Who has the best veil video...

[gotraqs]

for an intermediate/advanfed level?

Thanks!

Also, anyone have a copy of their favorite for sale?

[Ainsley]

I recently bought Veil with Aziza and Smooth as Silk with Katia and would recommend both.

Aziza demonstrates moves that you can use with a rectangular veil of any fabric. I already knew a number of the moves that she teaches on this video, but there was quite a bit of material that was new to me, too, including the turn that she does in one of the IAMED shows where it looks like the veil is spiraling around her.

Katia teaches technique designed for a silk veil. She uses an extra large veil, but most of the moves also work with my standard-sized ones. Almost all of what she taught on this video was new to me: lots of moves designed to let the fabric ripple or float.

Now, I'm not selling my copies of these, of course, but I can recommend Kevin on Ebay (user name: oceanstatemedia) as a vendor. If you let him know that you're a Bhuz member, shipping is free. He's actually selling both of these DVDs right now as a package:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Smooth-as-Slik-V...QQcmdZViewItem

[kina]

Ditto on the Aziza, havne't used Katia yet, although I think in my spreee earlier this year I bought it (yeesh, that's sad). One thing though, all of hte moved can be done with a semi circular veil, your arm movements just have to be a bit bigger.

[zamora]

what are you looking for? we offer 3 ties on dvd.we use 6 different ties, but only 3 shot, 1 can be used by male or female dancers.but they are not egyptian in style, if thats what you need.
www.bellydancingbyzamoras.com

[zamora]

p.s., zorba has reviews of 2 of them, i think.

[*Shira*]

I have reviews of four veil videos on my web site at http://www.shira.net/videocenter-instruct.htm#Veil

One consideration is what type of veil work you're looking for. Egyptian style where you enter to dramatic fast music holding the veil, flourish it about a bit, then rapidly discard? American style where you enter with the veil wrapped around your body, then dance it off, and use it for the full length of a song? If American style, do you like a style that involves mostly using the veil as a frame for your undulations, or do you like a style where the veil is constantly in motion painting pictures in the air? Different videos teach different styles of using the veil, which is why I'm asking.

[gotraqs]

Originally Posted by *Shira*

I have reviews of four veil videos on my web site at http://www.shira.net/videocenter-instruct.htm#Veil

One consideration is what type of veil work you're looking for. Egyptian style where you enter to dramatic fast music holding the veil, flourish it about a bit, then rapidly discard? American style where you enter with the veil wrapped around your body, then dance it off, and use it for the full length of a song? If American style, do you like a style that involves mostly using the veil as a frame for your undulations, or do you like a style where the veil is constantly in motion painting pictures in the air? Different videos teach different styles of using the veil, which is why I'm asking.

Well, the thing is, I have used veils since I started dancing, but I have never felt that the veil is my friend. I like veil work. I don't want to do as little with it as an Egyptian style dancer, but I don't really need to dance for 6 minutes with it either. When I do restaurant sets, I generally dance with it for 2-2.5 minutes then discard it. Partly because attention span for audience is usually a little short, partly because I don't really like the blasted things anyway.

I would like a practice video that can help me use the veil as an extension of my arms, rather than trying to make the veil dance on its own. Does this make sense?

Also, I would like some neat moves to do with the veil that can be easily incorpated into many different songs.

[*Shira*]

Hmmm, if you think a practice video would be helpful, you might consider Belly Dance for Body Shaping: Upper Body from World Dance New York (Neon's company). It has three 15-minute upper body workouts - one of those is with a veil led by Tanna. For more details, see the review on my web site at http://www.shira.net/videorevws/tanna-body-upper.htm . Although it's an "exercise" routine, it certainly could be used for drills. The one warning is that it uses a lot of spinning, sometimes as much as 5 turns before stopping, so it's not a good fit for people who dislike spinning or have trouble doing it.

Believe it or not, I also think Dolphina's "Goddess Workout: Veil" video is pretty good for drilling with veils, and she tends to use "extension of the arms" types of veil moves. Again, it's designed to be a "workout" rather than veil instruction, but it's not half bad as a tool for becoming comfortable with treating the veil as an extension of the arms.

Originally Posted by gotraqs

I would like a practice video that can help me use the veil as an extension of my arms, rather than trying to make the veil dance on its own. Does this make sense?

Also, I would like some neat moves to do with the veil that can be easily incorpated into many different songs.

[Lauren_]

Originally Posted by *Shira*

or do you like a style where the veil is constantly in motion painting pictures in the air?

Ooooooh, I'd like to learn more of this style, please! What video do you recommend?

[wv_wahine]

I think the Veil with Aziza would qualify as one that teaches a variety of moves you could incorporate into different songs...she teaches about half a dozen moves, drills each one individually, then combines them into a short choreography, then does the same thing with another 5 or 6 moves.

In the beginning of the video, she talks about imagining your arms as pencils (from which the veil flows to produce shapes in the air) and reminds you to "keep your pencil on the paper", i.e. to extend your arms fully to allow air to flow under the veil, and to complete the entire motion so you get the full impact of the move. I found that image quite helpful.

[Aziza_UAE]

I loved Amaya's Veil Dancing video. Lots of techniques and some challenging moves.

[jmdruadh]

I have seen Amaya's video and Aziza's and they are both great.

For Amaya's, I'd refer you to Shira's review, but what sticks out in my mind is that she covers:
- several different wraps
- working with space with your veil (low/medium/high level space)
- lots of pretty moves
- armwork without veil

I don't know if Shira has a review for Aziza's yet, but what sticks out in my mind (not having watched it in about six months) is:
- lots of pretty moves
- nothing about wraps or coming out of them
- several moves that get you into a veil frame, and then back out
(I personally *love it* when a dancer gets into a frame in a very dancey way, rather than "dance, dance, dance, okay now I'm putting the veil into a frame, dance, dance dance.")

Another option that you might want to look into is the Ancient Art of Oriental Dance with Alexandra King. This video series is underrated because it's target audience isn't really clear. Alexandra covers a lot of moves in the "simple but elegant" category, but doesn't teach them in enough detail that a beginner could get them without outside help. I bought them at an intermediate level when I already understood the mechanics of the moves, and could focus on *how* she used them. With each volume, I got some ideas that I could incorporate immediately, and without a lot of effort. I guess it could best be described as "revisiting beginner material for the intermediate+ dancer".

Volume 1 has about half an hour of veilwork, and while it's pretty basic, it's also PRETTY. I use the wrap she teaches almost exclusively, as well as her mechanism for getting out of it. Plus, it's under $10 on amazon, so if you don't like it, it's not a huge investment.

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Art-Or...8132448&sr=8-2