Modern Tribal Belly Dance, with Asharah: Beginner tribal fusion bellydance how-to, Belly dancing instruction

Keep in mind I haven't went through the whole video except to quickly view the material. I very much liked the drills in the warm up section. However I did not like the random yoga thrown in I twisted my kneee and hurt my back trying to do the sun salutation. She doesn't really say out loud what she's doing so I was trying to do the pose while still watching the video. Not a good mixture. I do like that she has more bellyfat than alot of the bellydancers in videos have. I have kids and my tummy fat doesn't move like the skinny girls so the moves wind up looking very different. I did like that the warmup left me slightly sweaty. A workout and drilling all in one. For some of the warm up moves you would move into position and by the time she's through explaining it all your legs are tired and you've already fallen over. However I do think the warmup is based on her warmup so it's something to be built up on out of repetition. I also like how the video is 2 hours long however it is all in one clip so if you want to skip a particular warmup it's pretty hard. Also, within the first 10 minutes my arms were killing me. Which was good however it makes it hard to hold them up when you really need to. She holds hers up for every move. I guess that's something to be worked on too. The instruction on strobing and ticking is good as far as I can tell. However her demonstrations leave something to be desired. There's no passion and the locks are not sharp. Could be that she was tired by now because I believe that she did the whole 2 hours together instead of doing parts on different days. This could be very good basic information and you fill in the blanks. I don't see the years of dedication that you see in Rachel Brice or some of the others. Her moves are very generic, but again the ticking, drills, and warmup make it a good add on to your collection of bellydance videos. I believe I got my moneys worth, but don't expect really great new stuff unless you're just starting out in bellydance. Her performances are also some of the worst I've seen short of newbies. There's very little attitude or basic bellydance. She flows more than moves, even when she's trying to tick or lock. Her second performance looks very much like a watered down copy of Kami's on Bellydance Fundamentals.Update 3/7/13: After having this and several other dvds for over a year, this one has become the one I turn to the most. I still have yet to have been all the way through the dvd, but I focus mainly on the conditioning. I want to perfect and build that muscle and the memory before moving on. Her conditioning section is THE best I have found. Less than 10 min into it your arms are dying and your waist is starting to burn. I still believe her style lacks flair, but for learning basics and speeding up those basics she is top notch.

Let me start with a preface statement: I have watched a LOT of Tribal Fusion DVDs, instructional and performance, in the last 3 years, and most have been unimpressive. In fact, most of the TF genre bores me to death. A bunch of teensy twentysomethings slavishly imitating Rachel Brice tick for tick, ornament for ornament, standing in place doing tiny little versions of breakdancing moves from the 1980's, posing oh-so-dramatically, and calling themselves "revolutionary"... give me a break. One more pretentious twit in pigtails and I'm gonna hang up my tassel belt.However, this DVD is head and shoulders above the cowrie-clone crowd. Though the instructor is as Brice-like in performance as the rest of the TF girls, this gal has CHOPS. I was attracted to this DVD because of its length and because of the extremely thorough coverage of technique. Two-plus hours of drills and movement breakdown. Even if you're not into TF dance, this is a really, really good workout for any bellydancer. She does things with her hips that I can't do after 10 years of Cabaret classes, and that impressed me. I found it to be challenging, which inspired me to keep doing it. Though, not all at once. You do this DVD full-out and you're going to be VERY sore.Her performance is nothing earth-shattering in the world of TF dance -- isn't everybody copying the Burlesque thing now anyway? -- but she is a good, solid dancer with some animation in her choreography. Level changes and etc. Doesn't just stand there looking like she's taking herself too seriously. And it's the same with her persona during instruction. She is animated, friendly, clear, and concise, and she knows her technique. I didn't get the feeling that I was being talked down to by a twelve-year-old as I have with a number of other TF DVDs.The only drawback is the production quality. For the most part she is on a blank marley-floor stage, standing in front of a green screen, and the lighting makes her skin look almost fuschia. After awhile it's very distracting. That's a big problem with these World Dance NY videos, so I took away one star. But otherwise, this DVD is WELL worth the money.If you're like me and choose to "dabble" in TF to get a couple of slinky choreography ideas to use in bellydance class, then you will be pleasantly surprised with the quality workout you get in this DVD. Definitely worth buying, and exploring. If you did this workout every day you'd be in killer condition in no time.

