Bellydance

This book can stand on its own as training for belly dance, but I haven't used it that way because I do Dolphina's Goddess DVDs as workouts. The photography is excellent and the descriptions of the moves make sense. If you want to refine your moves in bellydance DVDs, this book provides good tips. It also includes routines, so you can perform belly dance to your own music if you want to expand beyond the traditional DVD soundtrack. Visually pleasing. The models and settings are lovely, but I didn't feel as if their level of fitness was out of reach, which is nice. There are several models, including Dolphina. There is a brief history of belly dance in the beginning, but the emphasis is on how to perform moves and the routines.

I used this book as a filler to lessons while I was traveling and I have to say that it did the trick. Dolphina makes it clear the moves she is expecting you to do and makes suggestions to practicing them that certainly made for a good physical and mental workout. I really love the photography and I like how the book progresses, containing 3 sections so that you can build up to a more difficult workout. The combinations are lovely and put together a very pretty dance once you are complete with drills. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is going to be without lessons & /or dvd access and doesn't want to lose their momentum.

This is the best bellydance book out there! It has EVERYTHING: instruction, motivation, resources, history, costumes, music, tips and even how to perform publicly or privately. You can actually learn to bellydance from a book with this book because of the large step-by step photos with arrows and clear instruction. There are a few other books I have purchased recently and this is one area that all other books lack: the ability to learn how to bellydance. Tamalyn's book is in Black and white and the photos are grainy and too small to see what they are doing. Rania's book is very confusing, the way the photos are layed out. The bellydance moves begin with basics and it is very thorough with preparing to learn to dance and the bellydance movement principles. Each chapter builds on what you just learned and three routines are taught. Each page is packed with so much information, so that you can learn from this book from years to come: such as what style of bellydance each move is from, what muscles you are working out, where you should feel it, how not to do it, motivation, etc. The history of bellydance was fascinating and extemely well researched and more info than other books. This book also gives you many different ways to use the book: as a workout, as a way to learn to bellydance, to get confidence and self-esteem and more. This book is extremely attractive and the graphics is first-rate - like a spa book. There are photos of Dolhina (author and bellydancer) and 3 other dancers of different shapes that are all beautiful in their own way, but not intimidating. Dolphina;s story is amazing and she is inspiring and she really shares her secrets with you. I recommend this book!!

For centuries bellydance has aided in exercise for women around the world: with this focus on the art in mind, Dolphina provides a non-impact exercise that tones, based on bellydance basics in Bellydance. Dance routines receipt step-by-step photographic embellishment in a workout side using different models to demonstrate the basic moves of bellydance. Highly recommended and very "user friendly"!

I've been a Dolphina fan for years and have been bellydancing for seven years. This book is fabulous. It provides basic history, stretches, dance moves, choreography, costuming, music, EVERYTHING! There is a great list of additional resources at the back of the book for everything under the sun regarding bellydancing. Dolphina is beautiful in body, mind, and spirit. She is an inspiration and a gorgeous dancer. The book is wonderfully organized and laid out. The photos are informative and stunningly beautiful. You can't go wrong purchasing this book.