Vashti’s Gypsy Passion: Belly Dance Fusion Choreography With Skirt
November 30, 2009 by admin
Filed under Belly Dancing DVD's
Amazon.com
In the first half of this 2 hour DVD, Vashti goes over Gypsy stylization and technique. This section includes: Arms and Posture, Skirt Work, The Zambra Step, Vuelta de Pasos, and The Rumba Step. In the second half of the DVD, … More >>
Vashti’s Gypsy Passion: Belly Dance Fusion Choreography With Skirt
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I enjoyed learning the choreography on this DVD tremendously. I do have to admit that the music had to “grow” on me, but it was exactly the style of gypsy dance I was looking to learn. Pooh on those who are upset that it is not “Turkish” gypsy. You can see the style of gypsy dance from the cover costume that Vashti wears. The choreography goes very well with the music. If you want to get an idea of the dance before you invest in the DVD, you can check out YouTube (do a search for “Majesty of Dawn”) to see the dance (with some minor alterations) and hear the music. Pooh also on those who criticize the front/back presentations of the dance. I find them extremely helpful. She not only shows front/back during instruction, but also performs the entire dance from both the front and the back, and having the back view helps when you’re trying to do the dance along with the video.
One thing Vashti does is slow her counting on the “Interlude” sections, counting two beats as one, when the tempo is actually the same as before, but without the background rhythm instrumentation. In other words, the tempo of the music doesn’t really change, but the “feel” of the music does, and so does Vashti’s counting, which might be confusing if you’re like me and want to count to the same tempo as the rest of the song. Her odd counting tempo crops up again in the “chassé, pas de bourée” section, which she counts as “one-and-two, three-and-four.” If you try to do it at that tempo, you will go crazy. It’s actually done to counts of eight: one-two-three (hold four), five-six-seven (hold eight). That said, it is still an excellent DVD, and the counts are very easy to follow if you bear the above in mind.
Another good thing about this DVD is that the music can be downloaded for a buck — very helpful for those of us with budgets. It’s annoying to pay top dollar for a dance instruction DVD, and then find you also have to pay for an entire CD, or find that the music in unavailable.
I hope Vashti comes out with another instructional DVD. I will be first in line to buy it if she does.
Rating: 5 / 5
Vashti’s Gypsy Passion was not entirely what I was looking for, but it had good points. The women in the DVD came in all shapes and sizes, like real women do. Some of the moves were beautiful and elegant. Some moves had a lot of footwork to learn, but went unseen with the long skirt.
The techniques centered around the skirt, and did not show any moves with the torso. I would not call this so much as a belly dance tehnique, as much as an interesting skirt dance.
Rating: 3 / 5
Vashti instruction and wonderful use of the skirt with this fusion piece is great. Even if you are not using the full skirt, you can still understand the positions and apply them to your particular style. I enjoyed it and will watch it over and over and continue learning each time! It is strong and deliberate! Thanks.
Rating: 5 / 5
This dvd was a very easy to follow choreography, i did enjoy and appreciate the front and back instructions it made it so much easier to do. Love this dvd, although it doe’s help if you have done flamenco.
Rating: 4 / 5
I think this is an excellent instructional DVD. Vashti explains every move clearly and demonstrates each from both front and back. She is relaxed and confident at all times. Her dancers display different body types which is an advantage when producing a DVD for a wide audience.
Her choreography is interesting and varied with use of both arm movements and skirt flourishes to emphasize the steps, which are mostly Spanish fusion. These steps are based on the Spanish Gypsy style of dance, and I feel that to complain that it was not ‘gypsy enough’, as some reviewers have, is totally unfair. Belly dancing was carried from India, throuhout the Middle East and into Spain, by the travelling gypsy bands, and developed its own footprint in each region. The Spanish gypsy style developed into Flamenco, which is danced in Spain to this day.
The production is good quality, with just one point where the sound seemed to fade slightly. The dancers costumes are beautiful with sufficient changes to keep the viewer interested. The movements of the dancers are always clear, whether viewed from front or back.
Altogether I feel it is a very worthwhile purchase, good value for money and one of the best instructional DVDs I own in the belly dance fusion style.
Rating: 5 / 5