The Baladi: Bellydance Egyptian Style

I recently moved to rural Sussex, UK, where there are no Bellydance classes. The ones that are exist are far away, of too basic a level and have no emphasis on Baladi at all. i had reached an intermediate/ advanced level, had been meeting Baladi musicians regularly before I moved and since moving have performed at haflas, parties and charity events, aiming for professional engagements where I can. However, there has been no one to guide me in my dance, so I had no idea if I have been going along the right lines.I ordered this DVD two weeks ago and received it on Wednesday. Just watching some of the performance and technique sections has already helped tremendously and I have also done some of the improvisational drills. I feel I will be so much more confident in my dance now. So thank you Ranya! You have been a guiding light.I would be interested to see how oriental bellydance has been approached in the Modern Oriental DVD as well. Although I know oriental dance, such as that performed in the famous Cairo venues like the Nile boats and some of the clubs, is mainly improvised, having met and talked with one or two of the resident dancers, I feel it would still be useful to get style tips from this DVD so you can use the styling and combinations in your own dance. I am sure that some of the well known teachers I have taken workshops from, would be impressed! As for the true Egyptian flavour, I am not Egyptian either! Neither are some of the most famous Baladi musicians in the UK! And yet somehow they manage to be highly respected and continue to perform at high profile events such as the WOMAD Festival as well as for Arabic, UK and international audiences. We as dancers, whether performing Baladi or more modern forms of oriental and Bellydance, can only follow their example. And that of Ranya Renee! Thank you so much!

I received this DVD and was extremely pleased with the contents. Among all the 12 DVDs I have ordered in the past month, this one is by far the best when it comes to both content and explanation (not too slow, not too fast).The first DVD teaches you about the music as well as technique while the second DVD has a lot of performances/drills on improvisation, more info on music and a cool down. The whole thing lasts 5 hours and will keep you busy for some time, there is so much to learn from it, this is something you can take notes from and definitely watch a few times!

Ranya Renée takes us through listening to baladi music by breaking it down into the component segments of a full baladi piece by using musicians to play each segment for us (accordion, tabla or doumbek and the frame drum). She then takes us through many different dance steps and moves to use with each segment of the baladi (the taqsim, the sek kat, the maksoum, and the fellahi. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone wanting to learn to dance baladi.

Excelente este trabajo de Ranya Renée. Buscaba algún DVD que me orientara sobre la improvisación y éste me ha parecido muy satisfactorio. Magnífico y pormenorizado análisis de la forma musical "baladi" y de las posibilidades de interpretación de cada fragmento. Muy muy recomendable.

Great DVD, very complete, Rania is an excellent teacher, she explains everything in detail, the drummers are very professional and the performance she does is awesome, it is worth to have, a DVD that every dancer should have.

Good item

Love the DVD, speedy delivery service!

This is one of the best belly-dance DVDs I have ever bought. It's a 5-hour-long 2-DVD set that covers structure of the dance, rhythms, technique, move combinations and exercises to develop your improvisational skills. Most importantly, helpful insights are given into interpretation of the the music and how to focus your energy in baladi. A lot of imagery is used to describe the moves and energy flows.Very comprehensive, very insightful and fun - a gem for any dancer looking to enrich her knowledge of this form of the dance.Not suitable for complete beginners.

Loved the first DVD. It is very good for beginners in teaching them the music techniques. The second was way too scratched to read. DVDS came stuck together and the spindles on the case had somehow let go. Otherwise would have been a great instructional DVD.

Honestly, this is the best dvd yet. Ranya, really goes in depth and has a precise yet uncomplicated way of explaining things. She takes her time and gives examples on muscle movement and feeling the rythem. She did this thing with a mirror and I was floored how something so simply explained invoked understanding in that one moment about KNOWING how to move with the rythem and taqsim. I bought 3 other cds at the same time and her one cd trumps all of them combined.I am going to beg our dance association to bring her for workshops. She has depth,passion and grace. I hope she makes many more dvds, I will gladly buy them all. She isn't hard to follow.ive been belly dancing 3 years so she is perfect for beginners to intermediate. I wish I knew about her from the beginning, I believe I would have advanced quicker with the way she explains things. You will not regret this purchase.

Ranya Renée è un'insegnante eccezionale. Basta guardare qualche video in rete per realizzare che ha una marcia in più. Qui abbiamo due DVD per un totale di 5 ore di video corso: Menù chiarissimo, realizzazione super professionale (si vede benissimo e per questo genere di Dvd non è cosa scontata). Comunque... il primo contiene una spiegazione approfondita del baladi, partendo proprio dalla musica, perché comprendere e imparare ad ascoltare è indispensabile per migliorare nella danza e una lunghissima e curatissima sezione dedicata alla tecnica Egyptian Style. Il secondo ...sfumature e indispensabili practice drills e la performance con orchestra dal vivo. Ranya è prodiga di consigli e poi ha uno stile tutto suo, molto "amichevole". Anche se in Inglese è facile seguire e apprendere. Il Livello? Anche da Principianti poiché non è mai troppo presto per collegare movimenti e musica con un minimo di consapevolezza. Una fonte di informazioni molto longeva nel senso che vi accompagnerà per molto tempo e vi aiuterà a costruire un senso di familiarità con questo genere. La sezione "Practice Drills" aiuterà a creare una routine interiorizzare il tutto. Consigliatissimo

Die beiden DVD`s sind ganz großartig. Ich bin froh,daß ich sie gekauft habe! Rany Renee unterrichtet zwar in englisch aber, es ist gut zu verstehen. Der Baladi ist wohl ein Herzstück von dem orientalischen Tanz, sie leitet einen an zu improvisieren, zeigt die verschiedensten Möglichkeiten dieses Musikstück zu tanzen. Dafür lernt man Stück für Stückdie Drei verschiedenen Baladis kennen und zu tanzen. Ranya ist eine sehr angenehme sympathische Lehrerin. Sie achtet immer wieder auf die richtige Körperhaltung und hilft einem bei dem Musikverständnis der Orientalischen Musik. Ihr Tanz ist traumhaft schön.!!! Bella von Tchibo

I do like this DVD, despite I always prefer tribal fusion. I like it most about the posture thing. Ranya spends over 10 minutes in explaining posture and alignment, which I think already worths the whole DVD's price (although not a lot for 5 hours' lessons in a 2-DVD sets). Imagine you have to pee and hold it, this is the way to dance, it helps you feel grounded to the floor, gives a saucy twist to the moves. My Goodness! Aren't we talking of the same thing all the time? The chi in Chinese Kung Fu, the hole just a few inches below the belly button, the K exercise for strong inner muscle recommended by doctors,....all boiled down to the special lower abdomen strength.....then Ranya put a soft ball between her thighs to show the pulling in of the inner thighs, also a red spandex to pull butts inwards.............., to contain everything together.....like inside a cylinder! Oh, I forgot the zip that she stuck to her lower garment. Imagine a zip in the muscles at the middle front of the hips, yes, zip the muscles in ..And she put on a beautiful pink bra to show us how to open up the chest (breathe in first), & the back but at the same time keep the back muscles engaged as if being held by the bra straps....and with everything lift up (by pulling of the upper body uuuuuuuuup including the hands and then putting the hands down) so to create a space between upper body and lower body, so that movements become more fluid.....I wish I can spell out as clearly and interestingly as she does in the DVD..but it does open up my eyes...once I practise what she teaches, mine! My stomach naturally sinks in and my legs become firmer (I just ordered a ballet conditioning workout to help strengthening my lower abdomen, now I know I don't really need it.)!No other belly dancers had told me the above, or as interestingly and in such great details as she does, which makes the DVD stand out. I have just told R, my son, that we need to have characters or to stand out amongst a group of persons. Like Tiramisu, the brandy makes it stand out, or chocolate orange mousse cake sold at Conrad, the orange peel makes it stand out....but not any ordinary cake with sugar, white flour, cream and butter (or even not butter but transfat) but no characteristics. In addition, the dancer is very sexy in her body language, including how she speaks, moves, pauses and dances .....so yes, this is a wonderful DVD!In addition, she dances with live musicians too! With very sexy (feminine, I mean) moves,...very different from my favouite belly dance - tribal fusion (sort of modern)...I consider it is a must for my belly dance library. In any event, the posture thing is worth every penny of it!