(I have to preface this "review" by admitting that I'm a HUGE Jillina fan, so I'm prejudiced. )
First brief impression of Jillina's newest dvds = thumbs up!
There are 4 dvds: A fitness/workout dvd and 3 choreography and technique dvds. Let's start with the 3 volumes of choreography, and then discuss each one individually.
STRUCTURE:
These are organized much like the first 3 dvds were -- introduction, warmup, technique, combinations, choreography, cool down, performance -- and a bonus "behind the scenes" clip of Jillina being Jillina :)
with one KEY exception:
EVERYTHING IS CHAPTERED !!!!!!!!! YAYYY !!!!!!
No more rewinding through the entire list of combinations to find the one you need to work on :) In the technique and combo and choreography sections, not only is each part chaptered, but you have a chapter for the instruction, and a separate chapter for the practice of the instruction -- the drills. You ALSO have the ability to "play all" of either the instructional chapters or the practice/drill chapters together in one session.
THANK YOU!
She teaches the technique sections filmed from in front (with cuts to focus on various body parts), and the combos and choreography filmed in front of a mirror.
The filming is good. For the most part it stays in one place, and only really cuts away to show the movement from a different angle. Lighting is good. Sound is good. The stage is littered with the usual stuff -- but that doesn't bother me, and it doesn't get in the way of the instruction. She teaches in basic practice clothes.
As before, she modifies each of the combos to create a choreography out of them, but the combos can stand alone. And they're cute :)
CONTENT:
I did not watch the warmup and cooldowns on any of the dvds. Sorry! It was my turn to cook last night, and I didn't have time.
The instructional content on these dvds is a bit of the same and a bit of different stuff from her previous dvds, but there's a different approach. Each step that is taught is practiced in the "drill" section in several different ways, at different speeds and with different orientations, AND with different footwork patterns -- to show you variations on how that step can be accomplished. I like that idea.
I didn't list each move taught on each dvd -- sorry! But some things you'll recognize from previous dvds (like the umi) and some things I don't remember seeing.
One curious addition is the first step taught -- a hip drop. I was puzzled as to why she would have such a simple and primary step as the first thing taught -- but now I have a theory. We'll come back to that.
MARKETED TOWARDS DANCERS WHO ARE...
I think, for the most part, these are more advanced dvds than the previous trilogy. NONE of the choreographies are as basic as the Alf Leyla Wa Leyla choreo from her first dvd, and I'll go out on a limb and say the choreographies are pretty complicated.
I do not think a first month beginner would like these dvds. I hate to resort to labels, but I think maybe these are more intermediate level? Some may say even advanced level!
The combinations are a bit longer than the ones in her previous dvds. I watched all the combinations for DVD 1 and thought a few were pretty easy, and others pretty darn complex! So don't assume volume 1 is the "Beginner" level.
Back to teaching of the hip drop -- Why teach such a basic step on a dvd that features a really complex choreography? I think what she might have been trying to do here is create a dvd that new dancers can "work up through."
If you've had a few months of classes, you can start with volume 1, and if you take it step by step SLOWLY, you can work your way up to a very nice and complicated choreography. But it is going to take PATIENCE. There is a LOT of stuff on these dvds. You have a LOT of material to work with.
Intermediate level dancers can MAYBE skip the instruction section and just work with the practice/drill section to get new ideas for old steps. Advanced dancers might jump right to the combinations section, although the steps taught on volume 2 are different - a couple of them I hadn't seen broken down before. I really like some of the variations she does with them. So advanced dancers -- give that technique section a look-see before moving on.
THE CHOREOS:
All the choreos are original, and the music for each one is on the CD "Bellydance with Jillina."
VOLUME 1
Volume one is an Entrance Choreography -- done to "Ancient Ruins," a song that sounds very similar in style to the "Entrance of the Stars" of the BDSS show. (Same composer).
This isn't your grandmother's entrance music.
This is HIGH POWER and BIG entrance music. This is BDSS style entrance. "Wham Bam Here I Am" kind of music. That's not a criticism because I like the piece. But it is high power and fast and has that underlying western sort of beat going on. If you can't stand that kind of music, or Paul Dinletir's music in general, then you probably won't like this piece.
The choreography is fast at times, and dramatic throughout. I like it, but it's VERY Jillina-style. That's not a bad thing, but if you're looking for laid-back and relaxed Egyptian styling, you won't find it here.
