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Shaia Fahrid Egyptian Dance Studio and Productions

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Shaia's Belly Dance DVD Picks

My students often for DVD recommendations, so I have listed some of my favorites below.  I hope that you find this information helpful.  If you would like to order a DVD, just click on the picture and you will go into the Amazon store, where you can make a purchase.

Belly Dance DVDs  - Instructional

Shaia's No. 1 Pick: Egyptian Style: The Baladi

This is the most useful instructional DVD that I ever found.  Ranya Renee's explanation of Baladi as a dance style, how it fits into a Raks Sharki performance, the instruments used, the progression of the song, detailed explanation of how anatomy plays into the execution of the movements, the drills that she provides, and her performances are going to be of great help to you.  I recommend this DVD for any serious student of Egyptian dance.  Best suited to intermediate to advanced/professional level dancers, or beginners who want to get it all right from the start. - Shaia

 

 

Bellydance Egyptian Style: Modern Oriental

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Great video for Modern Egyptian
This is a fabulous video on modern Egyptian belly dance! It is for intermediate and advanced students, but it would be good material for a beginner to watch in order to understand the music and the dance concepts. I'm really looking forward to the next video in this series. The whole series will be required viewing for my students! These DVDs are packed with information! I like to watch DVDs through, take notes, then go back and work with them. You may want to do the same with Ranya's videos, because they have so much information that you will want to remember.

Bellydance with Veil

Amazon Customer Review:

This veil instructional video is rich in content, presented in user-friendly fashion, uncovering great veil tricks, basic veil wraps and wonderful rumba steps. The music is incredible and the choreography is a great bonus at the end. Sarah Skinner is awesome, I admire the quality and substance of her work and presentation of material.
Truly a seminar in itself presented just for you!
Learn about fabrics
traveling steps, rumba, basic, arabesque
turning and varying speed
veil switches, cascades, veil wraps, ending the dance, recovering the veil during an inopportune mishap...beyond educational, it is enjoyable and rewarding. Find yourself drifting away with your beautiful veil, a pliable, invisible, flowing, dance partner at your command, lured away by the enchanting music of Mr.Burhan Ocal.

Ballet for Belly Dancers

Starring Brianna; Directed by Michelle Joyce

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully produced, much-needed video for dancers!, April 10, 2009
By Alison M. Dreyer (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Another great Cheeky Girls video!! This instructional contains floor exercises that increase hip flexibility and tones key leg muscles, posture modification tips, ballet arm patterns that can be modified for belly dancers, a section on basic turns and one on arabesques, and loads of interesting floor patterns.

The DVD cover itself contains a glossary of ballet terms with proper spelling and pronunciation for French dance terms like pas de bourre, soutenu, and tendu as well as proper terminology for facings and staging. The various floor patterns offered in the video are great for drills and for adding dynamic transitions into your dance, and include level changes, spins and lovely arm movements. This DVD would be great for all levels, and especially beneficial for the intermediate dancer who knows basic belly dance moves and wants to add an element of polish and refinement to his or her presentation. Brianna is very articulate and easy to follow, and the floor patterns work perfectly with the music selection. Well produced, much-needed video for dancers. Three thumbs up!
   

Aziza's Ultimate Bellydance Practice Companion

I recommend this DVD to all of my students -- Aziza will kick your butt!  Lots of great shimmy drills, plus two wonderful performances at the end. - Shaia 

 

 

Nourhan Sharif: Rakset Assaya, An Introduction to Egyptian Saidi Technique

Amazon Customer Review:

 
This dvd is excellent for teaching foundations of cane dancing or Raqs Assaya. Any belly dancer interested in learning cane technique will find this useful.  The dvd contains stretches for the wrist, exercises for developing an awareness of your cane, a variety of steps, cane twirling technique, using the cane to frame the body and movements, several combinations, traveling steps, finales and a demonstration/performance by the instructor. The combinations are shown from a variety of angles so you can see what it looks like from the back as well as front.  The instructor, Nourhan Sharif, provides good instruction for an intermediate level dancer. She teaches in a practice outfit that allows the viewer to clearly see what her legs, hips, midriff and arms are doing. She also demonstrates the moves in a way the communicates the joy, energy and playfulness that originally attracted me to Raqs Assaya. Those who learn well by visual example will appreciate this dvd.

Sadie's Complete Belly Dance Guide (2009)

Amazon Customer Review:

This DVD is perfect in every way!  You have the option to learn bellydance or clean up your skills and perfect them with Sadie. Sadie is generous in this dvd, giving many of the bellydance "secrets" to you. Before you would have to buy many dvds and pick from here and there to fill in your bellydance knowledge, but now with this dvd by Sadie, it is all there. I recommend this highly. I am going to use it to perfect my technique or as a drilling practice dvd.

Sultry Slow Moves with Sadie Belly Dance

Sadie explains and demonstrates how to execute foundational movements with the fluidity and grace key to beautiful Taksim dancing...how to develop muscle control and work many muscle groups together at once so that your slow movements cascade and ripple...she puts them together into combinations and teaches seamless transitions, tempo variation, and using the breath movement for subtle effect. Sadie shows you how to turn movements into dancing. You will learn poses and extensions that add drama and emotion to your dancing.

Belly Dance Basics - Michelle Joyce

Michelle Joyce expertly breaks down moves; a must-have for beginners and a great review tool for continuing students.

 

 

 

 

Fabulous Four Yard Veils with Shoshanna

This is one of my favorite instructional DVDs.  I studied with Shoshanna at her four yard veil workshop in Chicago, and learned so much (she is also a real sweetheart!).  Shoshanna is one of the top veil artists in the world, and at 5'2" has absolute control of the four yard veil.  Learn from the master!- Shaia

 

Secrets of the Stage - A Performance Course for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce (Vol 1)

The DVD is divided into 3 sections: Calmness and Simplicity, You and Your Music, and Focus and Energy Projection. In between and after these sections are Practice Exercises to help you  incorpore these concepts into your own dancing.

Secrets of the Stage - A Performance Guide for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce (Vol 2)

An indispensable learning tool for the professional belly dancer.  The DVD is divided into 5 sections: Michelle's Introduction, Dancing in Different Venues, Tips & Audience Participation, Professionalism, and Ask the Audience.

 

 

  

Secrets of the Stage - A Performance Guide for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce (Vol 3)

- Dancing to Live Music

- Your Professional Image

- Creativity and Inspiration

Drum Solo Technique and Choreography with Sadie

For the more advanced belly dancer: Sadie teaches a 2 and 1/2 minute drum solo with an astonishing perfomance at the end.

 

  


Belly Dance DVDs - Performance

Belly Dance Live!

Two Hours of Spectacular Belly Dance Performances!

Starring:

Aziza
Ava Fleming
Bahaia
Dondi, Titanya, and Jim Boz
Meissoun
Habib
Sadie & Kaya
Jamileh
Marguerite
Lilla Varese Dance Company
Midnight Mirage
SeSe Dance Theater
DaVid
and special guest artist DELILAH!

By Dancers For Dancers II

Michelle Joyce Cheeky Girls production with fantastic performances by an array of professional belly dancers.  This series truly is "for dancers" -- no fancy cutaways to the dancer's foot or earring (you wanna see what they're *doing*, right?); full view of each performance.

 

By Dancers For Dancers Vol. 4 Belly Dance Performances

By Dancers For Dancers Vol. 4 - Belly Dance Performances is another terrific production by Michelle Joyce, featuring  Adriana, Magidah, Sandra, Zahara, Nanna and Mythology, Haifa Wahab, Nadira, Michelle Joyce, and an unforgettable veil solo by Shoshanna.