Thread: The Body Language of Bellydance DVD

What an interesting concept!

Indeed Lauren! I'm going to watch when I'm home with the sound.

looks interesting!

I wondered how long it would take for them to come out with something like this. The whole Delsarte and body "language" concepts are long overdue for an instructional dvd.

I've always been impressed by the theatricality and expressiveness of the WDNY crew, and how they incorporate those elements into their instructional dvds. I'm especially thinking of Sarah Skinner and her Veil and Opulent Motion dvd. Those two went way beyond the standard of just showing basic movements, and really got you thinking of the body language behind the movements.

This looks like an exciting release and one even an experienced dancer can work with for a long time. I can't wait to get it!!

anyone know when this is projected to be released?

Originally Posted by jamielynn

anyone know when this is projected to be released?

Yes, Jamielynn, somebody knows...and it's me! It's me!

Answer is: THIS MONTH!

Official release date is as usual the last Tuesday of the month and I think we might just might have the DVD in the mail to those who pre-order on that very day, or only very shortly thereafter. The way it works is, as soon as we receive the DVDs from the factory we mail them out -- to you, if you have pre-ordered, or to Amazon.com and other retailers who buy them from us to sell to their customers. It will take amazon.com and others some days to receive the new DVDs and 'turn them around' and send them to you, so if you want it 'first' it's always best to order directly from worlddancenewyork.com (if you are in the US or APO) or worlddancenewyork-worldwide.com (if you are outside the US) :)

lll

We have just posted a huge image of the cover of this DVD at the World Dance New York website (here...)

(FROM THE BACK COVER)
The Body Language of Bellydance is a catalog of poses, gestures, arm patterns, hand flourishes, and accents used in bellydance. These are the elements of expressivity, all here for you to add-to or layer-on your dance steps to infuse them with meaning and emotional color, make them evocative, and tell a story. You will quickly find yourself stringing poses and gestures together to transform separate elements into the body language phrases that make bellydance speak.

World Dance New York's new Movement Catalog Series is not traditional dance instruction. Rather, these DVDs are like interactive dictionaries where you can look up demonstrations of specific dance elements. Each element is displayed with an accompanying commentary. The program is 'open level,' appropriate for anyone who is creating choreography.

When you are working on a choreography with The Body Language of Bellydance DVD on your screen, you will find you have a ready source of moves and inspiration. It is also helpful as a learning tool in that it provides an entire system of moves - not just the few select steps that can be offered in a class or the typical instructional video.

The first section of The Body Language of Bellydance catalog arranges a collection of dance body language phrases by theme and emotion: Spiritual experience...majesty...sensual goddess... drama and flirtation...compassion...ritual...dream...inspira tion...mystery, and other archetypes: A dictionary of emotional flavors. If you are seeking to infuse your dance with meaning and amplify its emotional expressivity, the pose and gesture combinations in this section will help you unlock the story-telling potential in your dance without sacrificing dance in favor of pantomime.

The next section is a collection of arm trajectories - including poses that derive from them, and steps that can be embellished with these arm patterns.

The Trajectories into Phrases section presents elements that turn arm patterns into gestures, and poses into phrases: Entering and exiting poses, preparation and resolution, how to achieve subtle changes of emotional color and high-contrast effects.

The Accents & Angles section explores the role of body, head, and face angles, wrist circles, flips and infinity loops, an array of weight shift variations, turns, and accents, such as head turn, head toss, chest lift, and torso drop, featuring the expressive potential of these elements to form evocative, meaningful dance body language phrases.

I really like this!

What a wonderful tool to help us increase our expressiveness, musicality and improve transitions.

Bravo!

So many wonderful DVD's that I want! This is definitely on my list!

Edna

Originally Posted by Scott@WDNY

Yes, Jamielynn, somebody knows...and it's me! It's me!

Answer is: THIS MONTH!

Official release date is as usual the last Tuesday of the month and I think we might just might have the DVD in the mail to those who pre-order on that very day, or only very shortly thereafter.