Personally I think Jillina leaves enough room in her choreographies for personalization -- and of course she tells you in the intro to make the dance your own. If you perform it exactly as she teaches it, it might look a bit flat. But there are MANY MANY places where a more advanced dancer could add some personal upper body expression. Jillina gives you a skeleton, and you add the flesh to it.
VOLUME 2
This one is advertised as a Lebanese pop choreography, done to Shady Sayegh's "Ya Hawa."
Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on Lebanese STYLE belly dance. And I may be wrong in my assessment here.
I do not think this is a Lebanese STYLE choreography. (Correct me if I'm wrong, oh wise ones out there.) I think it is simply a regular choreography done to a Lebanese song.
In the intro, Jillina explains what the song is about, and asks you think about the emotional response to the song. She does not mention anything about Lebanese "STYLE" dancing, and how it differs from Modern Egyptian or Classical Egyptian, so that's why I'm assuming she didn't create this dvd as a crash course in Lebanese STYLE dancing.
If you're looking for an introduction to Lebanese STYLE dancing, you may want to look elsewhere.
This song is soulful and more relaxed than the entrance choreography. It's very easy to get into the feel of the music, and while I think the combinations and choreography would be difficult to execute properly in performance, they're not terribly difficult to learn. Less advanced dancers MIGHT want to start with this one, since the music is a bit slower.
VOLUME 3
Drum solo time! This is a 3:31 drum solo that is practically ALL layered shimmies :) Be afraid! LOL.
Seriously, this is a VERY modern drum solo -- think lots of tick tock pops and locks and shimmies over everything. This looks NOTHING like the drum solo from her IAMED video. It's a long and technically pretty difficult piece, but I would imagine if you worked your way through this, your technique would be SO precise and tight!
I don't really have a lot to say about this piece, because this dvd was the last one I watched and I was really tired !
PERFORMANCES:
Each dvd has a couple of performances on it, one of the choreography and one of something else. The performance filming is ... well, it's typical of Arab concerts. Pan away during the little intricate stuff, focus on the audience for a while, come back and watch the dancer for a little while. Alternate cuts here and there. BLECH. But typical.
We get the Monkey-cam and quick cutting, and some rather bad lighting at times. These performances are filmed at what looks like a large auditorium, instead of the intimate coffee-shop feel of the first set of dvds.
There are some CUTE performances, including one of Jillina doing an interesting take on the goblet dance -- she's dancing on the head of a Doumbek! The filming was off-putting to me, but I'm old and I like things to stand still.
All in all, I like these dvds and can see them having quite a bit of "air time" in my dvd player. I'm pleased with quality and quantity of material on each dvd and think the price is fair for what you get.
I'll review her workout video in another post. Thanks for trudging through all this! If you have any specific questions, please post them and I'll try to be more specific for you once I've had a chance to really sit down and WATCH these without also watching the stove.
:0
First brief impression of Jillina's newest dvds = thumbs up!
There are 4 dvds: A fitness/workout dvd and 3 choreography and technique dvds. Let's start with the 3 volumes of choreography, and then discuss each one individually.
STRUCTURE:
These are organized much like the first 3 dvds were -- introduction, warmup, technique, combinations, choreography, cool down, performance -- and a bonus "behind the scenes" clip of Jillina being Jillina :)
with one KEY exception:
EVERYTHING IS CHAPTERED !!!!!!!!! YAYYY !!!!!!
No more rewinding through the entire list of combinations to find the one you need to work on :) In the technique and combo and choreography sections, not only is each part chaptered, but you have a chapter for the instruction, and a separate chapter for the practice of the instruction -- the drills. You ALSO have the ability to "play all" of either the instructional chapters or the practice/drill chapters together in one session.
THANK YOU!
She teaches the technique sections filmed from in front (with cuts to focus on various body parts), and the combos and choreography filmed in front of a mirror.
The filming is good. For the most part it stays in one place, and only really cuts away to show the movement from a different angle. Lighting is good. Sound is good. The stage is littered with the usual stuff -- but that doesn't bother me, and it doesn't get in the way of the instruction. She teaches in basic practice clothes.
As before, she modifies each of the combos to create a choreography out of them, but the combos can stand alone. And they're cute :)
CONTENT:
I did not watch the warmup and cooldowns on any of the dvds. Sorry! It was my turn to cook last night, and I didn't have time.
The instructional content on these dvds is a bit of the same and a bit of different stuff from her previous dvds, but there's a different approach. Each step that is taught is practiced in the "drill" section in several different ways, at different speeds and with different orientations, AND with different footwork patterns -- to show you variations on how that step can be accomplished. I like that idea.
