REVIEWS ON THIS PAGE: Soraya - Live in Concert at the Tropicana Casino Showroom; Soraya - Night at the Casbah;
Habiba Dance Ensemble in Concert; Goddess Dance; FCBD Live!;
Tajdeed by Margo Abdo O'Dell; Arabian Melodies; Habiba Dance Ensemble in Concert;

Total playing time : Approx 19 mins. NTSC FORMAT

Soraya - Live in Concert at the Tropicana Casino Showroom Soraya is a performer and producer from Margate City, New Jersey USA. Her personal website can be found at www.BellyDanceBySoraya.com This video has a good standard of production with beautiful lighting, sound and picture quality, with a good number of different camera angles. This video was recorded live at the Tropicana Casino Showroom. A live orchestra, comprised of all the normal Middle Eastern instruments and a Western style drumkit, performs the music. Soraya enters the stage wearing a professional quality, gorgeous Egyptian style gold bedlah. She opens with a veil entrance Soraya is a lively and highly confident performer, and in this performance, her dancing comes over as mainly improvised. Soraya has excellent posture and presentation, and has strong hip drops and beautiful shimmies, but I did feel her movement vocabulary was limited, and this wasn't helped by the fact that the masses of fringing and pailettes on her costume flew everywhere; making it difficult to see which movements she was performing. Soraya also performs some Saidi style stick work in the next song, followed by a drum solo. Apparently this video was filmed in front of 2,500 people, but the camera shots of the audience were too dark to see the audience, which was a shame, because Soraya seems to have beautiful stage presence, and it would have been nice to see the audience's reaction. Soraya follows this up by performing an accordion solo (baladi ashara), culminating in a drum solo and finale. I was very disappointed with the short running time of this video as it only lasts nineteen minutes (in contrary to her website which says it runs for 45 minutes). My personal opinion is that this video is poor value for money. You will be ordering direct from Soraya, not the Raqs Sharqi website. Available on video and DVD.

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Total playing time : Approx 21 mins. NTSC FORMAT

Soraya - Night at the Casbah Soraya is a performer and producer from Margate City, New Jersey USA. This video has an excellent standard of production with beautiful lighting, sound and picture quality, with a good number of different camera angles. It was shot in a studio with Middle Eastern inspired scenery to lend atmosphere. The video features Soraya dancing to pre-recorded music from well known albums - mostly uptempo pop songs, along with two drum solos and a Saidi number. In the first part of the video, Soraya opens with a veil entrance in a gorgeous professional quality red bedlah set. It's really stunning and makes a beautiful contrast against the studio backdrop. She dances to a modern piece of pop, then another piece with some nice baladi style accordion, followed by another fast poppy number with a drum solo finale. During this section Soraya does play sagat, but sadly the sound of her playing them was completely drowned out by the music. The second section has Soraya dancing in a chocolate coloured folklore dress with beaded hip belt. She performs a dance to a Saidi style number, followed by a drum solo finale. Soraya is a lively and highly confident performer, and her dancing comes across as mostly choreographed, and her musical interpretation very definitely has an strong element of free-spirited improvisation, which I felt made the choreographies very unstructured, and, at times, I felt Soraya was dancing to a different piece of music than the one playing. This video has many lovely elements such as the videography and the costumes, and I did like the way Soraya did some of her moves, but I felt she could have been capable of stronger musical interpretation, especially in the Saidi section. I was very disappointed with the unstructured choreographies as well as the short running time of this video as it only lasts twenty minutes, which I felt was poor value for money. I was assured that the video actually runs for 45 minutes by Soraya, and she did send me a replacement video of the same title when I said my copy of her video only ran for twenty minutes, but the replacement again was as short as the first. You will be ordering direct from Soraya, not the Raqs Sharqi website. Available on video and DVD.

