Tribal Fusion Bellydance with Sharon Kihara

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Having fully crossed over into American culture and now so fully integrated that almost every city in the U.S. appears to hold classes bellydancing is a fascinating cultural phenomenon. The Bellydance Superstars have become one of the most popular touring attractions in bellydance circles and this program features some of their best "Tribal" dancers in full flow. Genre: HEALTH/FITNESS UPC: 894169002995 Manufacturer No: 9416900299

Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

Showcases the dancer more than the instruction. November 17, 2007
46 out of 49 found this review helpful

I am a fan of the Bellydance Superstars so I was looking forward to this Sharon Kihara video. Unfortunately, I don't recommend it for the following reasons:
1) Her outfit covers her legs so that you can't see what her legs are doing during the movements! Also she was facing a mirror but her image was so far away I couldn't see her reflection.
2) I do not feel she tried to connect with me as an learner. The voiceovers and the fact that she did not look into the camera contributed to this impression.
3) She is a beautiful woman but seemed overly concerned with her appearance. For example, she always moved her hair into position before moving into a new position. Sometimes her hair obscured what her abs were doing. Also after movements, she stopped to pose and smile at herself in the mirror. seemed to spend a lot of time smiling at herself in the mirror.
4) This is NOT for beginners to bellydance. Very few cautions were given during the yoga sequence. Very little repetition of the movements.
What I ENJOYED:
1) The set was visually appealing.
2) Sharon is a beautiful and graceful dancer. Cool tatoos.
3) Sharon has a very pleasant, well modulated voice.
4) Her interview at the end of the DVD was very personal and interesting.
If you are looking for how-to-do the tribal movements and practice drills I recommend Bellydance Yoga Conditioning with Ariellah. Also a good value is Bellydance Basics and Beyond with Jenna for learning general bellydance movements.

5 out of 5 stars

Great Tribal Fusion Workout and Choreography! October 4, 2007
29 out of 30 found this review helpful

Among Tribal Fusion DVD's, this one is a definite keeper! The DVD is well organized in a way that makes sense and keeps things flowing well. Plus, Sharon is gorgeous to watch! The music and set are nice as well.

The workout portion begins with a yoga warm up and then Sharon takes us through a series of isolation drills (glutes, abs, back, shoulders, etc.). I didn't time it, but I think the workout lasted about 45 minutes. I found it very helpful to use a yoga mat for about half of the workout.
I like this workout because it definitely works up a sweat and gets you breathing, but it's not so hard that it becomes frustrating. I'm not in great shape and I could do it, though it took some effort! These are the drills you want to do in order to build up the muscle memory that will enable you to perform the luscious tribal fusion bellydance moves that are so popular these days!
After the workout, Sharon teaches four dance combinations. Then the four combinations are put together into a really nice tribal fusion style dance.

Sharon teaches while standing next to a mirror, making it easy to see what her body is doing. Her outfit is not distracting. She demonstrates the moves while a voiceover (Sharon's voice) explains them. This DVD seems to have a lot of thought and planning behind it. It omits the negative elements (such as distracting costumes, bad sets or annoying music) that ruin the quality of some other dance and workout DVD's.
Finally, Sharon performs the same dance she teaches in the DVD, only she adds her own style and grace. It's a lovely performance.
There is a bonus interview with Sharon and some "credits" where she thanks the people who have inspired her and helped her along her dance journey.

I really like this DVD and it is now part of my weekly rotation. Good quality DVD, well worth the purchase. Highly recommended!

5 out of 5 stars

Tribal fusion at its coolest and most elegant October 20, 2007
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

Sharon Kihara has a presence all her own. She's deliciously cool, a pleasure to look at and seemingly effortlessly elegant. On her first instructional video, she takes you through a yoga warm up, short muscle isolation drills, and four stylish combinations that reverberate with shimmies.

The warm up
There are two parts to this. The first is a variant of the yoga sun salutation. It includes the triangle and warrior poses. The second part has you doing some "straddle squats". Next is a section that warms up and drills the glutes, muscles that belly dancers use to power their hip work, making movements sharper and more controlled. In this little drill, Sharon gets herself into a split position, tough to achieve for most people. She even does a shimmy in this position. To get the abs stronger, Sharon goes on to do some crunches and works the obliques. This drill ends with a yoga pose for the back relief to counter the pressure you may have felt during the crunches. Then there's a bit of an arms drill which takes you through shoulder diamonds, shimmies and snake arms. The chest drill followed by the torso drill has the usual stuff you'll find on belly dance videos, but more briefly. The torso drill demonstrates the sharpness of Sharon's undulations. There's an even tinier section quickly taking you through the vertical figure eights and small pelvic circle or "ami". If you haven't been doing any drills, this may be a nice beginning. If, like me, you have, it's more like a demo than a drill. A little more time is spent on hip ups and downs and shimmies. All of this is done to Indian-flavored music. Surprisingly, there are no safety tips and not many posture reminders. That tempts me to lop off a point, but considering it's not aimed at beginners, I'm inclined to let it go.

Combinations
American Tribal Style or ATS parentage shows in the four combinations Sharon takes up. It would have been nice if she'd have shown the combination first and then went on to explain it. For each combo, she tells you what has to be done, and then shows you the whole piece. There's no dance-along or practice built in. Again, I'm tempted to take a point off for that. Every other tribal instructional video I have (and that would be about 15 of my 87 video collection of belly dance videos) does take you through some practice. The combinations are full of rather nice shimmies, very graceful arm moves and style and attitude. Sharon is such a pleasure to watch that I don't think she deserves any points off. Especially when the video is entirely affordable. The combinations finally are danced at one go in a choreography to Bollywood's Chaiyya Chaiyya.

The entire instruction is in Sharon's voiceover. Chapters broken down and easy to get to. I'd recommend actually watching the "bonus feature" first. It's an interview (except there's no one interviewing her) of Sharon and she tells you a bit about the video.

I wouldn't recommend this video for an absolute beginner. And for others who've been dancing already, I'd say do explore the entire lot available now. Some do offer better warm ups, others definitely have stronger and longer drills, and some have more combinations. I do a lot of drills and yoga, and so this nowhere near makes me sweat. If you're like me though, you'll just be delighted to include it in your collection and will love working with a new set of combinations to add to your repertoire. If ten new tribal fusion instructional videos were to be released this month, I'm very afraid I'd buy the lot.

As I said, right at the beginning, no matter what else you get out of this video, you'll get the pleasure of watching this lovely dancer.

5 out of 5 stars

Excellent! October 5, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is the dvd I've been waiting for! She has it broken down into several warm ups, then different body parts broken down into sections. Then she goes over combos that create a killer choreography at the end.

Sharon is one of the best teachers! Great DVD and great price!

3 out of 5 stars

Not bad.. bit of a rework of Rachel Brice December 31, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I was really looking forward to this release to see what else was out there as I have studied under Rachel Brice and have all her DVD's. I honestly felt that this one was just a rework of Rachel's Yoga Drills DVD (which is truly brilliant and every bellydancer should own it). I think Sharon is a gorgeous woman and lovely dancer but needs a lot more practice and feel more comfortable in front of the camera. I am quite disappointed by this one. Sorry guys..

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