Dolphina leads the 45 minute workout alone.

The warm-up (the press for the video says it's 5 minutes long, but I'm sure my VCR counter said 8) consists of deep breathing, full head rolls, and slow stretches.

She then moves on to short segments (approximately 5 minutes each) [mis]focused on specific body parts (ex: for the back you do snake arms. MANY snake arms. You will not feel it in your back, but your shoulders will be talking to you!) She doesn't move to the beat or the music, she doesn't space the reps evenly herself, and between that and the funky editing you will think you're following along and then you look at the screen and realize that you're now out of synch with the teacher. I hate that.

In the workout segments she covers such basic moves as snake arms, hip circles, figure eights, head slides, shimmies, shoulder shimmies, and undulations.

After the workout segments you get to follow her through a brief "routine" that is not well cued or choreographed and doesn't go with the music. The Cool Down consists of 8 deep breaths, some head rolls and some slow hip circles.

It's a pretty video. The setting is lovely--it looks like it was taped on the grounds of a Mediterranean villa in Southern California (you see ocean in the background of some shots.) Dolphina has a beautiful body, and she wears a new outfit in each segment, usually consisting of a crop top, leggings, hip scarf, and maybe a filmy skirt. She wears a full costume for the Routine (dark green) and for the Cool Down (a sexy red number). She's a bit too sex kitteny for my taste. (I have issues with sex kitten belly dancers.) She also tries to teach *about* bellydancing and I'm not at all sure that the information she shares is correct.

I do like that as she instructs and adds on things like walking with the moves or layering moves on top of each other she says it's ok to just stand in place if you aren't ready to walk with the movement (something that most beginners find very challenging at first).

Here's who I might suggest this tape for:

-- someone who has done some bellydance classes/videos and is a moderate to advanced beginner who wants something new to practice basic moves with.

Here's who I would NOT suggest this tape for:
--someone who has never done bellydance. Dolphina gives practically no form pointers, the video focuses on her upper body *or* her feet, but almost never both at the same time, and her instruction isn't always clear.
--someone who has done a fair amount of bellydance (intermediate level) and wants to learn something new. You won't. It's pretty basic.
--someone looking for an aerobic workout. Unless you have very low cardiovascular fitness, it is unlikely you will find yourself in your target heart rate zone at any point in this video.
--anyone whom the whole goddessy/spiritual thing irritates or offends. (Although you were sorta warned about the tone of the video in the title.) She goes on about the goddess and the chakras and awakening your kundalini, and if that's not your bag, this probably won't be either.

You can find more information about this tape and about Dolphina at Dolphina's website www.goddessworkout.com

Renee Drellishak