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Product Description ------------------- Created by Ranya Renee, New York City-based star performer and instructor of Arabic-style belly dance, The Baladi: Bellydance Egyptian Style is a comprehensive program that will immerse you in the beautiful world of traditional Egyptian dance music, soulful and spirited baladi improvisation, and delicious, dynamic moves! This 5-hour-long 2-DVD set covers the structure, rhythms and musical flavors of typical baladi progressions, teaches the essential technique and dance vocabulary of baladi, and provides drills for developing your own improvisational practice. The Baladi: Bellydance Egyptian Style is the first program to combine instruction in core Egyptian dance technique with a wealth of detailed cultural information and tools for learning to interpret the music and for daily dance practice. The program is a valuable resource for belly dancers of all levels of experience as well as for dance instructors. Baladi is the social dance style of the Egyptian people, often featured in a special section of the traditional belly dance show. This video focuses on the taqsim baladi a style of improvisation that starts slow and gentle, building to a climax of exciting rhythms, faster steps and shimmies. During a live music demonstration of baladi progressions, Ranya analyzes the structure, common features and stylistic differences between men's style (tet) and women's style (awadi) baladi dancing, and offers a step-by-step explanation of what is happening at each transition in the music. Master accordionist Nabawy provides an introduction to baladi music and explains the different melodic styles, and the drummers demonstrate some of key rhythms used in the baladi. You will also receive an introduction to the concept of maqamat, or Arabic musical modes, that are the source material for taqasim, the art of melodic improvisation. The technique section is organized by style and type, so you can match the appropriate movements and traveling steps to each part of the baladi progression: From the slow, fluid taqsim, through the sekkat accent breaks, and on to the maqsoum-based rhythm sections and the fast ingerara section that transitions into the drum solo. This framework enables you to develop the instinct you need to select authentic movements that correctly match the music, recognizing the essential features of melody and rhythms. Ranya gives guidance for beginning or developing your improvisation practice, no matter your level of experience as a dancer. With looped recorded music drills created specially for this program, Ranya gives you the tools for a rigorous baladi dance practice while simultaneously honing your listening skills. The format of the drills is an flow, preserving the improvisational nature of the baladi so you learn in the way Egyptians learn, by watching and following along. Absorbing the feeling of baladi naturally will help you to improvise with more confidence on your own. The looped music repetitions allow you to review key movements over and over as you build an familiarity with the musical nuances, and condition your physical dance response to them. DVD options allow you either to dance through a full baladi piece or to work on isolated sections of a baladi, focusing on short portions of music to drill your steps. With all the drills, Ranya provides voiceover commentary to call your attention to melodic and rhythmic motifs, or to remind you of technique pointers. The program also includes extensive sections on posture and muscle work for Egyptian dance, framing and transitions, arms and hands practice flow, and cooldown stretches. Review ------ 5.0 out of 5 stars - the dvd I have long-awaited, March 21, 2009 By Shannon B Davis Nepenthe (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME) Verified Purchase My favorite new DVD has got to be Ranya Renée's first in a series of three DVDs on Egyptian Dance, this one on Baladi. I have longed for a video or workshop about baladi, not just a choreography demonstration, but something that explained the essence of baladi. Baladi, in terms of this DVD and Egyptian dance, is a specifically Egyptian dance performed to their baladi (or rural) music. Ranya explained that baladi can mean other things in the surrounding Arabic countries. It is commonly done at weddings and parties, by both men and women, but Raks Sharki performers will often do a baladi section to their full routine. The DVD is all I hoped for, and then some. It is actually a two DVD set, containing 3 hours of material. The first DVD focuses on the baladi music, and movements stylized for baladi. She spends the first 30 minutes explaining the music, with live musicians, one of whom grew up on Mohammed Ali Street in Cairo. He demonstrates on the accordion how the baladi is different in Alexandria, Upper Egypt, at a street wedding, or a nightclub. Ranya Renee also had the drummers demonstrate the different rhythms you will hear in the progression, and how they play off the accordion. She demonstrated the differences between a women's street baladi, men's street baladi, and a nightclub baladi. Then, she demonstrates each style, in costume. On the second half of the first DVD, she teaches techniques for each section of the baladi and demonstrates how to make them more baladi style. The drills are separated into movements for each musical section, the taqsim (musical improvisation) that starts each baladi, then the call & response section, the maqsoum rhythm - slow and fast - and the 2-beat Ingerara. The ingerara section (the fast section at the end of a baladi progression) was a challenge in the past for me. I always felt like I couldn't dance that fast and didn't have enough "fast moves" to fill the time. I would look for baladi progressions with a very short Ingerara. With Ranya Renee's DVD, I am no longer limited, except my own endurance! The technique section begins with posture and even an advanced dancer should not skip over it. First, it is taught in a most charming way using props to demonstrate. The use of the amusing props, such as a miniskirt to show how your muscles are tight but fluid around that area, or the zipper up the pelvis to