Thread: Leila Bellydance for Beginners dvd new at amazon

hi there,

has anyone heard of this dvd, and is it THE Leila from Egypt (from Natasha Senkovich's series and Bint al Balad?)

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Belly-Dance-Beginners-Leila/dp/B001TK80FC/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1UFQ1SDSY8PA1&colid =3QD83YK3SIANP]Amazon.com: Belly Dance For Beginners: Leila, MIchael Wohl: Movies & TV[/ame]

Yes, that's her, and from what I could read on Amazon, this is not by Natasha.

could it be four hours long??? wow! no youtube trailer :(

Huh, I'd be curious to hear about this if someone gets it. I took a workshop from Leila a year or two ago, and while it was a fantastic workshop, and I got a lot of out of it, I'm having a hard time imagining a beginner's DVD by Leila. From the workshop and her Natasha video, I'd say she's really more of a "follow the bouncing butt" style of teacher.

Here are some reviews I've found on Amazon:

This DVD has a couple of short sections to start - general introductions and cautions plus an interview with Leila, which provides a good overview of what to expect and things to keep in mind.

Then there are three main sections - Basic Movements, Intergrated Movements and Dances To Follow.

Basic movements has sections which cover Posture, Arms, Hip Circles, Hip Pushes, Basic Shimmies and Basic Camels. Leile builds on each movement in each section and then at the end puts the moves together. Leila will show the moves from different angles so you can see what she is doing, and does not say "left" or "right" and shows "one side" then "the other" so it makes it easy to follow. The movements are Moving with Shimmies, Egyptian Walk and Moving with Hip Circles. Then there are three more dances to follow and improvise to. There is no instruction on the last three dances - Leila explains this is how dance is often taught when you learn more. There is also a perfomance by Leila to watch which is beautiful.

I have started to feel like I am able to do some of the Basics fairly well and gaining coordination.






If you are a beginner Belly Dancer looking for some good instruction this DVD is incredible I wish I had it along time ago..The instructor is absolutely wonderful and really explains the moves...This DVD has a wonderful section in the beginning on arms and hands which I wish I had a long time ago..Well worth the money plenty of information..The only thing I wish it had was a section on walking undulation I may have missed this part but will go through it again today...This DVD was well put together...I hope she puts out more as she is very easy to understand and packed with information...I will purchase any and all that she puts out...I have a huge collection of DVD's and this is a keeper won't sit and collect dust...Better than those DVD's that I spent &40.00 on...





For beginners it is a magnificent DVD, it has a few new moves that everyone should master. Good, good video, pure Egyptian which was needed in today's market. Great to add to one's DVD library, unlike others, you won't regret purchasing this one!!!

wow sounds great thank you!

Yes, Leila filmed this DVD in 2008. It was filmed by a company that specializes in many types of fitness DVDs. They have nothing to do with belly dance other than this DVD. The owner contacted Leila out of the blue from the internet. With the economic downturn it took him a while to release it, however. He is based in Bethesda, MD but is a national supplier of fitness DVDs for the large chain markets.

Originally Posted by Zamira

Huh, I'd be curious to hear about this if someone gets it. I took a workshop from Leila a year or two ago, and while it was a fantastic workshop, and I got a lot of out of it, I'm having a hard time imagining a beginner's DVD by Leila. From the workshop and her Natasha video, I'd say she's really more of a "follow the bouncing butt" style of teacher.

My experiences with her in workshops and private classes is that she can break things down very well. Maybe she did it more when asked in a workshop situation.
From the reviews, this looks like a super DVD.

I love Leila and just went ahead and bought it after seeing this thread. Now... let's wait three weeks to find out how much the customs decide to charge and if it can even play in my dvd player. Hopefully the computer can play it at least.

Just got it in my mail. I took a quick look at some of the sections and I think it looks great! She is very thourough with things like posture and not tensing up etc. There's a whole separate section on posture and I recognize it from her workshop I took once. I've been dancing for 7 years and do not see myself as a beginner, but I seriously think I could benefit loads from doing this dvd once in a while. I am sick right now, so I couldn't follow any moves other than the arms and hands section, but I am looking forward to being able to do it for real.

There are sections on posture, arms, basic hip circles, shimmy, some more I can't remember... and an interview, introductions, and some improvisational dances to follow where she uses the moves learnt earlier.
All in all a good buy and great price!!!

Just a word of warning: I can't play it in my dvd-player and not even the dvd-player in my computer could play it, as it is US and Canada region only.
However, I went in under "computer" and double clicked on the dvd-drive and it would open! Don't know why it works that way...but for me it does, luckily!

this dvd looks SO beautiful, thank you for suggesting it!!

she is SO elegant and poised!

I could not find the trailers of the dvd anywhere, so I decided to upload the introduction I have on the dvd, and her delicious performance.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRa8DQMR5_Q]YouTube - Leila Bellydance for Beginners dvd Raks sharki Oriental Dance[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgy_Ydj3ALE]YouTube - Leila Bellydance for Beginners dvd Trailer Raks sharki Oriental Dance[/ame]
This dvd teaches you the basics in a very EGYPTIAN way, and a whole lot of them: Hip and chest isolations of all kinds, what makes it Egyptian?
For example when learning the undulation the American way with the chest pushing massively, I never felt it looked "right". Leila teaches you how to make it look subtler, Egyptian.
Aside the basic moves she teaches you combinations where you get going with circles, shimmies etc. Lots of layering already on this program. As if that were not enough she then offers you "follow the bouncing butt" Middle Eastern style education in several themed sesssions like "energizing" or "sensual". IT's the part of the video where she's not wearing the pretty leopard shirt, but the warm orange scarf.

