Bellydance Superstars: Every Shimmy in the Book With Bozenka (2008) Review

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My first impression of this video: disbelief. The producers of Every Shimmy in the Book with Bozenka must surely know that there are a lot of well-known shimmy instruction videos out there. Including one called 21 Shimmies. Why then do they go and create the expectation that this is the last word in shimmies, spanning everything possible? Not only is this video failing to live up to the expectation that this is an absolute encyclopedia of shimmies, but it's going on to reinforce that expectation with a subtitle that goes:"A bellydancer's complete guide to hip perfection". Well, if it's a bellydancer's guide, why is it so basic and brief? If it's a complete guide, where are the rest of the shimmies? If it's about hip perfection, where are all the other hip moves and where are the practice or drill sessions to make you perfect? Well, they're not on this video, unless I'm totally missing something. I do indeed have rather poor eyesight and if there are some subtle menus leading to lots more content on this video, I haven't found them.
I know that Bozenka is a greatly admired dancer and many of my bellydancer friends have been to her workshops and loved her, but that doesn't mean it's okay to put out poorly conceptualized content. If this were the first shimmy video in the world, I'm sure it would have been great. But I've seen more detailed shimmy instruction on general belly dance videos, let alone shimmy-specialized ones. Perhaps a simple and honest "Shimmy with Bozenka" would have been better.
But my problem with this video isn't just nit-picking about a title. There are 12 shimmies covered here and 12 is good enough for me. In fact 3 or 4 are enough for me! But not more than 2 minutes is spent on any one of these. For a beginner, that's not anywhere near enough. For an already-dancer, it gives nothing that isn't covered everywhere else. For everyone else in between - knock yourself out if you have the money to spare. There's no detailed breakdown, no practice, no drills. There's a warm up and cool down on the video but why I'm not sure because the instruction isn't really formatted for do-along mode - it's more demo mode. So each shimmy goes through in this format
-Let me demonstrate (30 secs)
-Let's break it down slightly (30 secs)
-Look with the camera close at a slower demo (30 secs)
-Let's try it together up to speed (30 secs)
Over and out. In two New York minutes.
I tired learning the Hagala shimmy here,but the instruction was so brief I couldn't figure out where you add a twist in the sequence. In the shoulder shimmy section, there are zero tips on how to actually isolate the shoulders properly from the torso. I wouldn't blame a beginner for trying to twist the entire upper body one is still learning the shoulder shimmy, it would be nice to get into posture, neck position, keeping the hands still, keeping it out of the chest, and so on. But there are no posture or safety tips. Assuming this is for intermediate dancers then, where's the detail? Where are the variations?
So. The shimmies covered here are:
Shoulder shimmy
Basic shimmy
Shimmy on the toes
¾ Shimmy
¾ Shimmy side-to-side
¾ twist--Hagala
Bedouin shimmy
Egyptian shimmy
Tension shimmy - Freeze
Pelvic shimmy
Twist shimmy
Steady shimmy
All said and done though, Bozenka shimmies beautifully. As a belly dance friend described it, "juicily". But I'm afraid she doesn't really end up telling us the secret of that smoothness. If you're so advanced that you can take one look and figure it out, well, you're lucky. I'm as clueless as I was to begin with.
She performs a drum solo on this videoimprovisation which is rather nice in its simplicity. But incredibly, the same drum solo features in the bonus section! How generous is that! TThere's an interview with Bozenka in which she tells you how excited she is about the whole concept of the DVD. But what concept, I'm not sure. There are no new concepts that I could spot in this video that has come at a time when there are plenty of specialized videos on shimmies. And when many non specialized videos take up some basic shimmies in thorough detail and practice.
There's also a little interview with Bozenka and Issam. They talk about the importance of improvising.
Bozenka is such a smooth and wonderful dancer that I can't help feeling this whole video is a lost opportunity - not to mention a lot of lost money. On her website it's listed as $30. This is much-loved Bozenka - she should have given you something more Bozenka-specific!
Another BDSS disappointment.

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Product Description:
The Shimmy is unique to bellydancing and it is this movement in particular that distinguishes this dance form from any other.In this DVD, Bozenka teaches twelve different types of shimmies.She carefully selected the top shimmies used in drum solos and included her favorite ones too.Bozenka breaks down each shimmy and describes them in a way only she can, helping the student gain confidence, endurance and correct execution of movement. After being repeatedly requested to teach shimmies during seminars, she was inspired to gather the top 12 shimmies and put them in a DVD for students to take home. Bozenka is admired for her powerful, yet relaxed and earthy shimmies.A useful learning tool for students of all levels and a teaching tool for instructors, this is one DVD that any bellydancer should include in her video collection whether a beginner or the most advanced of dancers.

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