Ava Fleming
This is another well produced
instructional from the INternational
Academy of Middle eastern dance. For
dancers who have enough floor space,
this dvd teaches several different
combos that move around the room,
beyond the usual walking steps typically
seen in bellydance. As you'd expect
from the title, there's lots of traveling
steps and plenty of turns, pivots. For a
light day, this could be a gentle cardio
session. the dvd is well chaptered by
combo, so you can always cue up one
that you like and practice it. The
combos are taught without music and
the music is played during the preview
for each combo. I thought this worked
well so I could try to mentally hear
different tempos and think about how
the combo would work at different
speeds. Ava also demos different
variations you can add to the basic
combo to make it a bit different. There
is a performance at the end, and part of
a second one while the credits are
rolling. Ava has a quiet demeanor, but
moves beautifully and often shows you
what you don't want to do. Overall, her
instruction isn't flashy, but she does
seem friendly, if reserved and she
dances well. For dancers with some
experience, this is a dandy addition to
your practice library, especially if your
lesson venue doesn't allow for alot of
travelling steps (but your practice site
does).
Instructor comments:
Ava is a soft spoken, professional
instructor. She moves well and explains
things clearly. She has beautiful
posture. Her form pointers are geared
to the dancer who has a knowledge of
basics, so while some of the
combinations are basic enough for the
beginner dancer, there may not be
enough basic instruction for beginners.
linda