I'll start by saying that Ashara seriously scares me. Some of the things she does with her hips are, honest to God, scary. Dropping-your-jaw-to-the-floor-in-admiration scary.This DVD is long. Three-freaking-hours long. There is:- "a vigourous warm-up" (45 minutes long),- a technique section (an hour) in which she revises a series of upper body and lower body isolations (including omis, vertical 8s and ¾ shimmies... in other words not for beginners),- a modern tribal section (30 minutes) in which she teaches how to break down those same movements into mechanical strobing and ticking,- a choreography (20 minutes),- a yoga-based cool-down (about 8 minutes).Now. I am not an athlete by any means but I'm not THAT out of shape, and I couldn't go past the warm-up. After finishing that wicked thing I usually bee-line for the cool-down (which itself contains some VERY difficult stretches).I give up: this programme is too hard for me.Now, after having clarified that, I'll say something objective.Good parts:1. It's long. And it's cheap. Bang for bucks: check.2. She is a very good instructor and the whole thing is follow-along, with a lot (and I mean a LOT) of repetitions per movement. I may one day use one of her technique sections, especially for the Suhaila-based ¾ shimmy.3. If you are into hard physical exercise, that's for you. It's definitely hard.4. If you are not into tribal, note that actually most of the material in the DVD can be used in any style. Only the last 50 minutes are more specifically tribal.6. Even in those sections, you can find interesting things. Ticking and mechanical movements require a lot of control and make for a really hard exercise and a tough drill. To make a long story short: you may never use them in you choreos, but by doing them you will be sharpening your technique in the `classic' movements.Some bad parts:1. Ashara doesn't really provide suggestions on how to modify the more difficult stretches. Something like "Only go as far as you can go in this straddle stretch". It's common sense and one can definitely think about by oneself, but it would be nice to have it reinforced by the teacher.2. Honestly, even if you ARE into hard exercise (which I'm not as a rule, but sometimes I just want to destroy myself), how can you possibly do 45 minutes of warm-up and conditioning AND a technique section? Barring the idea of doing the whole DVD at once, how are you supposed to use it? I'm not talking only of whether or not you have the stamina to go through two or three hours of INTENSE exercise, but what about the time? I personally don't have that much time. That's another reason why I never really went past the warm-up. 45 minutes warm-up + 8 minutes cool-down is already almost an hour. I can't dedicate much more to my workouts. It would have been better if Ashara had:- Divided the warm-up into two sections, a smaller one for warming-up and a longer one for conditioning (Ariellah does something like this). This way you would have had more 1-hour options. You could have done the whole warm-up and conditioning and finished with the cool-down. Or you could have done the short warm-up and one of the other three sections plus the cool-down. Only if you felt up to the challenge and had the time to spare you could have done a longer (and tougher) workout.- Included suggestions and instructions on how to use the video more effectively. Maybe it's not like that for most people, I don't know, but if I go to an instructor it's because I assume they know more than me, and I want to be thoroughly guided. I don't like the idea of just messing up with the movements and ending up doing things wrong. However this, to be fair, is a problem you have in a lot of bellydance videos. A lot of material but not a clear explanation on how to use it to make up your daily workouts.

I ordered this DVD based on the many 5 star reviews on Amazon.com, and probably had very raised hopes. Not that I thought it would magically make me dance as well as the pros overnight, but perhaps my expectations were somewhat unrealistic!The one thing the DVD does deliver on is the sheer quantity of material contained on one disc. Asharah's warm up is gruelling, and while it is very good with muscle conditioning (she does a LOT of squats. Oh god my thighs...) I was worried about the lack of time taken over stretching, especially since tribal style is heavily yoga influenced. Consequently I took a few pauses, not only to ease the burning in my muscles after a squillion push ups, but to stretch out to avoid hurting myself. She does explain the basic belly dance posture to protect he lower back but does not seem to offer much in the way of alternatives if you're not so stretchy or experienced. So, warm up gets 7/10 from me.On to isolations - I found this part helpful from a very beginner perspective if you're looking for basic tribal fusion technique. She covers most of the basic isolations you'll need in fairly good detail. Two problems:-When she repeats isolations it takes a while for her to find the beat; you may have to follow the music yourself and close your eyes.- She goes from medium, managable speed to double speed very quickly. I found that I'd only just got the hang of the isolations before being asked to do them double or quadruple speed, which was very difficult, and I am not an inexperienced dancer.She covers each isolation pretty rapidly, so I'd take what you learn and then do more extended drills in your own practise to really get familiar with the moves. Isolations/drills gets 8/10 - good explanations, but too fast too soon.The most helpful part for me (and the most interesting) was the modern technique that demonstrated ticking and strobing. Her explanations were clear and imaginative and well-paced too. I enjoyed trying something different and could see ways to work the techniques into other moves than solely the ones demonstrated (arm waves, chest isolations and hip figure 8s). This section gets a 10/10 for being easily the most fun and understandable.I wasn't amazingly impressed with her choreographies or performances because I am not a fan of the music choices she made. However I do appreciate that Asharah is a good dancer with impeccable technique, though the DVD performances felt a bit stiff to me. Again, that could be to do with my lack of connection to the music. Physically, Asharah is INSANELY fit but doesn't look like a terrifying bodybuilder which is nice to see.The reason the DVD gets only 3 stars is that for some reason I have a bad emotional reaction to it. This probably sounds ridiculous, but hear me out, please. Asharah is clear in her directions, but I found her voice grating and nervous, which set me on edge right from the start. I found the green and red backdrops harsh and the choice of practise music for all sections uncomfortable and slightly irritating. Coupling these factors with the speed Asharah changes gears (too fast for even intermediates) and the actual difficulty of the warm-up left me feeling frustrated and highly annoyed. I don't know about you, but when I dance I work best when I feel relaxed and at least halfway capable of doing what is being asked of me!Overall I would definitely buy this DVD if you are looking for a good intro into tribal fusion and some intense drilling and conditioning for intermediate dancers. I don't practise with it often, but use a lot of her techniques and drills in my own personal practise to music I enjoy dancing to. It's a great resource and has an incredible value for money... you just might want to mute it.

i'm on belly dance class for 1 year and am a beginner with tribal belly dance.Ashara explains in a very comprehensible way the movements step-by-step. - the combinations are nice to look upon, but not to hard to learn with a little bit of practice.the basics are easy to understand.There are enough lessons to be occupied with this DVD for quite some time.It's pretty easy to understand even for Non-native-speakers - she speaks without any slang in a calm and easy to understand way.

Love it

I am not a big expert of the modern tribal bellydance, but from what I saw in this video, it certainly suits my taste and I will gladly learn what it has to offer, because there is some interesting material.