AriellahContemporary Belly Dance and Yoga, with Ariellah: Tribal fusion bellydance classes, Belly dance fitness, workout, and yoga instruction, Beginner-intermediate

My DVD "BellyDance and yoga conditioning" by Ariellah has arrived!I was so impressed! I have many similar DVDs already and I know many different isolations already. But Adriellah is able to help me perfect them as well as teaching something new. No doubt, she is 1st class but many teachers are 1st class too. Yet, they somehow tend to think we are not so smart so they teach us some not so smart moves. If they dance gracefully, they teach us to move in a similar way but not exactly the same. e.g. snake arms; I never knew I have to turn the shoulder forward before the lifting of shoulder, then elbow and wrist, no wonder they look much better than me! Now I know the secret and Adriellah is not miserly to hide her secret from me. She is the only teacher who teaches me this turning forward... Also shimmy, I never knew you have to move the glute rather than the knees. No wonder! From Amazon.net, most customers give her a 5 star comment on this DVD; and I will do the same! She is very good at her subject and she is able to teach! This is the 5 star standard of any person who takes up teaching as a post.Adriellah thinks we can all dance well. So she breaks the move into bits and starts from scratch. Once we master it, she adds a bit more and a bit more. In the end, I can do as well as she or nearly. The tone is right, the music excellent, the lighting perfect. I have bought one by Blanca. She is also an excellent dancer but in the tutorial section, it frightens me. Behind her, the background has been whitened.It is not natural, it is by way of editing, I believe. In the end, the white light blinds me! How can I do the tutorials? (Other than that, the rest is perfect. But this little thing has killed my whole perception of her very good teaching.)Ariellah has a pefect body, not a big bust body like many belly dancers have but it is superb too, the kind of body well toned. This DVD has become my favourite and I am practising her moves day and night whenever I have some spare time (until replaced another one later). After a couple of days with her practices, my whole ab has been so well toned that I can see a round shape of my waist (as a lot of work by the obligues) instead of a sheet shape and it looks very much better! Yes, her DVD has instilled a lot of confidence in me! Not to mention I can follow her yoga practice to stretch the body, my another favourite subject! (originally written in June 2009)

This DVD is excellent for improving technique IF you don't mind the music and IF you like to drill.I really like this DVD. I personally don't care too much for her modern goth music. I prefer to dance to more traditional sounds, but her music is unoffensive and fairly easy to ignore.Let's face it, the only way to really get a move down well is to practice. This DVD is all about practice. Ariella drills each move for a couple minutes, giving you plenty of time to explore and improve. She adds some variations and level changes to keep you challenged, and there are 2 different drill sections. The moves are well explained, and she seems to know when my posture is slipping and gives me a nice reminder.There are 2 yoga warm ups, short and long. If yoga isn't your thing don't worry, there is plenty of other content on this DVD. Just be sure to do some other warm up and stretch before you begin. Personally, I liked her yoga warm ups, but I tend to use the short one so I have more time to practice dance.I like her choreography, and she explains it clearly. She then performs the choreo to 2 different songs to show it's versatility. This is good for those who don't like her music, you can pick the least offensive song.I liked her performances at the end, even if I'm not a fan of the music. (I actually like one of the songs she performs to.) If you don't like goth, then I doubt you'll like her outfits, but again, there is a lot of other content on this DVD. I borrow what I like and ignore the rest.Ariella is a VERY skilled dancer. Her moves are crisp and clean. I can always tell what move she is doing. She doesn't wiggle, she dances. Practice with this DVD has improved my control and endurance.For those who do like goth, I recommend this over the other goth belly dance DVDs. Ariella does a better job of explaining the moves, and then adding variations and layers. She gives you time to explore and absorb a move before going to another one. She drills with precision, and teaches you how to achieve it. She practices in plain clothes and you can always see her feet. Her choreos show you how to put it all together.If you really want clean moves, then this is the DVD for you.

I bought this mainly as an exercise DVD and I have many of various dance disciplines but this is the best. I find most exercise DVDs become boring with repetition but I am still enjoying this one and love the tight feeling I have in my muscles afterwards.The yoga section is for me just the right level, challenging enough but not so difficult that I don't want to do it. The music is excellent and Ariellah's presentation charming.I found the isolations difficult to begin with and didn't think I would be able to do it at all but have noticed improvement after a short time of practising.Of all the DVDs I have including salsa, ballet, zumba, yoga, yoga boxing and yoga ballet fusion, this one has made me feel toned and that I have made progress in the shortest time AND it's not boring so exercise is much less of a chore.

This is an excellent tuitional video and has very good examples of the moves put into practice by the creative and talented dancer. Really enjoyable just to watch the dancing but will be very useful for me as a learner. Extremely clear and well staged training. Highly recommend it for anyone starting out on bellydancing.

This dvd is not what I was expecting but I'm still enjoying it. I thought it would be more about keep fit (especially with the yoga sections) but its actually very technical, with a strong focus on precise bellydance techniques.I wouldn't recommend it for working up a sweat but it does really work the joints and is helpful for practicing some difficult moves.

Great low impact, fun excersize with lots of emphasis on safe posture (hurt my back with a previous dvd) Choose to simply excersize and tone or learn the technical skills of belly dance. There's even a routine which is broken down into sections to learn. I love this.

Excellent, clear tuition from one of the greats. Covers a surprising spectrum of levels in one short dvd. I own a collection of dvds of dance instruction, this is one I use a lot!