Suggestions please for Books/DVD's for between class?
- Thread starter SweetPinkVanilla
- Start date
SweetPinkVanilla
Banned
Quote LizaJ: " Maybe when I get in the loop wth the box..I just might put that book in "
Are you talking about the book you just recommended me?!
I'm not quite sure if the book request was a joke, a cruel jibe, or a genuine recommendation from your own personal favourite reading matter......
....BUT.... it doesnt look much like a Belly-Dancing Technique/Moves training book to me! (please correct me if im wrong, as im sure you will!
) .....
lizaj
New member
Eden Eyes I'm sorry..I thought knowing you had coped with Dolphina, you'd cope with anything!:lol:
Shanazel
Moderator
I had a book on bd she produced that has lots of pretty color pictures despite some strange allegations (for example: AmCab dancers NEVER dance on their toes), and took a chance on the dvd. I had never actually seen Dolphina dance or teach until I bought the dvd CHEAP at Ross. It doesn't rank with my favorites, though I have a dvd of upper body work that I bought at the same place that is as bad or worse. HOWEVER: I did get Jenna and Raquy's Heartbeat of Belly Dance which was good, so Ross is not a completely invalid source.
), and took a chance on the dvd. I had never actually seen Dolphina dance or teach until I bought the dvd CHEAP at Ross. It doesn't rank with my favorites, though I have a dvd of upper body work that I bought at the same place that is as bad or worse. HOWEVER: I did get Jenna and Raquy's Heartbeat of Belly Dance which was good, so Ross is not a completely invalid source.
SweetPinkVanilla
Banned
Eden-Eyes it;s not you that needs to apologise at all...
However, i did ask a serious question and yet again LizaJ has trolled my post, deliberately suggesting a book she KNOWS is duff (as a 'in joke' between the two of you.... but also against me from her, as i could have wasted the small amount of money i do have on learning material on this book, had i not suggested she had yet again made a cruel post on my thread).
I know some people may think im taking this too seriously, but if i had followed LizaJ's advice i would be in a mess, with a duff book, no money left for another one, and left feeling very much hurt for such a spiteful recomendation. (ie. knowing the book is terrible yet suggesting it in my request post).
Liza apologises to you, yet doesnt dream of aplogising to me for not making me aware the book suggestion she made on my genuine thread (yet again) was a 'joke'.
I just think it was a joke more aimed at me, than what is immediately apparent, due to my previous comments of feeling femininity, body-confidence and sensuality from BD..... and the ensueing reaction in my early days here .
Anyway, dont worry at all Eden, it's LizaJ who has it in for me.... i never took your post in a bad way at all, but thanks so so much for having the decency to write and clarify things for me.
Thank goodness i did not take LizaJ's advice and buy the book ...... I cant see it helping me to seriously learn & study Raqs Sharqi technique (and history) somehow. lol. phew... a near miss i think!
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Bottom line is... you can watch as many tuition DVD's as you like, but you'll still learn more from a good teacher within a class situation. My piece of advice to you is to try what worked for me... I didn't waste my money on tuition DVD's, I watched hours and hours of footage of the top dancers, and studied and broke down their technique. Attend as many workshops as you can afford, and be diverse. Don't stick like glue to one teacher. Try to get to JOY in April. It's very affordable.
PracticalDancer
New member
Bump!
I have a Barnes and Noble giftcard staring at me, and empty space on my bookshelf. Or, at least, the desire to create some empty space on my bookshelf.
What books do you recommend I add? I am looking at a copy of "The EDA Handbook for Middle Eastern Dance" by DaVid, but I have only found one review. Other thoughts?
Topics of particular interest to me are biographies of Farid al Atriche and other song writers for the Oum Kalthoum era, vintage books on technique (have Sirena's and Bert's already), anything good about ethnic clothing and fabrics of the middle east, etc.
A broad range, to be sure. Please send recommendations and warnings!
Thanks,
Anala
I have a Barnes and Noble giftcard staring at me, and empty space on my bookshelf. Or, at least, the desire to create some empty space on my bookshelf.
What books do you recommend I add? I am looking at a copy of "The EDA Handbook for Middle Eastern Dance" by DaVid, but I have only found one review. Other thoughts?
