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Serpentine: Belly Dance with Rachel Brice - Bellydance Technique & Yoga for Strong, Relaxed & Sinuous Movement is a unique blend of yoga conditioning, bellydance technique drills, choreography and mini-classes designed by Rachel Brice, star performer and instructor of contemporary belly dance, whose technique, artistic style, and warm personality contributed to the rise of Tribal Fusion belly dance.
Rachel's instructional method offers you tools to achieve precision of isolations, deep full-range movement, as well as flexibility and strength that will give you the sinuous serpentine grace characteristic of Rachel's own dance style. Her drills, combinations and yoga sessions will help you establish your own regular dance practice, customized to fit your creative goals and lifestyle.
The two main sections of SERPENTINE are 1. Technique and 2. Choreography & Classes. The Technique section opens with yoga for bellydance, carefully crafted to enhance your strength and flexibility, qualities crucial for relaxed, effortless dance. A veteran yoga instructor of many years of practice, training, and yoga instruction experience, Rachel Brice leads you in a beautiful flow of classic yoga postures and stretches.
The yoga is followed by three DRILLS sessions:
Leg Strengthening Drills, including a variety of travel and level-change exercises, and mini-combinations;
Isolation Drills (shoulders, torso, and pelvis) where you will practice bellydance isolations and then layer each one on 4 footwork patterns;
and the Shimmy Drill, a delightful high-energy non-stop shimmy practice with Rachel's signature shimmy layering.
The Technique section ends with a finishing yoga practice.
Rachel's Choreography & Classes section features two choreographies: A fast and playful dance set to music of progressively increasing tempo, and a flowing slow dance including back bends and fluid serpentine movement punctuated with elegant accents. Each choreography is performed in costume and then demonstrated from the back with Rachel facing the mirror. Rachel teaches you the combinations for each choreography step-by-step with practice first at a slower pace, and then faster. A special DVD feature offers practice loops for each combination.
To promote correct and safe back-bending technique, Rachel Brice teaches a mini-class on the biomechanics of backward bending, and leads you in the Yoga for Backward Bending practice designed to increase the flexibility and the range of motion in your back and develop a strong habit for proper muscle support when executing back bends.
Additional classes and materials include: Yoga Breathing; arm and footwork patterns to be used during the drills; basics of the 10-point dance posture; and two performances by Rachel Brice.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
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There are two DVDs in this set. The first concentrates on the different techniques Ms Brice uses, showing very clearly how to achieve the movements and how to practise them. The second DVD shows the choreography of her dance, both as costumed performance and broken down into sections in the rehearsal room.
Both sections are filmed in a large and airy room, mirrored floor to ceiling and very well lit so that it is easy to observe Ms Brice's movements from all sides. The practice dress she wears allows us to see exactly what any part of her body is doing at any time. The first disc begins with warm-up exercises and yoga practice before progressing to isolation drills for each part of the body. The drills (shoulders, torso, hips, etc) are accompanied by simple music, for the most part a drum, and this threads together the different exercises. At the end of the lessons there is a yoga cool-down section and some suggestions as to how one can make a practice schedule to fit the learning/practising into one's week. I found that particularly helpful. As Ms Brice observes, not everyone has three or four hours daily to devote to dance.
The second disc has two performances by Ms Brice, and what a pleasure it is to watch her! The count of the dance is explained and her routines are taken apart like jigsaws so that we can see how each dance is being built from the lessons shown on Disc One. There are sections on feet movements (to avoid being glued to the spot) and on arm movements. All the demonstrations are done slowly so that we can understand how they link, and then, if necessary, faster.
Ms Brice suggests (very sensibly, for my money) that we become comfortable with the body movements before we include the feet exercises, and then when we are good with those two, we add arm movements. I find this much easier than the insistence of some teachers that we try to do everything at once from the very start. How to breathe is also addressed; one thing I used to forget during a new exercise was the need to breathe regularly but there is no fear of this here.
The pacing of the DVDs suited me very well, neither too slow nor too rushed and it really feels as if Ms Brice wants us to learn, and that we can learn. Her approach is friendly without any jollity, businesslike without brusqueness and her attitude is very down to earth. There is not any cultivated mystique or glossing over a movement. Only Ms Brice appears on these DVDs so one is not distracted by a screenful of other dancers. The camera work is well-considered and makes what is shown very accessible.
This set is excellent value for money; even if you decide belly dancing is not for you, to see her dance is a real delight. I am so pleased I bought this.
Both sections are filmed in a large and airy room, mirrored floor to ceiling and very well lit so that it is easy to observe Ms Brice's movements from all sides. The practice dress she wears allows us to see exactly what any part of her body is doing at any time. The first disc begins with warm-up exercises and yoga practice before progressing to isolation drills for each part of the body. The drills (shoulders, torso, hips, etc) are accompanied by simple music, for the most part a drum, and this threads together the different exercises. At the end of the lessons there is a yoga cool-down section and some suggestions as to how one can make a practice schedule to fit the learning/practising into one's week. I found that particularly helpful. As Ms Brice observes, not everyone has three or four hours daily to devote to dance.
The second disc has two performances by Ms Brice, and what a pleasure it is to watch her! The count of the dance is explained and her routines are taken apart like jigsaws so that we can see how each dance is being built from the lessons shown on Disc One. There are sections on feet movements (to avoid being glued to the spot) and on arm movements. All the demonstrations are done slowly so that we can understand how they link, and then, if necessary, faster.
Ms Brice suggests (very sensibly, for my money) that we become comfortable with the body movements before we include the feet exercises, and then when we are good with those two, we add arm movements. I find this much easier than the insistence of some teachers that we try to do everything at once from the very start. How to breathe is also addressed; one thing I used to forget during a new exercise was the need to breathe regularly but there is no fear of this here.
The pacing of the DVDs suited me very well, neither too slow nor too rushed and it really feels as if Ms Brice wants us to learn, and that we can learn. Her approach is friendly without any jollity, businesslike without brusqueness and her attitude is very down to earth. There is not any cultivated mystique or glossing over a movement. Only Ms Brice appears on these DVDs so one is not distracted by a screenful of other dancers. The camera work is well-considered and makes what is shown very accessible.
This set is excellent value for money; even if you decide belly dancing is not for you, to see her dance is a real delight. I am so pleased I bought this.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Awesome DVD, but not for the bellydance beginner at all. Serious drills and beautiful routines to learn. The work on layering with the shimmy is great fun and although some of the yoga is a little too advanced for me at times, and I have to use my own stretches, you can see and feel why she has included them. Thoroughly recommended for the Intermediate dancer.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
As always Rachel Brice gives great instructions and covers basic techniques and advanced movements. Perfect for workouts at home. I always enjoy doing the practice and drills it's strengthening and relaxing at the same time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
GREAT DVD
As a experienced belly dancer; I found the yoga technique great for dancers, the classes are stimulating and the choreographies so much fun. Read more
Published 15 months ago by kt
Great belly dance technique
The yoga and the tribal belly dance technique of Rachel Brice are fantastic, all great. I think its a little bit for more advanced dancers, this is my feeling as a... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lydia M
absalutely brilliant
this is absalutely brilliant,so much for so little price.
already with my dancing it has helped so very much.
already with my dancing it has helped so very much.
Published 22 months ago by Indogo beauchamp
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