VIDEOS
LEARN THE LOST ART OF FLOOR MOVES
**** our of 4 stars.
Cabaret Bellydancing Floor Moves Advice: Professional Arabic Freestyle
Bellydancing w/Cory Zamora
(reviewed 5/31/03)
OH MY GOD! I LOVE this woman!!!!! She is fabulous. Her floor work is beautiful, and done in the spirit it is meant. AWESOME.
Alright, enough gushing.....Here's the review:
The video starts out with her dancing to a live band in a typical middle eastern establishment, where most of us "working" dancers do dance and work and make our bread & butter. As I said in my previous review of her tape, Cabaret Belly Dancing, (see old reviews link below... ) she performs with finger cymbals, does stomach work and floor work, everything I think should be incorporated when possible in your performance. Some of the places where I work can get so crowded, I barely have room to get to the floor, so those nights, I usually forgo the floor section.
However, in this video she is interviewed by a gentleman, (whom by the way I wish would have introduced himself in the beginning! I would have liked to know his name) about the art of floor work in bellydance, the why and the how. How it came about, what it really is about, (NOT sex), and why it was banned in modern Egyptian dance and why she thinks it fell out of favor. Cory also answers questions about how to handle those tricky situations that come up in clubs. I agree with ALL of her advice. I personally always tell my students to handle those situations with comedy, and good humor, and it diffuses the situation 90% of the time. I also do not like to force people to dance, and can always tell by body language, just exactly as Cory says, as to who wants to be left alone and who does not. I also feel it is rude to force people to get up to dance if they do not want to. Cory gives some great advice, and that alone is well worth the price of the tape.
She shows how to do floor work in the demo section of the tape in the studio with a student who has her opposite body type, which is helpful for teachers, such as myself. I am built like Cory, short with a short torso, and can easily do the backbend moves. Most of my students are giants! (Compared to me, many people are! LOL) One of the reasons I said in the beginning of this review that I love this woman is because of the way she treats her student. She is so very supportive, explains great, and gives encouragement to her student. That is how I like to teach and be treated. I could see why her students love her. Her explanations are fabulous and done with such a spirit of giving.
At the end she encourages you not to be discouraged, because floor work IS challenging. She also invites you to email her and ask for advice or whatever and answers all letters. She also thanks you for inviting her into your home. How often does one hear that!!! It is obvious from watching Cory that her dance is a giving, not a taking, and she is not about ego. Her dance is a giving to the audience, and her teaching a giving to her students. What better praise can I give than that.
www.bellydancingbyzamoras.com for more info.
CABARET BELLY DANCING STARRING CORY ZAMORA
**** Four stars out of four ****
(REVIEWED 11/18/02)
I greatly enjoyed this video. This video shows Ms. Cory Zamora dancing two routines at a club to a live band, MIRAGE. I liked the video for a great number of reasons. First reason was that it showed a dancer in a club setting. Most videos out there are dancers on stage, with hardly any interaction with audience members or musicians. Most dancers make their living dancing in clubs, and there are very very few videos out there showing what it is like.
The lighting was excellent. You could clearly see the dancer and the musicians. The audience and the club were also well lit. The video starts out with Mirage playing. They are a wonderful band. Then Cory comes out for her first routine. She has a great entrance, very lively. She has lots of energy that clearly comes across on video, and to the audience at the club. Another reason I recommend this video is: FINGER CYMBALS, FINGER CYMBALS, FINGER CYMBALS. To me, a bellydancer isn't a bellydancer without them. It was so nice to see a talented bellydancer who knows how to play zils use them during her entire routine. Her veil work was wonderful. I actually prefer the type of veil work she does, and I do the same at the clubs I dance at. She uses her veil to ENHANCE her movements, to drape and show off her moves, instead of continuously flipping it around like a prop making people dizzy. Beautiful, beautiful veil work. Her Turkish drop and floor work were outstanding! I am a big fan of floor work and Turkish drops, so I was thrilled to see it done so well in a club setting, which, believe me, is tricky to say the least. I was also happy to see belly work. I also do belly work when I perform, and it was great to see another dancer do it! There are few of us who do do rolls and flutters during our dancing. It's a dying art in my opinion, and I loved seeing it in the video.
I also liked seeing the audience get up and dance to the band between Cory's sets. That was nice to see. I enjoyed the little interviews with the musicians at the end of the tape also. It really made the entire experience of the video personable and likable; which are the qualities in a successful club/party dancer. The dancer needs to be personable and likeable and dance for the audience, she's there for the audience, not the audience for her. Cory looked lovely and connected well with the audience. Watching the video, I felt as if I was there in person, watching personable musicians and dancer, and they seem like people who would be very friendly and that I would like.
