Sensual Bellydance (2007) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I just got this the other day, bought it more or less on a whim, but what a great deal. Quick FYI: The info said it was 60 minutes, but it's actually 2 hours of dance/instruction.
Blanca is very pretty, very serene, with a soft accent, which sounds very soothing. She's not perky with a huge grin splitting her face in two and she's not all bouncy and bubbly, none of that instant best friend vibe, just pleasant and serene.
It's a sensual dance instruction and she wears her part very well. The settings are very nice, not distracting, and she wears great costumes for teaching (you can see her legs when she does the moves). You can also see her perform the dances in full costume and she's very lovely to watch.
My husband really liked the music and the dance style for its sensuality and slow, languid movements. I watched one of the dances first and thought, 'wow, I'd like to move like her.' She moves like liquid, like silk, whatever elegant, graceful, flowing metaphor you want.
Instructionwise, she breaks everything down very well, from snake arms, using a lot of descriptive terms (like your arms are moving through honey, is one example), hip circles, figure 8's, and so on. Then she builds on these initial, isolated movements, and you learn more layers, combinations, steps, and build on and on. She even explains alignment, how to align your head, for example, to look more graceful. It's a bit like the Jillina dance instruction dvds, in how she gives you the basics and you build on and on until you are doing a choreographed dance. And of course you can skip and just do the basics or dance along with her, or just watch Blanca, which is what I want to do in addition to learning to dance like her.
The music is very nice too and the dances are slow and languid, nothing super fast, but your muscles will feel it nonetheless. It would be fine for beginner dancers or for intermediates. She doesn't spend a huge amount of time on each move, so you do get a lot for 2 hours, but you can always rewind 15 or 30 seconds and review.
I've got 20 to 30 bellydance dvds and vhs tapes at home and while I've seen and worked out to a lot: Mara, Jillina, Bellytwins, Kathy Smith (just that one), Bellyqueen, Bellydance Superstars, Suhaila, East Coast Tribal, American Tribal and more, I still am very happy with the dvd. It's shot a good angles (not distracting or only focused on the abs), the production is very good, and it's a nice focus on flowing dance. It's not something you pop in to learn a couple moves for the club, but a lovely sensual routine to stretch and dance to. Venus is the right name because it is very sensual and elegant and beautiful.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sensual Bellydance (2007)

Product Description:
In Blanca's Sensual Bellydance, you will discover how sensual dance radiates from deep inside you; how your whole body can flow like silk, and how your movements can be beautifully interwoven, breathing with meaningful, effortless grace.

The core of Blanca's program is the Sensual Bellydance Flow [beginner-intermediate].These are sequences of steps building from simple isolated moves to layered moves.Footwork, arm/hand patterns and head angles are gradually combined for the effect of total coordination and effortless control.

Sensuality is translated into dance through connectedness -- the wave-like echoing and interweaving of movements. A special section of sensual poses and fluid transitions is designed to improve your pacing.Slowing the pace into a still pose helps you to learn measured, uncluttered dance phrasing.This section offers a 40-minute music only option -- you can follow Blanca's voice prompts, or practice a non-stop flow ofcombinations with music-only.

In the Technique section Blanca offers a step-by-step breakdown of the movement vocabulary for the Flow and introduces her core method: Progressions --the gradual layering of bellydance moves on footwork with a special attention to body and head angles, arm positions, and patterns.

The last section includes a step-by-step breakdown, a demonstration, and two performances of Blanca's "Venus" choreography [intermediate] - a perfect opportunity to practice sensual bellydance!

Currently (June, 2008) and for more than eight months, this DVD, Blanca's Sensual Bellydancehas been the bestselling bellydance DVD among the more than 240 on sale at Amazon.com.

Get 10% OFF