Topics of particular interest to me are biographies of Farid al Atriche and other song writers for the Oum Kalthoum era, vintage books on technique (have Sirena's and Bert's already), anything good about ethnic clothing and fabrics of the middle east, etc.
A broad range, to be sure. Please send recommendations and warnings!
Thanks,
Anala
shiradotnet
Well-known member
This is certainly a valid concern. Here's something you may find helpful to know...
Many, many belly dance DVD's, including those produced by World Dance New York, IAMED, and Cheeky Girls are all-region. In other words, although these DVD's were produced in the U.S., they will be usable in the UK and everywhere else in the world as well. They generally all use NTSC as their video encoding format, but I've been told that most DVD players in Europe can play NTSC DVD's anyway.
Amazon.com (ie, the US-based version of Amazon) has a weird quirk in which its software doesn't provide a way for sellers to say that their DVD's will work in all regions. I've discussed this with several video producers. They told me that Amazon requires them to pick one region, so naturally they pick region 1 because Amazon.com sells to the North America market and they want North American buyers to know that their videos will work here. So if you look at Amazon.com, it will tell you every DVD is region 1, even when the video actually can be used elsewhere.
I have software that can examine the DVD and identify which regions the DVD can be used in. As a result, if you check the "online video store" on my web site at Shira's Shops: Videos and Movies Related to Belly Dancing and the Middle East it will tell you in most cases which DVD's are all-region and therefore playable in the UK. If that page says a video will work in your region, it should indeed work.
Another thing you may find helpful if you watch DVD's on your computer: there is a software product that runs on Windows called AnyDVD that will let you play DVD's from all regions on your computer regardless of what region the DVD is coded for. See SlySoft AnyDVD | any dvd, region free, dvd copy, copy dvd movies, dvd decoder, dvd ripper, macrovision, dvd copying software
Here are some of my book recommendations: Shira's Reading List for Belly Dancers
For ethnic clothing, this is my top pick: Book Review: The Folkwear Book of Ethnic Clothing by Mary S. Parker
Also a widely-recommended one on ethnic clothing which I haven't read yet but want to: Amazon.com: Women's Costume of the Near and Middle East (9780700715602): Jennifer M. Scarce: Books
For technique, this is my favorite - it's out of print, but fairly available through used-book sources: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/055266314X/artofmiddleeaste/
And here's a list of all book reviews on my site - I have a lot of 'em: Index to Book Reviews and Articles About Books on Shira.net (Site Map)
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Sirène
New member
It's not a review, but LuLu has a preview of the book. You can read the intro and leaf through the table of contents.
The EDA Handbook for Middle Eastern Dance by DaVid of Scandinavia - The Ethnic Dance Academy in Education & Language
The EDA Handbook for Middle Eastern Dance by DaVid of Scandinavia - The Ethnic Dance Academy in Education & Language
jenc
New member
I have bought many bellydance dvds and yjey have ALL been all region. If you do get one that isn't AND your dvd player will not play it you may be able to find instructions online for unlocking your player to play all regions. I had to do this with mine - but not to play a BD dvd which have all been fine. The dvd players are all made the same and then restricted by software to a particular country. I have also been told that games machines of different specs are also just limited by software.
IAMED
Hollywood Music Center
Cheeky girls
world Dance New York
Dance Fitness - Natural Journeys
All Region free
The only one that wasn't was something I picked up on Ebay in a cheap little set with cymbals and instruction book - wan't worth what I paid for it either - but that's another story.
IAMED
Hollywood Music Center
Cheeky girls
world Dance New York
Dance Fitness - Natural Journeys
All Region free
The only one that wasn't was something I picked up on Ebay in a cheap little set with cymbals and instruction book - wan't worth what I paid for it either - but that's another story.
Sirène
New member
Good advice from you and Shira, but I think the region encoding issue was put to rest some time ago (those posts are from 2009
). I don't know if Anala made her decision about DaVid's book, but for anyone considering purchasing The EDA Handbook for Middle Eastern Dance (or any other Bellydance title published by Lulu), the site has 30% off today (Nov. 28, 2011) only to celebrate Cyber Monday. The code is predictable — CYBERMONDAY — and it works on items that are already discounted.
shiradotnet
Well-known member
Yeah, it's admittedly an old thread, but I figured the stuff I posted was still accurate, and therefore it wasn't a bad idea to post it just in case it helps someone today who has the same questions.