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Total playing time : Approx 80 mins. NTSC/PAL FORMAT

Habiba Dance Ensemble in Concert Habiba Dance Ensemble was founded in 1983 by the dancer and teacher Habiba (USA). This performance video was recorded at the International House of Philadelphia in August 2003. For the first part of the concert, the dances were choregraphed by Habiba. In the USA, Habiba is renowned for her understanding of the dance styles in the Middle East. The video also contains seven dances choreographed by Dr Mo. Geddawi who was the co founder of "Reda Dance Troupe" with Mahmoud Reda (read an article and an interview about his work). This video has good sound and picture quality, with steady camerawork. It has been edited really well. It seems to be have been recorded by one, or possibly two video camera seated in the audience. All the performers are clearly viewable at all times. I really like the way the video has been put together - before each choreography, notes flash up with the title of the song and a brief explanation of each dance. This is a wonderful touch. This video features a fantastic, wide variety of dance styles from right across the Middle East and North Africa. It contains solo, duet, and group choreographies. Habiba performs three solos on this video. A lot of thought has gone into the running order of the dances so you see something different each time. This meant that this video really held my attention all the way through to the end. The traditional choreographies on this video are excellent, I loved the the scarf dance choreography from Tunisia in particular. All the choreographies have been put together in the style and with the steps, and the correct music from the region the dance is originally from, with the correct costume components and props, resulting in really authentic dances, with good use of the stage and formation. The dancers are all really well rehearsed. The running order of this video is: 1) "Traka Karsilama" - interpretation of a traditional Turkish song from Thrace (group); 2) "On a Marvellous Night" - Arabic jazz fusion with medieval Andalusian music (solo); 3) "Addala Ya Addala" - traditional Tunisian scarf dance (group); 4) "Saidi Suite" - containing three dances, duet with cane; solo; and a Ghawazi group choreography; 5) "Nubian suite" (group); 6) "Malaya Dance" (group); 7) Elf Leyla Wa Leyla - classical oriental (solo); 8) "Tribute to Dr. Mo Geddawi" - seven solo choreographies danced by members of the Habiba Ensemble - "Batta"; "Layali Zaman" (veil); "Rennet Al Khol Khal"; "Ishta"; "Helwa El Leba Di"; "Tabellolha" and "Raqs Saidi". Habiba's website can be found at www.habibastudio.com You will be ordering direct from Habiba, not the Raqs Sharqi website.

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Total playing time : Approx 100 mins. NTSC/PAL FORMAT

FCBD Live! This video contain excerpts of live performances by the FCBD troupe during 1993 and 1994. It includes a playlist sequentially detailing both the music used in each clip, and the album it is taken from; some of the albums are sold through the FCBD website, and the albums available from the site are indicated on the playlist, so if you like the music, you won't have a problem getting hold of it. The footage on this video has been professionally edited and has excellent sound and picture quality. This video features excerpts from 36 fully-costumed performances by FCBD in a variety of locations; on stage in clubs, smaller more intimate venues such as restaurants and private parties, outside performances in large parks, being filmed for television at Christmas time. There are some fantastic clips of the troupe performing at a *huge* football stadium in front of literally thousands of people. I got a buzz just from watching it! Some of the more close up footage such as the restaurant performances are delightful and you get a real sense of the interaction between the dancers, as well seeing those fabulous ATS costumes and make-up close up. This video features group, duet, and solo tribal performances. It could be useful for those dancers looking to have a go at ATS as the video really does capture the spirit of the dance, beautifully showing off its dynamics in a variety of different environments with a varying number of dancers. Although the clips are excerpts, and not full performances, they are long enough in length to be both interesting and useful, and I didn't feel that I had missed anything. A fascinating journey into the world of American Tribal Style! You will be ordering direct from FCBD, (not the Raqs Sharqi website).