show how you are zipped up through those muscles, brought the points home to me in a new way. I have talked to several others about this DVD and all have remarked on this section, how it made them feel very different. Given these postural changes - and understanding the muscle mechanics - I feel I am getting a juicier look to my abdominal isolations. With all this in mind, she talked about framing. She demonstrated the hows and more importantly the whys. I was thrilled that Ranya showed that you can in fact use your arms in baladi to express the music. I had a private lesson where I was taught not to use them as much, and I found it a little restrictive. It is just a matter of understanding how to use the arms. The abdominal core and hips are still the main focus of musical expression in the body. Ranya also talked about making it personal, letting the music sing through your body. As this music has always moved me to dance, I felt freer hearing this - I had let other people's hang-ups about what you should and shouldn't do creep into my mind until I became insecure dancing baladi. I loved the way she described this dance as one where you feel confident in yourself, your body - proud and strong. While the movements she teaches in the instructional section will all be very familiar - --amazo --.com (US) 5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every cent!, October 25, 2009 By B. F. Thompson "Work and Pain Management" (Christchurch, New Zealand) (REAL NAME) This is a fantastic beledi workshop in two DVD's. Lovely production values, technical knowledge of the dance, a dash of theory (so I now know which part of a beledi I'm listening to!), and as for the second DVD - this is a treasure! The first DVD shows technique, theory and some of the movement vocabulary useful in beledi dance. Don't miss the posture section - it's not only a real laugh, it's got some excellent imagery that makes an enormous difference to movements. The second is my absolute favourite: sections of beledi that are looped to allow you to go over and over pieces until they hit your muscle memory - with options to go right through the whole piece, or have a voice-over, or play each section without a voice-over. I particularly enjoy being able to put it on and just move, while becoming familiar not only with that piece of music, but how my body responds to it. it's true, too, that when you get 'tired' it's from then on that REAL improvisation starts to happen. I've so enjoyed this set that I'm sure I'm just about wearing the finish off it! Definitely worth buying. --.com (US) Un vrai workshop complet sur le thème du Baladi égyptien : à ne pas rater. Je ne ferais pas la revue en détail du contenu de ces 2 Dvds car c'est déjà très bien fait par les autres commentateurs. Je donnerais donc mon sentiment général. Il ne s'agit pas ici d'un simple DVD qui vous enseigne une chorégraphie Baladi. C'est un vrai outil pédagogique qui va vous permettre de connaître ce qu'est le Baladi égyptien. Et je suis impressionnée par la quantité de matériel contenu dans ce double DVD. Disque 1 (135 minutes) : structure du Baladi et l'essence de la technique égyptienne Disque 2 (170 minutes) : séances de pratique sur l'improvisation Avant de danser le Baladi, il est essentiel de comprendre le concept et la structure de ce style de musique, et Ranya Renée a vrent bien fait les choses. Elle nous offre la possibilité de comprendre vrent ce qu'est le Baladi, ses clés, la connexion entre les instruments de musique et les différentes parties du corps, comment ressentir la musique afin de danser et de faire sa propre interprétation. C'est vrent un DVD unique en son genre. Elle explique quels sont les différentes pièces musicales qui composent le Baladi avec des musiciens en live ainsi que les différents styles de Baladi. Ensuite vient la partie technique : en fonction de ces différentes pièces sont enseignés les mouvements appropriés, avec de explications très détaillées sur la posture, l'utilisation des bras, les muscles sollicités, l'interprétation. Vous mettrez en pratique cet apprentissage par des séances d'entrainement sur 3 BALADI de styles différents, en travaillant l'improvisation qui est l'aspect fondamental du Baladi, en regardant ses improvisations comme un guide et en vous en inspirant ensuite. Ce DVD est très bien construit, très complet, les explications sont claires, et comme toujours une excellente qualité de production avec Word Dance New-York. Ne manquer pas cette rtunité de découvrir le Baladi égyptien. Spanish translation : Un taller completo sobre el Baladi egipcio: no se lo pierdan No comentare con detalles este DVD ya que los demás lo han hechos muy bien; les daré mi sentimiento en general. Aquí no se trata de un sencillo DVD para aprender una coreografía Baladi. Es una verdadera herramienta pedagógica que os permite saber que es el Baladi egipcio. Y soy bastante impresionada por la cantidad de material que hay en este doble DVD. Disco 1 (135 minutos) : estructura del Baladi y su técnica propia Disco 2 (170 minutos) : practicas con improvisación Antes de bailar el Baladi, es imprescindible conocer el concepto y la estructura de esa forma musical, y Rania Renée lo ha hecho muy bien. Nos ofrece la posibilidad de entender que es el Baladi, sus llaves, la conexión entre los instrumentos de música con las diferentes partes del cuerpo, como sentir la música para poder bailarla con su propia interpretación. Es verdaderamente un DVD único Nos explica cuales son las diferentes partes musicales del Baladi con músicos en vivo, y cuales son los diferentes estilos de Baladi. Después tenemos la parte técnica con los movimientos de baile explicados y adecuados à cada parte musical del Baladi, con muchos detalles sobre la postura, los muslos usados, los brazos, la interpretación y consejos variados. Practicareis entonces todo los movimientos con 3 músicas Baladi diferentes trabajando la improvisación que es el aspecto fundamental de este tipo de baile. Este DVD esta muy bien hecho, muy completo, las explicaciones son claras y como siempre una cualidad de producción muy buena con World Dance New York. No hay que perderse esta oportunidad de descubrir todo sobre el maravilloso Baladi egipto. --.com (US)