Hi everybody,

I’d received Michelle’s Secrets of the Stage volumes as gifts quite some time ago. Only now I had time to watch them.
They are all so great, and the existing amazon reviews do not tell much on their content so far IMO.

So I will start with the most recent volume, Vol 3, which impressed me the most (be aware this is a non-performer/civil dance enthusiast’s review on a performance class series).
The first segment is dancing to live music.
The trailer gives you a good look at it, some star dancers including Shoshanna and Nanna Candelaria tell you a lot on how they connect to musicians, how they learned to appreciate live music, how they respond to the music, what they do if something goes wrong.. good insights, and some hints on creativity especially by Adriana I believe.
Now what I liked best is a section not presented in the trailer:
A musician tells about the interaction with the dancer. What they appreciate in a dancer, what they don’t. How musicians and dancers can work together well to create something unique. The dancer you follow onscreen is a lovely lovely lovely LOVELY dancer I had not known so far. She looks Latina to me, but I don’t know for sure. Now here s where it gets really bad – I keep forgetting her name. SHAME on me! It s a double name Amira Ariana? I apologize.. she wears a great lilac costume and as I said dances to the section where the musician tells on dancer/musician improvisation and collaboration.
While I do not want to spoil surprises, I just want to say I held my breath through this section. Not only was the content rich and unique, it made me want to be a performer to live music (I am not a performer – I refer to myself as a „dancer in plainclothes“ sometimes, I dance a lot in Arabic clubs and restaurants, but just as an audience member, preferably to live Arab bands; maybe the reason why I adored this volume so much is I had a fantastic experience in a NYC club a couple of years ago with a Latin American drummer whom I accompanied for much of the night dancing to his music, and did things I was not aware I could do – had never taken bellydance lessons back then; so anyone who loves the energy of dancing to live music, whether professional dancer or amateur bellydancer, will LOVE LOVE LOVE this dvd).
The section on live music is probably close to one hour long. Let me know if you want the exact duration.

I could go on praising the live music section for much longer – I’ll just cut it off by saying the musician perspective was accompanied by one of the loveliest live dancing recording I have ever seen. Amira Ariana (sorry if I misspell her name or got it all wrong!) is improvising in fantastic ways to the live music. I can’t stop watching her. Then there s a dancer called Tekbilek, a Turkish American lady (related to Omar Tekbilek?) I am guessing, who danced at the Gulf. Lovely performance footage by her too, and interesting accounts of dancing to live music in Arabian regions. She stressed the importance of respecting the musicians, especially as a woman who sometimes has to take extra care of „male egos“ in that region.
Things I would not have thought about, but consider very logical ☺
I will be watching this live music section A LOT. I adore it.

Then there s a section on professional image – some hints on how to (not) pose, how to get pretty veil pictures (if you simply dance normally in front of the camera and just hope your veil shots will turn out great without adapting your movements to the setting, your pictures might not turn out flattering as professional photographer Michael Baxter explains – you’ll smile as you watch this!), many hints you can use even if you just want to make your own pictures in your studio, home or garden.
Then another favorite of mine: The make up section!!!
I am pretty timid with makeup, use little except for khol. I followed along, and painted my eyebrows for the first time (they re black anyway, so I thought initially this would not be necessary). Then I followed her eye makeup tips. I ve watched lots of tutorials on youtube recently, and Adriana presents a technique I ve never seen. Which looked STUNNING! Apart from that she suggested one could paint the „puppet“ lashes in the outer corner of your eye you might remember from your childhood toys. She said they are not for every face. I liked them on my face (which is oval I think) A LOT!!
Then the lip makeup technique was amazing. My lips looked better than I had thought (I have full ones, and always fear reddish lipstick will make me look like a clown).
I LOVED the entire look! I did not look too „painted“ as I had feared! I will use this for very festive occasions (toned down a bit, of course), or maybe find the courage to perform for family or friends sometime.
AMAZING makeup section way superior compared with even the makeup artist youtube tutorials most of us watch from time to time I guess!

Then another favorite of mine: Survival Arabic. I wished it was longer, but Leyla Lanty explains a couple of the most essential words in Arabic songs. She does so with great humour and likeability, I hope this will be a recurring feature on future dvds!

I start my Secrets of the Stage review with Vol 3 because this volume blew me away.
I love watching documentaries on bellydance, so I was looking forward to watching it. And saved it for a special occasion btw ☺, it exceeded my expectations BY FAR.
It is packed with content. Content you’d never get anywhere else. For beginners like me it opens the world of professional dance performance, a very fascinating world. For beginning or even seasoned performers interested in any of the topics it will provide interesting insight into some star performers’ and musicians’ views. I can only guess as an outsider – I am pretty sure there is much to learn even for seasoned performers. For beginners this series is absolutely essential. It is thoroughly conceptualized and incredibly rich in content. It will warn new performers about mistakes the dancers featured made or bad experience they learned from, and on a positive side it will make you want to perform.
Hell, it made ME want to be a performer!! I am about to quit my academic job and be a performing artist ☺
Once I get over my enthusiasm and craze over this volume, I will review the other 2 volumes, too. They re incredibly good, too, especially the one on restaurant dancing and its etiquette. This one on live music just got me hooked so much that I cannot even think of what was on the other volumes right now.
If there are 5 stars to give, this one is a 10 stars.

I so hope Michelle continues the series!!