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Total playing time : Approx 35 mins. NTSC FORMAT

GoddessDance This video contains excerpts from the stage show "Goddess Dance", choreographed and produced by the American dancer Jehan Kemal. "Goddess Dance" is on off-Broadway show which runs for a few weeks every year. This video was recorded in 2002 show at the American Theatre of Actors, New York. Most of the music in the show was composed and sung by Jehan herself; if you like her music (probably best described as atmospheric M.E./New Age/fusion), the soundtrack from the Goddess Dance show is available to buy from her website. Some of the tracks contain vocals sung by Jehan herself - she is an amazing singer and artist. The show is based on themes of bellydance as ritual and spirituality. The video is divided into several sections and contains a number of group and solo dances all choreographed by Jehan. The first section shows an artistic selection of images and dancers featured in Goddessdance, giving an overall impression of the entire show and showing off some off the lovely costumes as one of Jehan's compositions "Spirit Dancer" plays in the background. The first dance is "Serpent Rising" - an interesting group choreography with great stage dynamics, featuring a live python. This choreography combines standing dancers with dancers writhing serpent like in their floorwork. "Celebration of Rhythm" is a earthy tabla solo performed by Jehan with a live drummer on stage. "Al Ain Moulayatein" is another solo by Jehan; this time she is joined on stage by an oud player with several percussionists. "Prayer" is another drum solo, this time zar style, I really loved the way the camera panned out to show all the dancers spinning and tossing their hair, I loved the way this had been put together. "Fluid Mandala's" is a fascinating piece of duet work; I really loved this fusion of a gymnast dancer with Jehan's earthy style of bellydance - the two styles of movement really did contrast and compliment each other in a way which I normally wouldn't have expected them to do. "Bahaia" is a solo oriental piece performed by Jehan with a veil. "Illumination" is another interesting group choreography featuring all the different possible types of candle dance in one; tray with lighted candles; candleabra and double candle, again creating a beautiful visual effect. Most of the choreographies performed on this video are dramatic, atmospheric and are a fusion of Middle Eastern/African/modern styles of dance; with the exception of Jehan, whose dances are improvised. All the performers are all well-rehearsed and confident; the dancers, choreographies, lighting and music all fuse together beautifully into a powerful piece of theatre. This video could be a source of inspiration for those dancers who are looking to create atmospheric visual effects, mystery or drama in their dances. This video has excellent sound, picture, and production quality. To read about Neon's other bellydance video productions, visit her website. To find out more about Jehan and her work, visit her website. You will be buying from Neon direct (not the Raqs Sharqi website)

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Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. NTSC/PAL FORMAT

Tajdeed Margo Abdo O'Dell is an American dancer/instructor based in Minneapolis. Her biography and personal dance history can be on her website at http://www.margo1.com. To purchase Tajdeed, please contact Margo directly via e-mail - margo@margo1.com You will be ordering direct from Margo Abdo O'dell, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). The video costs 40 US dollars (this price includes shipping inside the USA) - if outside the USA, please e-mail Margo for the price of shipping costs to your country. If you need PAL format, please enquire before ordering as there will be an extra charge to cover the cost of the conversion. The video opens with a beautifully produced display of orientalist art, wonderful oud music and the poem "The Soul of a Dancer". Tajdeed is a collection of six live performances recorded at various venues and has been beautifully edited. Each dance is a solo that has been choreographed and performed by Margo Abdo O'Dell. Each performamce has been recorded by a single camera placed in the audience, but the camera work is very steady, and for the majority of the video, it's very clear. You get a good view of Margo dancing at all times. The first three performances are all on stage in a theatre and Margo is accompanied by a live orchestra, along with more traditional Middle Eastern instruments, there are the interesting additions of guitar and Western drum kit. "Oriental Suite" opens with the Saidi number "Hamama" ("Little Pigeon") which Margo unusually uses to make her entrance wearing a red and gold bedlah. (A version of this song can be found on Aisha Ali's CD "Music for the Oriental Dance".) I loved Margo's interpretation of this piece of music, she's elegant, refined, graceful, highly polished, and has excellent technique and posture, as well as a good vocabularly of movements. This dance is an oriental style piece that opens with a veil entrance. "Tajdeed" is a more of a modern dance, and Margo's choreography and costume fits well with the atmospheric music. "Wa Hast Aini" has a male singer performing some cane, before being joined on stage by Margo in a black/silver dress with a beautiful matching beaded fringe belt. Margo dances and plays sagat confidentally and gracefully alongside him. "Desert Dreams" is a performance to a pre-recorded routine, in a smaller venue. Margo dances in a purple/gold bedlah set. Again here, she is polished, confident and uses a good variety of movements. "In the Fringe" was recorded on a larger theatre stage, this is a routine made up of three pieces of pre-recorded music; again this performance has a strong modern dance element which fits in well with the music used, particularly the atmospheric, moody and even spooky drum solo music which Margo interpreted to great effect; the moves and style of dance fitted wonderfully with the mood of the music. The video ends with another oriental routine "Raksat Margo" that uses pre-recorded music. The camerawork in this part of the video is steady, but very occasionally blurs just a little, but you can still clearly see everything Margo is doing. This is a wonderfully choreographed modern style oriental routine, again Margo dances flawlessly with the correct technique for modern style with good isolation and use of space. At some points in the video, the lighting is a little dark; this is because of the way the stage has been lit to correspond with the atmospheric music and style of dance, but you still see Margo's movements clearly. On the closing credits, I was delighted to see that Margo has taken the time to list both the album's and individual track names for each performance, making it easy if you want to get hold of any of the music used in the video, which I thought was wonderful. You will be ordering direct from Margo, not the Raqs Sharqi website.

