To me, the most important thing is to do a voiceover, instead of talking while dancing (or drumming). Video the teacher doing the movements, then create a voiceover track that explains what is going on. (On some dvds you can even turn off the voiceover track if you just want to follow along without the words). The reason a voiceover is SO much better, is that if you talk while you teach it will be much more disorganised, with much more "um, uh, ok, great, ok, ok, yeah." Voiceovers tend to be scripted, so that the words flow in a more organised fashion & sounds more professional.

Also, if you are teaching dance, it is good to show the movements from many angles. Front is good for seeing the effect, and understanding what the audience will see. Back view is good for learning the steps without having to "mirror" the teacher. Side view can be good for detailed instruction & understanding posture, alignment, and muscle initiation.

For music instruction, I think writing out the rhythm at the bottom of the screen can be good, as well as explaining the time signature.

Good luck! ^_^

Good Questions..I released my first instructional DVD last year. I spoke with Suzanna Del Vecchio and Joynan - both have many dvds out which really really helped -- they are mentors and friends so I was pretty lucky to have their guidance.

Practice it -- number one. Film yourself at home a few times and get comfortable with the camera as it is much different than working with live students. You have to remember all those little tips you see or hear from students when you are teaching and try to include those details as that is so important.

I agree that voiceover may be more organized but I do not feel that it is the way everyone should go. I would decide...do you want to be formal or have the person feel they are in a private lesson. Both are great....organization can be done easily without voiceover if you practice and are comfortable with the camera. I chose to teach while I danced as that is my style and I wanted the more personal feeling than the super formal instruction. Now that being said...I am very comfortable talking to a camera lens and have taught the workshop that I put on tape for 3 years so it was not too hard to avoid the silly ums & uhs. I would say -think about what you want yours to look like and watch some before deciding. If time is really tight then voiceover is great bc you can actually record it first, play your voiceover and follow your own directions.....you can fix issues later if needed too. That is a time saver....I just chose a different path that I felt was more effective for me. I actually like videos that are both ways but feel I "meet" the teacher when they are not voiceover....I wanted people to actually see my personality and such. So just a thought. If you are worried about speaking and do have habits of uhs and such...then I agree to do voiceover.

Think about sound and lighting. Sound is not just for you...but also what time of day you will be in the studio recording and could there be any other noise there if you are not doing voiceover. Joynan told me about an experience with one dvd where she used a dance studio that normally only operates at night --- so she used the day to find out just how loud the print shop was next door....they had to reschedule. FYI.

Also...consider the production....do glassmaster for sure so that people do not have issues......it is more $$ but better than getting dvds returned or unhappy customers.

Really think about the organization of your material.....that is something that really takes planning and time.

Hope that helps and keep us posted!!! It is a lot of work and at the end you may feel like "what was I thinking"....but when you get the copy in your hands....it really is a nice feeling.

Phoenix

www.phoenix-dancing.com

I can only tell you what I love about instructionals.
Layering and drills-sadie has really good drills
Shimmies-Have to have a set of drills
The wardrobe should be nice
but the instructor should not be boring.

Maybe it sounds picky, but whether you do a voice over or record it with the music, please be sure that when you are counting or saying what you are doing it actually matches the action and the beats of the music. Many excellent teaching videos are diminished because the instructions do not match the action and the music.

Good luck with it!

I feel really strongly that it should be filmed in front of a mirror, especially if you're going to be doing choreography and combinations. When the instructor is facing you, you end up doing moves and steps backwards, which I find irritating.

If you're teaching and drilling certain steps, make sure that they're DVD chapters. A lot of times, I only want to drill something specific and don 't want to have to watch or fast forward through a bunch of other stuff.

I actually think Michelle Joyce's DVDs are good for this. Much better, in my opinion, than IAMED DVDs, none of which are filmed in front of mirrors nor do the give music credits.

In terms of costuming, keep it simple. I love Bozenka's outfit on her Every Shimmy in the Book DVD and I like Sandra's outfit in Belly by Sandra. Those are examples of simple yet elegant looking instructional outfits. Well it's not costuming per se, but I find Petite Jamila's flower mohawk very distracting on her Double Veil DVD. Wear something that you would actually rehearse in for the instructional part.

I generally like a performance at the end of DVD. My favorites are live performances, I think belly dance comes across better that way than dancing around in (often) cheesy sets to no audience.

I would just like to say PLEASE do not wear melodias! I love a pair of melos as much as the next girl, but it drives me nuts to be watching a video and I can't see the instructor's foot positioning because her pants completely obscure what's going on with her feet. I've noticed I can get a better view of the knee/leg when the instructor isn't wearing black pants, either.

no monkey-on-crack camera work - for the performance part, the camera should focus on the dancer and show the whole dancer as much as possible. Forget the artsy shots, this isn't mtv. I've seen dance videos where I was sure the camera person was, in fact, a monkey on crack. No boob/butt shots.

Well thought out DVD chaptering. I often want to practice one combination/move/whatever from a particular dvd and need to find it quick. If you have a practice flow or drills, have one section for explanations/breakdown and another option to just do the drill with music and maybe quick voice cues.

Include enough material so that a dancer can grow with the material and still be challenged for a while. Neon's Luscious and Rhythm workouts are good about having a complete breakdown for total beginners, an easy flow and a more challenging flow. So the dvds can remain in use for awhile.

-keep explanations brief, or leave them for the voice over and get right down to business
-match up the movements to the music and voice over
-repeat a move for at least 30 seconds to a minute if not more, and build upon it
-the instructor shouldn't wear anything too distracting (i.e. keep make-up, jewelry and extra costume tidbits to a minimum)
-I personally find mirrors to be distracting in videos and in person, but facing front and 3/4 and occassionally to the profile helps get a sense of how a movement might look from otehr angles
-the music should be background music to help you zone out and feel the movements; save the off-kilter stuff for the choreo. or performance section
-clarify what kind of dvd it is: dance instruction vs workout
-have the script down, it's distracting with the "um's" when a dancer is thinking next what to say
-sets should be simplistic, no busy clutter or color in the background

I think World Dance New York has the best instructional dvds and I mainly buy dvds made by them. Have a huge wishlist of their dvds that I want. I like them b/c
-the dvds are at least two hours long for the most part
-high quality instructors
-covers different styles of bellydance (and other dance forms as well)
-set is a big empty room with only one color for the background (it has a stage feel); some of the other dvds are in studios with mirrors though
-the costumes are beautiful; and the workout clothes make you feel like you are stretching with a buddy
-have both voice over and live narration that can sometimes be wordy but is adequate at explaining what the move should look and feel like
-the workouts are designed by women who care about dance and make you feel just as beautiful as they are

One dancer I took a workshop from would teach a section with moves focusing on one part of the body and then she would immediately show a combo. I liked that the choreography section was mixed in with the drilling. I normally hate the combo sections on dvds and so by mixing them in with the drilling you get it in small doses and are applying what you just learned to a more performance oriented practice. I have yet to see that in a dvd and I can understand that people normally just want to do one or the other. However, I definitely think that method of teaching is worth the time.