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f00dave is going to practice some of my dance drills with me (the more basic bits). This will either be great or an exercise in frustration. I guess I'll find out which once it happens.
I have an appointment next week to talk about setting up dance classes for the new year. My per-student rate scared the gym owner, but perhaps we can work out an hourly wage. And then, if negotiations go well, I'll be teaching beginner-level classes once again.
My sewing is still achingly slow. I finished another panel. Now I have three to go. I'm averaging one a day, so in theory, I should be finished this costume in about five days (including the top). I hadn't anticipated needing to restring some of the fringe. Gah!
![[BDSS]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/d9fb6e3ed719/2919457-484453/ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000E1NXNG.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V57014863_.jpg "[BDSS]")
I received my copy of Bellydance Superstars - Solos Monte Carlo this week, and over all, I must say I'm disappointed with it. I think it's the weakest of the three DVDs. The Paris DVD had the benefit of being performed live, and I think that most dancers do their best work in front of an appreciative audience. The Monte Carlo DVD was recorded in a studio, and for the most part, the dancing seems to be done by the numbers. The dancers just look tired in many of the performances, which is likely the case. I'd be tired, too, if I lived out of a tour bus, eating food at truck stops, and doing the same dance routines night after night. The dancers liven up the most when they dance to Issam Houshan's drumming (probably because they have an appreciative audience).
The video suffers further from the camera work. Once again, I think they chose a camera-man with ADD. Please let the camera linger on a dancer for more than three seconds before switching views. And as for all those clever view changes done during musical transitions, well, guess what? Those are often the most interesting parts of the dance, and we're losing it! Gah!
I am disappointed with Rachel Brice's dancing in this one. Her shoulders are often very high and tense, obscuring the line of her neck in a way I find unappealing. She is lit terribly, too, looking wholly washed-out in both sets. I know what colour her tattoo is, and it's not grey. Her make-up makes her look tired, and her eyes sunken deep into her skull. It's a shame, because she's a gorgeous woman and an excellent dancer.
The stand-out performance on this DVD is Bozenka, who I've never had the opportunity to watch before. Her technique is flawless and she dances seemingly without effort. Her dancing floats from one move to another with mellifluous grace. If she ever makes it up around these parts, I'm going to have to check her out! Live dancing is always better than recorded dancing.
Adoré has the most baffling performance on the disc. She forgot to wear pants, and sashays around in showgirl fringed bra and panties, doing some sort of samba/belly dance/club dance fusion. I don't understand why she chose to go bottomless, but I still maintain that Egyptian-style shimmies look far better when you can't see the legs pumping away like pistons.
The worst make-up award goes to Saida, whose face is made up to look like a 70s porn star. Maybe this makeup looks good on a big stage, but for close studio work, it's garish, whorish, and unfortunate. That being said, I'm not won over by her dancing. Although I like her spins, and she uses a little kick which I enjoy, her backbends look forced and painful (especially during the shimmying backbend sequence. Ow, ow, ow!), and if she doesn't have back pain yet, she soon will. I find her raqs assaya performance is the stronger of the two pieces. And indeed, it is nice to see more traditional-styled Egyptian dancing in the Bellydance Superstars repertoire.
Petite Jamilla does a dance which I could barely stand to watch--not because she's a bad dancer, oh no. I quite like her dancing, actually. It's because of the zilling. The finger cymbals appear to have been overdubbed, and they don't quite sync up with what I see on my video screen. Also, they don't sound right with the music, which was driving me crazy! Zilling has to be perfect, or else it's up there in the musical hell room with badly played bagpipes and violins.
One of the extra features on the DVD is a series of vignettes featuring each of the performers. Most of these aren't terribly interesting, aside from the sections on Sharon Kihara and Rachel Brice. It is nice to get a behind-the-scenes look at these women, and to see what they go through to get ready for a show. It's also interesting to get an idea of how Issam Houshan goes about crafting drum solos for each of the dancers.
All in all, I don't recommend buying this DVD, but it is worth checking out.
f00dave is going to practice some of my dance drills with me (the more basic bits). This will either be great or an exercise in frustration. I guess I'll find out which once it happens.I have an appointment next week to talk about setting up dance classes for the new year. My per-student rate scared the gym owner, but perhaps we can work out an hourly wage. And then, if negotiations go well, I'll be teaching beginner-level classes once again.
