Capsule review of Autumn Ward’s DVD.
Bellydance: Beautiful Technique From Step One
This is the most unusual bellydance DVD I’ve seen so far. Autumn has a different approach to every other DVD instructor I’ve watched. This DVD is for beginners, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it for a total novice (which I still am, technically *ahem*); she teaches basic moves, but breaks each one down into minute detail, so this would mostly be useful to someone trying to improve their technique for moves already learned.
Autumn starts out with a brief introductory message about the philosophy behind the video, then there is a long section teaching technique, spending a lot of time on foundation, like posture, how to hold your hands and move your feet, how to stay balanced and so on. Most of the moves taught are lower-body isolations, and her instruction on arms is more general—in otherwords, no “these are snake arms, these are L arms,” but rather a basic theory for moving and positioning your arms while you dance. The whole technique section seems to focus on theory rather than individual movements, though individual movements are taught, and build upon each other as you go. Autumn tends to describe movements kinesthetically, which is fantastic for this right-brained, kinesthetic learner; she tells you how your body should feel as you execute the movement, rather than sticking to mere verbal cues. Such precision and artistry feels more like classical dance instruction, as opposed to the more casual mood of most bellydance videos. Whether this is a good or bad thing I leave up to the reader to decide.
There are some practice flows for committing the movements to muscle memory in an intuitive way, and Autumn dances in front of a green screen so that a different lovely, artistic background floats behind her in each one. This is followed by a practice choreography, and two beautiful stage performances to watch, showcasing Autumn’s unique performance style.
I’m looking forward to working with this video when I’m done with Amira 101, and even though it’s slightly intimidating, I have high hopes that the more kinesthetic and intuitive aspects of the video will be a great help to me in learning on my own.
