. Intermediate dancers will have quite a bit to work up to! It is not easy, be aware of that. But I don't think the average beginner dvd buyer will look for a combinations dvd anyway, but only people with some bellydance background.
And for them, this one is EXCELLENT to build from basic mechanics and drills to real dance.
5 stars!
Hell, TEN! :)

I might add: I ADORE Ahava's teaching style.
I hope her Egyptian instructional series (possibly Egyptian style drum solo, shaabi, Saidi...) will be realized!
It seems to be in the vague planning stage, and since Michelle will not likely be concentrating a lot on new bellydance projects, but her baby for a few months to come, I SO hope this will still be realized sometime next year or the year after.

It would be so amazing to add to the already excellent and very impressive Cheeky Girls catalogue!

Originally Posted by dinavienna

I also REALLY adore the combo by Lotus Niraja - I had not known her, at least not very well. Has she performed on an IAMED performance video? Hers would be very nice for an entrance I think, it's travelling quite a bit, forth and back, left and right, so the dancer could introduce herself to the entire crowd.

Yep. The NDC, featuring Lotus, has been on several IAMED DVDs: Bellydance 007, Belly-Dance-O-Rama 3, and Bellydance Sensations.

Thanks!!

No problem!

Love your avatar pic!
Had to search for it on your public profile and found only a troupe pic - what is your troupe called?
Actually NDC got me really into troupe performances on Bellydance 007. Will have to check out those other IAMED ones you mentioned!

Thanks! Our troupe is called The Niraja Dance Company (NDC). We just go by The NDC because it's shorter and easier to remember. Hope you enjoy the performances!

Oh cool so you're in that particular troupe!!
I enjoyed your 007 performance tremendously :)
hope to see more soon!!!

Yep, I'm in it! Thanks for the compliments! I'll pass them on to the rest of the troupe.

OOO I am off to buy it! ;-)

Thanks for the review Dinavienna!! I actually made up that combo in my hotel room an hour before the shoot, I decided to scrap what I had already planned to teach, which seems to be my MO ..l;,
I really enjoyed watching the other instructors on the DVD, nice range of styles! Good job Michelle!!

Originally Posted by Aradia

Thanks for the review Dinavienna!! I actually made up that combo in my hotel room an hour before the shoot, I decided to scrap what I had already planned to teach, which seems to be my MO ..l;,

What amazing inspiration you've had there in the hotel room

uhm.. I realize this sounds ambiguous..
meant in a completely innocent way!

Originally Posted by dinavienna

uhm.. I realize this sounds ambiguous..
meant in a completely innocent way!

LOL! I didn't take it any way other than innocent!!..l;,..l;,