Cheap Bellydance Divas (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Bellydance Divas

What I liked:
- Sohaila - She has an elegant, mature style, sweet facial expressions, and a classical "ear" for the music. I'm going to steal some of her combinations. However, I watched the entire DVD in one sitting (and it's LONG), and I found myself getting tired of her. There's just wasn't a lot of variety in her performances. If I watched one at a time, or saw her perform a single routine in person, I would have been much more impressed.
- Louchia - It was really neat to see Persian dancing. I, myself, wouldn't consider it belly dance (although I'm sure some will disagree with me), but it's good to be exposed to other dance styles from the region.
- The variety of costumes. There was huge variation in styles, and I got lots of ideas.
- The variety of dance styles. While I didn't like every performance (I'll go into why later), few videos try to give an overview like this one does.
- the DVD options were nice: you can watch all the performances in order, or all of one dancer's pieces. It would have been nice to be able to choose each piece individually, but it's not that difficult to scroll forward by chapter within each dancer's section.

What I didn't like:
- the constant sucking up to the Egyptian style. Yes, Egyptian style is very elegant and nice, but the commentary left me feeling like I shouldn't consider all other styles as lesser, as if they're not "real" belly dance. I also didn't like that they referred to American style or American cabaret style as "the traditional style".
- Rania - her technique is good, but I just can't stand her style. I found myself getting offended by her nearly-constant "sultry face". The only exception was her 9/8 (which I didn't think was that great, but she did smile in that number).
- Marina - I liked her energy, but she seemed way to frantic. She just seemed to throw herself and her props around. I got tired watching her. I've seen other performances in the Turkish style that had just as much energy but much more control.
- the camera work - others have complained, so I won't reiterate.
- while I liked that the commentary tried to be educational, I found some of what they said to be highly suspect.
- the music in the menus is MUCH louder than during the performances. I had to adjust the volume constantly, which was a pain.

This DVD is worth buying for Sohaila and Louchia, for the costumes and to pick up some new combinations. If you're a fan of Rania or Marina, you may also like it.

Another producer smitten with Rania...
This is a decent DVD, nothing too great or get excited about. The dancers are talented, some more than others, the production has good quality so that was a bonus. Overall this is a good dvd to get if you are a fan of one of the dancers featured.

Louchia: One of my favorites, unfortunately she only performs twice in this dvd which is a shame because she's such a wonderful dancer. Her interpretation of the Persian dances are very beautiful and full of life, I really enjoyed them.

Rania: Well, I think she's very beautiful, an amazing fitness instructor and businesswoman, but her dancing technique is just... in my personal opinion, not there. She just doesn't flow with the music, her music interpretation is just not strong at all. But I guess beauty and knowing the right people is something she seems to have on her side. This dvd features several of her performances.

Sohaila: Amazing dancer, my favorite!. She can flow with the music like if they were one, she doesn't overdo the movements but she doesn't minimizes them either, classic Egyptian style at its best, excellent music interpretation combined with her beauty and gorgeous costumes led her to amazing perfomances. It is a shame she doesn't get the recognition she deserves.

Marina: Very flexible and talented, good music interpretation, but sometimes bit too dramatic. I think sometimes she over-emphasizes the dance movements to the point they just don't look natural, she also spends too much time playing with her hair, distracting if you ask me. Her drum solo was fun to watch, but she seems to lose a bit of control here and there. All in all, she's a decent dancer.

I'm glad to see that we at least get a break from Jillina (a highly skilled dancer), and Ansuya (an overhyped dancer with no rhythm/talent whatsoever) and got Sohaila, Louchia and Marina instead. I personally think this could have been a better dvd if the amazing and talented Aziza (from Portland, OR) was also featured in it.

Two out of Four
I adored watching two of the bellydance Divas.....Rania and Marina. Rania is an extremely talented performer, and Marina, who is also talented, has a fabulous energy about her, I could watch her for hours! However, I was not impressed with the other two dancers, Louchia and Sohaila. Of course, that's just my opinion. I actually do recommend this video because Rania's and Marina's performances were so enjoyable that they make the video worth it! However, I would have preferred more of them and none of Louchia and Sohaila. In any event, it was interesting to see the different styles. Now, I certainly know which ones I prefer. I've seen the DVD in its entirety twice. Now, when I view it, I only go to Rania's and Marina's dances.