When bellydance is NOT bellydance

slinks

New member
I recieved my copy of Sharif Productions Gala Dance volume 9 dvd .. and was shocked by the contents !! most, not all, I'll admit was terrible, now if I knew I was watching a ballet show or hip hop fusion I would have been okay with it. This was just the worse performance dvd I have seen (lol, apart from Temptation of bellydance, that is trebble BAD ...

I follow and read a lot of what Aisha Azar says, hello :), and sometimes I love to dissagree with her, me being American Caberat but she has some very valid points, what I see on this dvd makes me think alot of what Aisha has being saying .. what I find very disturbing about this dvd is that Sharif Productions is Egyptian ummm founded ?? I'm not sure of the word I'm looking for here .. When I think of Yoursy and Nourhan Sharif I think Egyptian dancers ... well there is nothing Egyptian looking about most of the dancers in this dvd and I am very sadened by it, there is nothing American Caberat about it either for that matter .. Nice costumes and that was about it ..
 

slinks

New member
I don't think so .. I doubt the overrated price tag would allow for such a show !! lol, okay that was just me being a smarty :) I love to watch performances so will pay what they want but when it comes to dissapointments, it can be hard to swallow .. I have 5, 6, 7 & 8 which I love and really enjoy, I reviewed them in http://forum.orientaldancer.net/instructors-students/3327-slinks-dvd-reviews.html they have their share of the bads but that's because of mixing the up and coming, the experienced and the pros together and that's what I like about these dvds, I really enjoy this mix of dancers .. but the latest vol 9 hmmm too much fusion .. way too much
 

gypsy8522

New member
Slinks, maybe these (dancers) are the only ones they had, Egyptian dancers are expensive to bring over to the US. I'm thinking it's not cheap to travel from state to state either. Yousry Sharif lives in the east coast, aren't most of the dancers in the dvd from around that area????
 

janaki

New member
Tks darling Slinks for the update on this DVD. I was about to get a copy. I am going to spend that money on something else now.

I have done few workshopd with Yousry and he mixes a lot of jazz and modern into his dances. I am disappoited that dances are not up to bellydance quality. I have no words to to say. I am disappoited too.

A bug hug for the review.
 

gypsy8522

New member
Ouch! It must be that bad then... I wish there was youtube clips so I'd know what you ladies are talking about.
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Dance etc.

I recieved my copy of Sharif Productions Gala Dance volume 9 dvd .. and was shocked by the contents !! most, not all, I'll admit was terrible, now if I knew I was watching a ballet show or hip hop fusion I would have been okay with it. This was just the worse performance dvd I have seen (lol, apart from Temptation of bellydance, that is trebble BAD ...

I follow and read a lot of what Aisha Azar says, hello :), and sometimes I love to dissagree with her, me being American Caberat but she has some very valid points, what I see on this dvd makes me think alot of what Aisha has being saying .. what I find very disturbing about this dvd is that Sharif Productions is Egyptian ummm founded ?? I'm not sure of the word I'm looking for here .. When I think of Yoursy and Nourhan Sharif I think Egyptian dancers ... well there is nothing Egyptian looking about most of the dancers in this dvd and I am very sadened by it, there is nothing American Caberat about it either for that matter .. Nice costumes and that was about it ..



Dear Slinks,
I am sorry that you were disappointed with their production. I hear Nourhan is not performing so much anymore?? To me she always seemed like a really great modern Lebanese dancer, more than an Egyptian one. Her energy is just amazing. At first I expected Egyptian dance with her, I guess because she is with Yousry Sharif maybe...There is a lot of stuff out there that is being labeled "belly dance" that isn't. I respect good fusion and only wish it were more clearly defined for the sake of the dance itself and for the sake of our audiences' and students' dance educations.
( It is also good to hear that you can sort of understand my point of view. What you saw in that video is rampant out there and it is terribly unfair to authentic dance when people call everything going on "belly dance". For me this is about the harm that is done in our carelessness.)
Regards
A'isha
 

perfumeshop

New member
I recieved my copy of Sharif Productions Gala Dance volume 9 dvd .. and was shocked by the contents !! most, not all, I'll admit was terrible, now if I knew I was watching a ballet show or hip hop fusion I would have been okay with it. This was just the worse performance dvd I have seen (lol, apart from Temptation of bellydance, that is trebble BAD ...

I follow and read a lot of what Aisha Azar says, hello :), and sometimes I love to dissagree with her, me being American Caberat but she has some very valid points, what I see on this dvd makes me think alot of what Aisha has being saying .. what I find very disturbing about this dvd is that Sharif Productions is Egyptian ummm founded ?? I'm not sure of the word I'm looking for here .. When I think of Yoursy and Nourhan Sharif I think Egyptian dancers ... well there is nothing Egyptian looking about most of the dancers in this dvd and I am very sadened by it, there is nothing American Caberat about it either for that matter .. Nice costumes and that was about it ..

Well thanks for the warning. I will wait 'til this becomes cheaper. Conversely I do also like to see BAD DVDs as well as good as I like to warn my students and fellow dancers!
And do reviews.
And I am so glad that someone else didn't like the much vaunted "Temptation".
I really object to hackneyed images of this dance and although there were some acts I liked mostly I found it all overwheming or is that underwhelming. Nicely filmed though!
 
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