Combination Nation Vol 1: Belly Dance Instruction with America’s Hottest Performers

Comments

1. Cari L. Campbell says:

   January 30, 2010 at 11:53 pm

   Let me say that this DVD was worth it to me just for Summer Sahar’s combos (of which there were 2!. I found her combos to be very unique and I just resonate the most with her style. I didn’t like all of the combos or instructors styles (who does?), but I love Summer and Shoshanna, and Aradia is always good!
   
   Unlike the previous reviewer, I did not find these to be advanced or particularly long- I was able to learn them quite quickly and some I skipped altogether because I thought they were too simple (Ruby’s combo, for example). I found the length of the combos to be perfect; not too short that I couldn’t do anything with it but not too long that I lost interest.
   
   I think this is a good DVD for an advanced beginner or intermediate dancer, or I guess even if you are an advanced dancer and are just stuck in a rut, and it is nice to get combos from people whom I otherwise would not be able to take workshops from.
   
   As far as how it was filmed, the dancer faces a mirror and it is filmed from behind and it is very easy to follow along and see what is happening. I do wish that at the beginning of the instructional part of the combo the instructor would show the whole combo in its entirety so I can see what’s it going to look like before they start to teach. That way I know what I’m learning and have an overall picture. But that’s a small gripe on an otherwise well produced DVD.
   
   Overall, I recommend this DVD for the intermediate dancer looking to get some nice, basic combos- there’s nothing too complicated here and it’s just good, classic belly dancing.

   (PS- Michelle, I would love an entire DVD devoted to Summer!)
   Rating: 4 / 5
2. M. J. Dance says:

   January 31, 2010 at 1:00 am

   Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R18CD8GMPGBQ9S
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Shannon B Davis says:

   January 31, 2010 at 1:29 am

   Combination Nation Vol I is a DVD designed for intermediate and advanced dancers featuring combinations from a variety of professional bellydancers. All the combinations are taught from a 3/4 position facing a mirror, so that you can see both the front and back simultaneously while following along without having to reverse-mirror, much like a classroom.

   Notably the instructors all seemed to wear their preferred dance gear, showing her own personality. In some other video production companies, dancers all have to wear the same style of outfit for teaching.

   For the individual combinations, they can be quite long. While I may think of a combination as an 8 or 16 beat series of movements, combinations on this DVD are more like short bits of choreography. It works well because all the combinations are set to music from Ya Bahaia, and one of the great things is that if you’re a musically-inclined person like myself, you’ll enjoy that the combinations match the music well. Each instructor had her own style, whether she chose to repeat a section, or how many steps she would teach before reviewing. Some instructors went into detail on technique as well. For every combination, it was taught first without music, and then reviewed with music several times. Most instructors made an effort to make their combination reversible or at least return to the same position to start over again.

   There are several different styles on here, from Egyptian to Tribalesque to American. I am not an expert in Tribal by any means, but Ruby’s combination seemed to evoke a tribal-fusion feeling to me. Ahava, of course, taught a long combination with an Egyptian feeling, with souhair zaki down hips and shimmies, every move complemented the music perfectly. Summer Sahar had two balletic combinations, for which one could best prepare using Ballet for Bellydancers from this same production company. Aradia made reference to the great Egyptian teachers from whom she learned certain moves, and taught style along with movement. Princess Farhana’s combination featured belly undulations and a juicy feeling.

   It could take a dancer a long time to get through this whole DVD, like a leisurely meal at a tapas bar. Although each combination is only a small bite into that instructor, they are each long enough experience that one feels satisfied. If one were so inclined, one could choose to do a combination per day. I doubt very many people would make it through the two hour DVD in one sitting. For this reason, it’s a good investment for purchase, because a dancer can use it and return to it over time.
   Rating: 4 / 5