Was this released on schedule? I pre-ordered one from you at the same time I pre-ordered your new Shimmy Workout. I received the Shimmy Workout but am still chewing my nails waiting on The Body Language of Bellydance.
:unsure:

<-Huge Neon fan.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Ariadne_Eleni

Was this released on schedule? I pre-ordered one from you at the same time I pre-ordered your new Shimmy Workout. I received the Shimmy Workout but am still chewing my nails waiting on The Body Language of Bellydance.
:unsure:

<-Huge Neon fan.

Thanks.

The Body Language of Bellydance has a release date of July 26th, so I wouldn't expect in the mail before August.

Thank you Sage. I tried to find the release date on their site but evidently I don't know where to look.

This looks really interesting...I already use and teach some of the concepts in this, wasn't aware it was Delsarte (don't know a huge amount about that), but something systematic like this would be a massively useful tool. FWIW Sara Farouk (based in Egypt, teaches regularly in UK, great teacher!) is very keen on dancers understanding body language and seems to work something about it into most of the workshops she teaches (from my experience).

Does anyone know how this overlaps with / complements Alimah's Meaning in Motion?

Anyone look at their copy yet?

I would love to hear feedback from someone who has this one.

It just arrived last night. Patience.

Anyone? Kinda wondering if this has a mini workout flow? If so, how long?

Wow - awesome, I love especially the format as well! Just bought - looking forward to it!

Ok! We've been patient... has anyone had a chance to work with the DVD yet?

lol I have only watched it but I am very impressed.

It is exactly what it is advertised to be, a catalog of body-language. It's broken into segments of; theme and emotion, arm trajectories, trajectories into phrases, and accents & angles. There is also sample "choreographies" and performances. The chaptering is impressive and makes it easy to look up any subject under any category at anytime. If you want to follow along and practice there is also the option to watch with the narration turned off and only the music playing. If you select music only it will start it from the beginning but selecting the menu after that will let you go directly to a subject with the narration still off.

I would honestly recommend this to any dancer who wants to see just what impression she may have already been giving without realizing it or who wants to polish a choreography to add extra meaning and/or more closely reflect their music.

Originally Posted by deelybopper

This looks really interesting...I already use and teach some of the concepts in this, wasn't aware it was Delsarte (don't know a huge amount about that), but something systematic like this would be a massively useful tool. FWIW Sara Farouk (based in Egypt, teaches regularly in UK, great teacher!) is very keen on dancers understanding body language and seems to work something about it into most of the workshops she teaches (from my experience).

Does anyone know how this overlaps with / complements Alimah's Meaning in Motion?

I bought both body language of bellydance and alimah's meaning in motion. they go perfectly together. I love the combos on lima's dvd and neon's dvd was eye opening for me. I have both for sale in the swap meet if anyone is interested.

When I first saw this trailer I admit that I was turned off because it is culturally removed from Middle Eastern Dance. When I read the title, I expected an insight into Arab body language that would help me connect to my Middle Eastern audiences on a deeper level when I dance.

WDNY products are exceptionally well produced and looking at this again, 6 months later, I can see it as a valuable tool. I recognize that more and more, Raks Sharqi is presented to Western audiences as bellydance and is become something else. In fact, my regular gig is at a Greek restaurant for international audiences who are rarely of Middle Eastern background. For this reason, I now see the value of this DVD.

However, what is now apparently and urgently lacking is an equivalent video providing insight into Middle Eastern body language. Neon is not an appropriate choice for that one and very few Master teachers are, in my opinion. Dancers who come to mind for that project (and are available to us in the West) include Denise Enan, Fatem Salama, Dina, Randa, possibly Yasmina of Cairo and Leila b/c they've lived in Egypt long enough, Sahra Saeeda, Samasem, Raqia Hassan, etc. A producer for that product would have to be very selective and have an interpreter of sorts to ensure authenticity. I could see both Egyptian/Lebanese and Turkish sections. I'm excited for this and I hope someone with the right connections and resources takes this on. I'll buy it in a heartbeat!

One day I will probably work with Neon's DVD but I hope this important idea is properly balanced with an equivalent product that reminds us of the important roots of our favourite dance.