The dvd is VERY long, much content, and I must say I think I have my go-to gift for anyone I believe wants to learn the Egyptian rather than American style basics!! Love the video A LOT.

breakdown of contents in the menu:
basics:
arms and upper body: half an hour.
basic circles (hips): 37 min
basic hip pushes: 17 min
basic shimmies: 12 min
basic camels (she's using "horse" and "camel" as denominations): 11 min

so about 1hour 20 basics;

combinations ("integrated movements" she terms them):
moving with shimmies 11 min
egyptian walk 10 min
moving with circles almost 20 min

so 2 hours and then you have the "follow the bouncing butt"
relaxing sensual energizing - these 3 dances come close to 20 min altogether

so all in all its 2hours 20 long!

Wow! Thanks for the synopsis!

you're welcome!
I forgot: there's a short interview. It remains REALLY short and I would have loved to hear more of Leila :)

WOW!!! Very, very nice! Thank you Dina! It is a treasure and must-have DVD! I would love to train with that follow-the-bouncing-butt section and I would like to imitate her hands and soft hip circles! It is a great DVD to learn how to feel the music!

hi there Esmahan!

Yes I believe her dvd would be GREAT for anybody who wants to improve on improvisation as well as polish their moves to a more contemporary (and in some respects also classical) Mideastern look. Just looking through it (I have it only 2 days now and could not yet work with it) I was SO amazed.
Highly highly HIGHLY recommended! And to think it came without a proper marketing effort! no trailer whatsoever on youtube! I believe amazon alerted me to it - so thanks to amazons suggestive marketing :)

If someone is thinking about purchasing, it's cheaper here: Belly dance for Beginners DVD or here: Belly Dance For Beginners | Recent DVD Releases - Latest DVD Releases.

European dancers can buy it here: [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bellydance-For-Beginners-DVD/dp/B00316SRBY"]Bellydance For Beginners [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD[/ame]

B

Here's a trailer:

Belly Dance Video Clip For Beginners

Dina, how does this compare in quality of instruction to say, Sandra's DVDs? And you'd recommend this to a new beginner?

hi alexadae,
content-wise I'd say one should ideally get both. Leila's is definitely the only beginner level EGYPTIAN one on the market (I know many consider Jillina or Bahaia Egyptian style - I don't to be honest!).
What is unique about her teaching I can only say when I work with it, probably towards the weekend! just from watching it I'd get it for any beginner who is serious about learning to bellydance (for someone less serious I'd get Amira 101) - but basically all good dvds you'll have to be serious about learning the dance, be it Sandra's, Sadie's, Jenna's...

Ha ha, Dina do you ever NOT recommend a DVD? ..l;, I'm definitely past the Amira 101 stage, I just need to decide whether this meets the criteria for purchasing! I'll be interested in hearing your assessments as your work with it more. Thanks for your help!

you mean whether I ever recommend NOT to buy a dvd or NOT recommend a dvd?
Well I'm fast in advocating the purchase of dvds since I (unfortunately!) have the mentality of "you can never have too much... (insert my craze of the moment: shoes, fitness stuff, dance dvds, makeup ...)".

Really really advocate the purchase of a dvd is rather seldom in ratio to how many I've got - I don't tell which dvds I could have done without most of the time :)

I went ahead and ordered this, because it's Leila and it's ridiculously affordable, and I haven't been in the market for a beginner dvd in eons. Still, it looks like there might just be some cool stuff to learn from it! Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Dina!

Taj, I hope you like it too :)

I've been dancing for 11 years, dance in restaurants, private parties, and teach weekly classes and workshops, so I'm maybe not the "target audience" for this dvd, but based on my admiration for Leila, and the reviews here and on Amazon, I just bought this. (And I was buying a gift for my husband for Father's Day-"from the 2 year old"- and needed to spend an extra $3 to get free shipping, so I figured, what the heck.

I'm always interested in seeing how others approach beginning belly dance, I love to see different explanations, so I thought it would be worth it for that- it's SO cheap, and it sounds like it's really jammed full of a lot of information.

When I get it (and watch it), I'll post a review here.

I'm so curious how you will like it!

Has anyone worked with this any more? Any more to report about teaching quality, etc? Does she do any drilling of movements or is it more like Jenna's Basics—show it a couple of times and move on?

Oh, and Dina, I love how you always encourage people to get the best DVDs—I didn't mean to make it sound like I was criticizing in any way. You're a great enabler for those of us that want to be enabled! Actually, I do remember you politely steering me away from a few popular DVDs on another occasion, so that's a big reason I tend to pay attention to your recommendations. Thanks for your honest assessments!

Hi Alexa! I did not get anything in a criticizing way? Do you mean the fact you asked for other opinions? I think that's wise!!
I would not want to bear sole responsibility of someone's hard earned money to be spent on dvds they may not be as happy with as I'd promised :)