Bellydance Fitness for Beginners: Basic Moves & Fat Burning / Arms, Abs, Hips, Buns & Thighs (1999)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Instructors: Veena and Neena Bidasha

Features:

• two workouts
  
• music only, instructor's commentary, or audio track options
  
• bonus performance footage
  
• list of bellydance benefits
  
• alternate camera angles
  

My Advice: Buy it.

Bellydancing has been around for thousands of years as a form of entertainment and expression, but only recently have people seen its potential as a form of exercise. Linking aerobic conditioning to enhanced flexibility and muscular toning, bellydance can be an all-in-one fitness package. Arms, Abs, Hips, Buns, & Thighs focuses, obviously enough, on these problem areas, but also discusses the importance of good abdominal support for a happy back and good posture. Two workouts focus first on the upper body and abs, and then on the lower body. Basic Moves & Fat Burning uses bellydance as a real aerobic workout, focusing less on toning than on fat burning. Rotated with the other disk, the results should appear quickly and enjoyably. Each disk contains two different workout routines.

The instruction is quite good. The sisters Bidasha have been dancing since their childhood, and their experience as world-wide performers and instructors shows. Their love for this craft is obvious, and their enthusiasm is catching. Since conventional workouts are usually the antithesis of fun, this disk is a breath of fresh air; the moves are challenging in places and feel effective without being impossible, painful, or boring. Viewers lacking in natural coordination shouldn't be worried; the Bidashas are excellent tutors, and even if your moves, like mine, probably bear little resemblance to their graceful excellence, you'll catch on in no time, and tone up anyway. Besides, no one can see you in your living room, right?

The disk's soundtrack contains original music inspired by the traditional music of bellydance and helps viewers feel part of this ancient art. The sensual movements are perfectly timed to take full advantage of the music's support and are a wonderful change from the pablum music often used in exercise videos.

While the sound and video quality are both quite good, the features otherwise are a bit slim. It is nice to have the music-only or commentary track options when watching the routines, and the bonus performances are interesting and inspirational, but why not a little featurette on the twins? It would be nice to see their growth as child dancers into professionals and instructors. A featurette on the history of bellydancing would also be nice, tying the roots of the dance as feminine celebration and ritual into a modern tool for personal improvement or something like that.

Looking for a new way to exercise that is challenging, but never boring? It's not often that an exercise disk comes along that focuses on making you feel beautiful instead of fat; Bellydance Fitness for Beginners is a wonderful new way of approaching exercise in that respect. Geared toward making viewers feel sensuous and graceful, it's a far cry from a sadistic Barbie telling us to do just twenty more reps and we'll lose an ounce of fat. Try the ancient art of bellydancing, and add some spice to your regimen.