Secrets of the Stage Volume 3: A Performance Course for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce
February 1, 2010 by admin
Filed under Belly Dancing DVD's
Product Description
Topics Covered: DANCING TO LIVE MUSIC – Dancers these days just don t seem to have as many opportunities to dance to live music and are out of their comfort zone when performing with a band. In this section… More >>
Secrets of the Stage Volume 3: A Performance Course for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce
After I watch a DVd, I notice what,”sticks”. There was a lot in this one. The makeup section shows how to do professional stage makeup, and I LOVED the arabic tutorial at the end. The section on creativity was fantastic, with several really down to earth things said that stuck with me ( one dancer said that you need ,”input” as well as ,”output”)…the live dancing section was a hair too lengthy, but also super informative. Another great DVD from Michelle.
Rating: 5 / 5
Disclaimer
I am reviewing this from a complimentary preview copy I was lucky enough to obtain. I feel that I am an advanced “begintermediate” dancer, so please take that into consideration.
Dancing to Live Music
Yikes! The thought of dancing to live music sounds terrifying. Performing for a live audience to recorded music is challenging enough. In this section, five performances to live music are shown and voiceover by the dancer and sometimes the band members comment on the process. Communication between the dancer and the band, before, during, and after the show is very important. I just didn’t realize how much until viewing this section. Advice is given on dancing to the music successfully, working with the band, performance tips, etiquette, and how not to stress out. Apparently, a little good band etiquette goes a long, long way in nixing stressing out scenarios. As I said, I have no desire to dance to live music so I didn’t expect to appreciate this section as much as I did. The dancers’ obvious love of dancing to live music and the musicians’ enjoyment working with dancers to provide a unique, fluid performance experience was simply contagious. I felt this section educated me as an audience member as well as a bellydancer.
Creativity & Inspiration
Michelle Joyce introduces this section with a recommendation for the book, The Artist’s Way. This is a book meant to help artists tap into their creativity, but not for dancers per se. Neon gave us “story” and Nadira Jamal “noodling” via their instructional dvds. Michelle has given us The Artists Way as a tool, but I would have liked some concrete examples on how she has modified exercises from this book to serve a dancer’s needs. Some of us need a little more help. Well, maybe a lot of help, lol. This section, however, focuses on the creativity & inspiration of well-known dancers: Adriana, Bahaia, and Luna and I feel my request would have interrupted the flow. Nevertheless, it would be nice if Michelle could share her creativity exercises in written or clip format. Possibly, a Secrets of the Stage “More Secrets” club on her website where purchasers could access additional information through a code.
The performances of Adriana, Bahaia, and Luna in this section exemplify that a cookie cutter belongs in the kitchen and not on the stage. Each one dances beautifully in her own way. During the performances, each dancer shares what inspires her and how she fills her dance well from dry to overflowing. There was some overlap of tips between the dancers, but to me that serves to highlight the truth inherent in the advice–it works. It was reassuring to hear that these well-known dancers go through a specific process and that it is not always easy to birth their dance. The main point I took from this section is that Dance is 10% Inspiration and 90% Perspiration. The less well-known dancer, the semi-graceful, and the beginner should all be very inspired by that alone. If not, fine emergency chocolate might be necessary.
Your Professional Image
I have no professional aspirations, so I won’t be spending money on a photographer. A cute bellydancer vanity picture at some point might be nice so I appreciate the do-it-yourself tips. This section with professional photographer, Michael Baxter, is short and interesting. He give tips on how to prepare for your photo shoot physically and mentally, what to bring, do’s and don’ts of a good photo, and examples of a variety of attractive dancer photos. More could be said on the subject, but I feel the most important tip Michael Baxter offers is that your photo should be “alive” rather than a two-dimensional rendering. A dancer represents The Dance well when he or she appears vibrant, alive, and caught in a moment of dance.
In the make-up section, Adriana puts her show face on step-by-step. The results are very nice and I wish I could look like that for a performance! I know I’m going to spend some more time working with this section. Not all dancers, however, are in their 20′s (or look like they are) and a few makeup don’ts were mentioned regarding the older dancer. It also would have been nice to have some flattering do’s on that topic or another dancer’s pre-made face to compare and contrast to Adriana’s.
Survival Arabic For Dancers
I enjoyed the micro Arabic lesson in this section and found the cultural notes very interesting. It would be nice if other installments of Secrets of the Stage further explored the topic of survival Arabic. Even better, if Leyla’s two-hour workshop (or more) was put on dvd. I attended a workshop where the presenter recounted a story of a dancer embarrassing herself by dancing to a catchy, but unfortunate choice of songs. Maybe, some cautionary material would also be appropriate.
Thoughts
Each section of the dvd is divided into an introduction and logical sub-headings making navigation and exploration a pleasure. You don’t have to wade through unwanted material to get to the information you want and if you are rushed for time, just view a sub-chapter. The slim case also comes in handy for the bellydance dvd collector.
Michelle Joyce’s Secrets of the Stage series offers information a bellydancer often does not have access to in class. Information that would take time and effort to obtain is now easily available by purchasing this dvd or others in the series. What a convenience. I enjoyed all of the topics covered in this dvd and, as a matter of fact, I feel that each topic had the potential to become its own dvd. Yes, there is always more to learn, but I feel that the content of Secrets of the Stage 3 is both varied and valuable.
Rating: 5 / 5
I really enjoy all the videos Michelle produces. This was full of great information. The first section was about live drumming. Different dancers were interviewed. You see there dance clip as they are talking and giving tips on how to dance to live music. There was a section with make up tips, photography tips and how to prepare for a photo shoot. And also some basic Arabic. A great video!
Rating: 5 / 5
In the “Secrets of the Stage” series, a variety of professional dancers give their insights on various topics in bellydance performance. The first segments of Volume 3 feature terrific performance clips, with voice overs by the dancers on dancing to live music, and creativity and inspiration. The music used in the performances is fully credited, so that if you hear something you would like to have, you can find it: Being produced by a dancer, there are many such touches in this DVD. The image/make-up segment showed performance make-up application, and had some great make-up and photo tips! The “Survivial Arabic” segment focused on basic words commonly heard in song lyrics. I thought this segment might be dull and dry, but Leyla Lanty made it almost unbelievably interesting.
I think a dancer is lucky to find one great mentor. The unique “Secrets of the Stage” DVDs bring you many.
Rating: 5 / 5
Such good advice and it’s stuff you don’t find on other dvd’s. All the info was helpful but I especially liked hearing from the non-bellydancers. As someone nervous about dancing to a live band it was nice to hear from one of them. It also includes advice from a bellydance photographer and a micro-Arabic lesson to help dancers identify some of the common words in songs in addition to the usual performances with voiceover from the dancers themselves.I hope Michelle keeps producing this series.
Rating: 5 / 5