Ok. been watching the discussion on stripping and bellydancing tapes (Neena & Veena). Figure it's time to give it the respect it deserves and start it's own topic.

Sounds like a lot of fun to me. So, I think I'll join the others who have gotten the tapes and do a sexy workout.

Well, just the bellydancing (for now).

[img]http://homepage.mac.com/wyrmsmom/.Pictures/bellydancer.gif[/img[

Mary Kay

01/02/04 - 230/220/150 Atkins
225/220/205 VDC

darn. messed up the little gif again.
Here we go



Mary Kay

01/02/04 - 230/220/150 Atkins
225/220/205 VDC

Hi, Mary Kay!

Great idea! Fellow middle eastern dance student here.

You've asked about the various Neena & Veena tapes in other threads. I have a whole raft of DVD's that I snagged off ebay as a present to myself. The ones I got are from two series: Discover Bellydance and Bellydance Fitness for Beginners.

I have three Fitness DVD's and this is what they cover:

Basic Moves and Fat Burning: Warm up, Arms & Ribs, Hips & Cool Down. There is also a Cardio section on this one.

Arms, Abs, Hips, Buns & Thighs: Like the one above, there are warm-ups, specific exercises, and cool down.

Slim Down: This is a number of dance moves, preceeded by a warm up and followed by a cool down.

The Discover series:

The three DVD's in this series: Basic Dance, Beyond Basic Dance & Mystic Dance take you through the increasingly difficult bellydance moves, including veil work. In this series, you learn a number of moves, then they put them together for you in a little dance. Then some more moves, etc.
There are also dance music only sections and some performance demonstrations.

I think the particulars of the various movements are better explained and demonstrated in the Discover series and will make it easier to use the Fitness DVD's. JMHO.

If you were going to start with one DVD, I would recommend the first of the Discover series - the most basic sets of moves, well explained and demonstrated.

What else might you need:

I highly recommend setting a mirror up where you're going to be practicing. You really need to see what your're doing.

Hip scarf. This can be any scarf that will go around your hips. Again, it helps you identify whether you're doing the movements correctly or not. You can get into the whole harem pants, fancy tops, stuff for fun. But I often just slide my sweat pants (winter uniform, LOL!) down to my hips, tie on a scarf, and tie my shirt up or tuck it into my bra. Just get that middle section exposed and get going. If I have to do a lot of "prep" prior to exercising, I often DON'T.

I hope this gives a brief overview of getting started.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160+)
Maintaining nicely (110 +/-)
~~ Redhead until further notice!

First report on my 'basic training' (and a tip) is here.

I'll try to cross link, back and forth, so people don't have to keep scrolling through the same post if they're visiting both forums.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160+)
Maintaining nicely (110 +/-)
~~ Couch Fauxtato for Life, Redhead until further notice! ~~

If it will be an ongoing 'portion' of the February fauxtatoe thread, we can just be reporting there. I just wanted to be sure I knew where to ask for help when needed. we don't need to keep putting on this one now that the other one is 'open for business'

Mary Kay

01/02/04 - 230/220/150 Atkins
225/220/205 VDC

That's cool, Mary Kay.

I'm kind of determined (well, as determined as a slug can be ) to give this an honest effort, and you can always find me hanging around the couch fauxtato forum, so you and I can always talk belly dance there, and maybe others will join us!

Because I've done this before, in one of my many previous lives, Just want to suggest this: Even though the tape throws a lot of moves at you all in one fell swoop, don't try to bite it off all at once. Always do the warm up and then pick just a move or two to really practice. Next time, warm up, review the moves you've worked on and, if you're ready, add another move. Well, that's how I'm doing it anyway, 'cause that's how my teacher taught it. Besides, if I overwhelm myself, I just give it up, whatever it is.

Maggie
5'1" ~~ Atkins since '98 (160+)
Maintaining nicely (110 +/-)
~~ Couch Fauxtato for Life, Redhead until further notice! ~~