My sewing is still achingly slow. I finished another panel. Now I have three to go. I'm averaging one a day, so in theory, I should be finished this costume in about five days (including the top). I hadn't anticipated needing to restring some of the fringe. Gah!
I received my copy of Bellydance Superstars - Solos Monte Carlo this week, and over all, I must say I'm disappointed with it. I think it's the weakest of the three DVDs. The Paris DVD had the benefit of being performed live, and I think that most dancers do their best work in front of an appreciative audience. The Monte Carlo DVD was recorded in a studio, and for the most part, the dancing seems to be done by the numbers. The dancers just look tired in many of the performances, which is likely the case. I'd be tired, too, if I lived out of a tour bus, eating food at truck stops, and doing the same dance routines night after night. The dancers liven up the most when they dance to Issam Houshan's drumming (probably because they have an appreciative audience).The video suffers further from the camera work. Once again, I think they chose a camera-man with ADD. Please let the camera linger on a dancer for more than three seconds before switching views. And as for all those clever view changes done during musical transitions, well, guess what? Those are often the most interesting parts of the dance, and we're losing it! Gah!
I am disappointed with Rachel Brice's dancing in this one. Her shoulders are often very high and tense, obscuring the line of her neck in a way I find unappealing. She is lit terribly, too, looking wholly washed-out in both sets. I know what colour her tattoo is, and it's not grey. Her make-up makes her look tired, and her eyes sunken deep into her skull. It's a shame, because she's a gorgeous woman and an excellent dancer.
The stand-out performance on this DVD is Bozenka, who I've never had the opportunity to watch before. Her technique is flawless and she dances seemingly without effort. Her dancing floats from one move to another with mellifluous grace. If she ever makes it up around these parts, I'm going to have to check her out! Live dancing is always better than recorded dancing.
Adoré has the most baffling performance on the disc. She forgot to wear pants, and sashays around in showgirl fringed bra and panties, doing some sort of samba/belly dance/club dance fusion. I don't understand why she chose to go bottomless, but I still maintain that Egyptian-style shimmies look far better when you can't see the legs pumping away like pistons.
The worst make-up award goes to Saida, whose face is made up to look like a 70s porn star. Maybe this makeup looks good on a big stage, but for close studio work, it's garish, whorish, and unfortunate. That being said, I'm not won over by her dancing. Although I like her spins, and she uses a little kick which I enjoy, her backbends look forced and painful (especially during the shimmying backbend sequence. Ow, ow, ow!), and if she doesn't have back pain yet, she soon will. I find her raqs assaya performance is the stronger of the two pieces. And indeed, it is nice to see more traditional-styled Egyptian dancing in the Bellydance Superstars repertoire.
Petite Jamilla does a dance which I could barely stand to watch--not because she's a bad dancer, oh no. I quite like her dancing, actually. It's because of the zilling. The finger cymbals appear to have been overdubbed, and they don't quite sync up with what I see on my video screen. Also, they don't sound right with the music, which was driving me crazy! Zilling has to be perfect, or else it's up there in the musical hell room with badly played bagpipes and violins.
One of the extra features on the DVD is a series of vignettes featuring each of the performers. Most of these aren't terribly interesting, aside from the sections on Sharon Kihara and Rachel Brice. It is nice to get a behind-the-scenes look at these women, and to see what they go through to get ready for a show. It's also interesting to get an idea of how Issam Houshan goes about crafting drum solos for each of the dancers.
All in all, I don't recommend buying this DVD, but it is worth checking out.
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ADD cameraman antidote
Date: 2006-11-24 01:40 am (UTC)From:Bozenka is my new favorite famous dancer.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 03:30 am (UTC)From:Two more days till the Jillina workshop!!!
Re: ADD cameraman antidote
Date: 2006-11-24 01:40 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 01:42 pm (UTC)From:Please introduce yourself to me at the Jillina workshop! I'll be there, too, and like to associate faces with my LJ buddies.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 04:22 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 04:24 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-24 09:13 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 03:02 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 03:02 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 03:05 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2006-11-29 12:30 am (UTC)From: