Bellydancers

[NovelNerd]

I have some important questions/advice to ask. Let me give some background so you know how to judge my abilities. I took private lessons for two years, but I haven't danced in about a year roughly since I moved. I wouldn't say I'm a pure beginner, but I'm not an expert either. I'm looking to get back in shape and dance again also improve of course. My problem being is that belly dance dvds are so expensive! I cannot find any decent ones to test out on Netflix, and my net connection is so slow videos usually don't work (I dislike watching them anyway for dancing). Right now I'm watching and going through the first season of Shimmy. I actually really like it. I was curious if anyone had recommendations.

I'm looking for something with veil and floorwork (I've never done this), maybe something that goes over basic moves as a refresher and then something more challenging. Thanks!

[Radiance]

http://www.amazon.com/Amiras-Bellydance-Dancing-Basics-Beginners/dp/B001W2HZ0S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1340210246&sr=8-6&keywords=belly+dance+dvd

That one's good for very basic moves. It's the one I do. I took a few weeks of classes but the other girls were all so much better than me that I quit. I'd like to move on to something more challenging soon. I still have to master a few basic moves though.

[NovelNerd]

http://www.amazon.com/Amiras-Bellydance-Dancing-Basics-Beginners/dp/B001W2HZ0S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1340210246&sr=8-6&keywords=belly+dance+dvd

That one's good for very basic moves. It's the one I do. I took a few weeks of classes but the other girls were all so much better than me that I quit. I'd like to move on to something more challenging soon. I still have to master a few basic moves though.

Thanks I will check it out. Aww you should have kept going! Everyone has to start somewhere and they all know that. Were you taught by one teacher or a group? If it was a group you might go back and ask if they did private lessons. I know with ours they took turns giving lessons, but did private lessons since that was more money for the individual. You might youtube the Shimmy season. I really like it. It goes over basic movies a few at a time, but it also combines them for like little mini lessons. I dunno it's still basic, but it's faster paced than the normal moves learning dvds. It's also a fun workout. I know it's kinda expensive even for bellydance dvds (mine was 50), but it has two discs.

[melodys_angel]

If Dragonfly sees this, im sure she can help you out <3

[Eviecorn]

Don't really have any useful advice, but I love and respect the art of belly dancing. 

[Kiwi]

I'm not experienced with bellydancing at all, but I'd suggest checking out the video section at Value Village and similar stores - I've seen a number of fitness-type videos there. Also garage sales, or just sales bins at video stores.

[kaoskat]

It sounds fun. I have no useful advice though I'm afraid. Best of luck though!

[StoryDreamer]

I've seen cheap belly dancing videos at bookstores and Half Price books, etc sometimes. Maybe Amazon used?

[NovelNerd]

I've seen cheap belly dancing videos at bookstores and Half Price books, etc sometimes. Maybe Amazon used?

True, and this doesn't apply to all but from my experience normally cheap ones aren't very good. V.V

[michelle53]

Hello fellow belly dancer!!  What style of belly dance are you most interested in?  There are some cool videos on youtube that show choreographed dances and some 'how to' videos.  Where are you located hunny?  Depending on where you live, some Community Colleges offer really inexpensive 8-12 week courses that go over a lot of the skills you're interested in.   I loved the Shimmy series when it first came out, but now I can't seem to find it anymore.  I do a lot with veil and zill work, and perhaps I could persuade my instructor to video tape a few sessions for you:) 
I love belly dance!!   I honestly think every woman should try it:)

[dragonfly]

Check the Bellydance Superstars DVDs; if I remember right, they have some advanced discs with veil movements.

[Radiance]

I was taking group lessons, and the lesson after the beginners was the advanced girls. They'd all crash the beginner lesson to warm up before their class. Not very considerate of us self conscious newbies, you know? The spring session has already begun but I plan on taking lessons again this fall. I shouldn't have let those more experienced girls run me off.

[Alexia]

I took classes at college years ago and loved it. You might try your local library, though a lot of times they aren't that advanced but sometimes you can request something specific and your library can borrow it from another library.   I am hoping to get back into it after the baby is born, belly dancing is an unbelievable work out!!

[NovelNerd]

Hello fellow belly dancer!!  What style of belly dance are you most interested in?  There are some cool videos on youtube that show choreographed dances and some 'how to' videos.  Where are you located hunny?  Depending on where you live, some Community Colleges offer really inexpensive 8-12 week courses that go over a lot of the skills you're interested in.   I loved the Shimmy series when it first came out, but now I can't seem to find it anymore.  I do a lot with veil and zill work, and perhaps I could persuade my instructor to video tape a few sessions for you:) 
I love belly dance!!   I honestly think every woman should try it:)

Well the style I took lessons with was a bit of a Cabaret fusion, but I'm open to different styles. I'm just interested in learning. Also I live in Arkansas, I've looked it up and the only thing my area offers is Zumba and Yoga. My ex teacher is two hours away which is just too far for lessons. If you could convince your instructor to do that it would be wonderful! No pressure though. OOoh have you tried this link here to find the Shimmy seasons? This is where I got mine. http://www.shimmy.tv/

Renee: They might not have meant to be rude though! I know my friend always did those newbie things to warm up. They might not even have thought of it that way. I can see how it would make you nervous though yeah.

Dragon : Thank you. I'll take a look at those and see what I can find. >3

Alexia: We actually don't have a very big local library. I don't think they would have something I could use, but you never know. Oooh my teacher had a baby and she danced up till pretty close to having it. Lol that was interesting.

[SoSoftSurprise]

Hello madhatterda 
I've been teaching and performing belly dance for 10 years and I know it can be frustrating with those DVD prices even when they're used. But I agree with the above stated that YouTube is a belly dancer's best friend and sometimes you can preview videos on youtube before you buy. (depending on the video) And the Belly Dance Super Stars do have some good ones out there that are quite detailed.
 
What I tell my students is to get deeper into the home videos of YouTube and don't just use "belly dance" as your key search phrase. Try searching for Oriental Dance, or Dansa du Ventre (French), or Danca do Ventre (Spanish), or even Lebanese or Turkish Belly dance, etc ... and some of those non-english videos can be quite helpful. If you've had at least two years then a lot of the time it can be helpful to learn just by imitating cool moves that you see someone else do. In many cultures, dance is learned by pure imitation. 
 
But if you really need explanations of something you just can't figure out, then another source might be online classes. There is a belly dancer named Karen Barbee in Texas and she offers online classes. She has her own style which can seem a little robotic at times, but she really can teach you the actual moves and then you put your own style on them. I would recommend you look her up if you're interested.
http://www.bellydancefun.com/   -- Online lessons from Karen
http://www.karavansa.com/video/ -- Her main website if you're curious
 
 
Feel free to message me if you like. I can talk belly dance all day. LOL
~SoSoftSurprise