The videographer also did a fine job of filming Cory and the musicians, and transitioning between segments. The video clocks in at one hour. A great deal for the money.
I give this video 4 stars out of 4.
Contact info to purchase the video:
Bellydancing by Zamora's
Bellydancing on Video
AMAYA'S GYPSY FIRE
(updated 12/1/00)
This video was of great interest to me, being a serious Flamenco student. Thiis video is the winner of the 1998 Best Documentary Giza Award, and for good reason. It is a wonderful documentary of gypsy history in Andalusia, Spain, the Zambra mora dancing of the gypsies, the history, etc. etc. The video is 55 minutes long, and I wish it was longer. It starts out with footage of an elderly Spanish lady dancing and singing. It goes on to document Gypsy History in Andalucia, performances by the Amaya family in the caves of Sacramonte. The performance of the little boy about 12 or 13 must be seen. He is amazing. The ladies dancing afterwards were fabulous also. There is an explanation of the Zambra, which began in the 15th Century, or possibly earlier. It is the looser form of the classical flamenco, and can be performed barefoot or shoed. The rhythm is a 4/4. It began in Moorish Granada and continued throughout Christian Spain and of course, into the present. It is very close to the Middle Eastern dance form, which of course, we all love. What I love about Zambra, Flamenco, and Belly Dancing is that age is of no consequence. Your life history and who you are really comes out in your dancing, and makes it all the more beautiful.
The video continues with a Zapatadeo performance by Cruz Luna, wonderful! Then the footage of the famous and gorgeous Carmen Amaya from the 30's in the old movies was just fantastic. What a dancer! I could just imagine the stir her pants costumes caused back then. I MUST have the black pant, polka dotted shirt outfit that she wore dancing on the surrealistic gigantic tambourine. If only I could sew! (I must have the giant tambourine also).
The video ends with instruction of some simple zambra mora steps and arms by the lovely Amaya, and a final performance by Amaya on stage with the musical group "The Gypsies".
I give this 4 stars out of 4!!
Veda Sereem's Quality of Belly Dancing, VEIL WORK, ADVANCE
If you are looking for a slick, Hollywood Quality, heavily produced video, this is not it. BUT, if you are looking for great, clear instruction, friendly style and lots of veil moves, this is the video for you.
Veda Sereem has 29 videos in her series, from beginning dance, teaching techniques, dancing on glasses, Moroccan dance, etc., etc. Her Veil Work, Advance, has 23 veil moves, including wraps and removing. I recommend this video to anyone out there who is just learning, (although I would order her veil beginning for that), or teaching, because her clear instruction and beautiful veil work make it easy to learn and teach to others. I liked the fact that she teaches through the entire video in a cabaret outfit, so you can see exactly how the veil should be wrapped, and what the veil work looks like when you are performing. Also very useful, and I haven't seen on other videos, is what to do when you drop the veil. But of course, none of us ever does that! Also tells a few of her veil bloopers for you to avoid. Veda also does a few short performances with the veil which are very nice.
Available from any reputable middle eastern vendor.
Ibrahim Farrah presents RARE GLIMPSES, Dances from the
Middle East: Volume I
(updated 2/1/01)
I really enjoyed this video. It is 1 hour long, in black & white
and color. Mr. Farrah narrates throughout the video with his story and
background information of the forthcoming clip. The first clip is Fatima,
from 1892. She was the Coney Island, New York dancer and performer at the
Chicago World's Fair of 1893 videotaped by the Thomas Alva Edison. It was
great fun to watch.
The next clip was of the Guedra from Morocco from a 1950's documentary. The narration from the
original narrator was quite hilarious. The dancing was of course, the
tribal Guedra dance. The finger and hand movements reminded me of Indian
dance. The video next shows Mr. Farrah's choreographic interpretation of the Guedra
performed by Jajouka in 1995, choreographed by Ibrahim Farrar in 1975.
The next sequence of clips was my personal favorite. It is also the longest clip
of the video. It is of a family of bedouin gypsies in Lebanon
dancing the debke. The mother of the troupe is OUTSTANDING! Being a
mom myself, I can only say, "Go Mom!!" Her barrel turn
was incredible. I have seen Carmen Amaya only do that barrel turn. It is jaw-dropping.
The final clip is of Nadia Gamal from 1971 done in a very stylized
choreography. Her spins are the greatest.
Another 4 stars out of 4! This video was quite expensive at $53.00 but well worth the price for me just to see Mom do the Carmen Amaya barrel turn.