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Total playing time : Approx 50 mins. © Hollywood Music Centre

Arabian Melodies featuring Suhaila Salimpour This is a performance video featuring a number of dancers from the USA. The music used in this video is from the CD from Peko Records "Arabian Melodies" by Dr Samy Faraq (available to buy from Aladdins Cave). I really enjoyed the excellent music on this video - the music had a bit of character and an ever-so-slightly "cheesy" flavour. The first dancer is Suhaila Salimpur (a well known dancer in the USA) dancing in a studio set. We saw her in a range of different costumes, two different two piece costume sets and a gorgeous assuit dress. The lighting was good and the camera work was professional. While I enjoyed the majority of her dancing, I was disappointed that the video repeated two sections of her dance, meaning we saw the whole thing twice, and then at the end of the video I was again disappointed as we saw her yet again repeat the same choreography to the same music albeit this time on a stage. Just once would have been enough as all this took up a fair bit of the time on the video (nearly half of the running time of the whole video) and I wasn't too happy about that. To be fair to Suhaila, she did have excellent technique and I really liked some of the moves and movement combinations that she used. The second dancer was called "Alia" and performed a candelabrum dance - again this was set in a studio with maybe just a little too much smoke from the smoke machine - sometimes she almost disappeared completely - but I enjoyed her choreography and musical interpretation very much as it fitted extremely well with the music. She also wore a very beautiful silver beaded and fringed two piece costume set. This is the definitely best dance on the video. The next dancer was called "Sahra" who also did a dance in a two piece in a studio set - she was fairly professional and the dance wasn't too bad. Next up comes clip of a dancer called "Shadiah"; she is wearing an obviously very expensive and very stunning blue and white two piece costume set - I was disappointed by her dancing though; it didn't match the music at all and it looked almost like any dance had been superimposed on to the music (could it have been a continuity problem or error of some sort?) the dance was set outside in front of a fountain; the location looked like it was almost a roundabout and we saw cars and even small pick up trucks passing by. I did really enjoy her great tabla solo though which did fit with the music. This is followed by a duet - the dancing really is more of a student standard and I was disappointed with this because they danced to the same music Alia used in her candleabrum dance - in a "professional" standard video as this is packaged as, I would have preferred to see them dance to another piece of music. The video ends with another rendition of Suhalia's dance which we saw at the start of the video - albeit a shorter version this time on stage, as the main sections of the choreography are only done once (and not twice as at the beginning of the video), wearing exactly the same costumes as she did at the start. None the less, I found the video to be quite entertaining and enjoyed watching it a few times. Occasionally there was an annoying advert that scrolled across the screen advertising Hollywood Music Center, but this wasn't too intrusive. Excellent sound and picture quality.

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