I didn't list each move taught on each dvd -- sorry! But some things you'll recognize from previous dvds (like the umi) and some things I don't remember seeing.
One curious addition is the first step taught -- a hip drop. I was puzzled as to why she would have such a simple and primary step as the first thing taught -- but now I have a theory. We'll come back to that.
MARKETED TOWARDS DANCERS WHO ARE...
I think, for the most part, these are more advanced dvds than the previous trilogy. NONE of the choreographies are as basic as the Alf Leyla Wa Leyla choreo from her first dvd, and I'll go out on a limb and say the choreographies are pretty complicated.
I do not think a first month beginner would like these dvds. I hate to resort to labels, but I think maybe these are more intermediate level? Some may say even advanced level!
The combinations are a bit longer than the ones in her previous dvds. I watched all the combinations for DVD 1 and thought a few were pretty easy, and others pretty darn complex! So don't assume volume 1 is the "Beginner" level.
Back to teaching of the hip drop -- Why teach such a basic step on a dvd that features a really complex choreography? I think what she might have been trying to do here is create a dvd that new dancers can "work up through."
If you've had a few months of classes, you can start with volume 1, and if you take it step by step SLOWLY, you can work your way up to a very nice and complicated choreography. But it is going to take PATIENCE. There is a LOT of stuff on these dvds. You have a LOT of material to work with.
Intermediate level dancers can MAYBE skip the instruction section and just work with the practice/drill section to get new ideas for old steps. Advanced dancers might jump right to the combinations section, although the steps taught on volume 2 are different - a couple of them I hadn't seen broken down before. I really like some of the variations she does with them. So advanced dancers -- give that technique section a look-see before moving on.
THE CHOREOS:
All the choreos are original, and the music for each one is on the CD "Bellydance with Jillina."
VOLUME 1
Volume one is an Entrance Choreography -- done to "Ancient Ruins," a song that sounds very similar in style to the "Entrance of the Stars" of the BDSS show. (Same composer).
This isn't your grandmother's entrance music.
This is HIGH POWER and BIG entrance music. This is BDSS style entrance. "Wham Bam Here I Am" kind of music. That's not a criticism because I like the piece. But it is high power and fast and has that underlying western sort of beat going on. If you can't stand that kind of music, or Paul Dinletir's music in general, then you probably won't like this piece.
The choreography is fast at times, and dramatic throughout. I like it, but it's VERY Jillina-style. That's not a bad thing, but if you're looking for laid-back and relaxed Egyptian styling, you won't find it here.
Personally I think Jillina leaves enough room in her choreographies for personalization -- and of course she tells you in the intro to make the dance your own. If you perform it exactly as she teaches it, it might look a bit flat. But there are MANY MANY places where a more advanced dancer could add some personal upper body expression. Jillina gives you a skeleton, and you add the flesh to it.
VOLUME 2
This one is advertised as a Lebanese pop choreography, done to Shady Sayegh's "Ya Hawa."
Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on Lebanese STYLE belly dance. And I may be wrong in my assessment here.
I do not think this is a Lebanese STYLE choreography. (Correct me if I'm wrong, oh wise ones out there.) I think it is simply a regular choreography done to a Lebanese song.
In the intro, Jillina explains what the song is about, and asks you think about the emotional response to the song. She does not mention anything about Lebanese "STYLE" dancing, and how it differs from Modern Egyptian or Classical Egyptian, so that's why I'm assuming she didn't create this dvd as a crash course in Lebanese STYLE dancing.
If you're looking for an introduction to Lebanese STYLE dancing, you may want to look elsewhere.
This song is soulful and more relaxed than the entrance choreography. It's very easy to get into the feel of the music, and while I think the combinations and choreography would be difficult to execute properly in performance, they're not terribly difficult to learn. Less advanced dancers MIGHT want to start with this one, since the music is a bit slower.
VOLUME 3
Drum solo time! This is a 3:31 drum solo that is practically ALL layered shimmies :) Be afraid! LOL.
Seriously, this is a VERY modern drum solo -- think lots of tick tock pops and locks and shimmies over everything. This looks NOTHING like the drum solo from her IAMED video. It's a long and technically pretty difficult piece, but I would imagine if you worked your way through this, your technique would be SO precise and tight!
I don't really have a lot to say about this piece, because this dvd was the last one I watched and I was really tired !
PERFORMANCES:
Each dvd has a couple of performances on it, one of the choreography and one of something else. The performance filming is ... well, it's typical of Arab concerts. Pan away during the little intricate stuff, focus on the audience for a while, come back and watch the dancer for a little while. Alternate cuts here and there. BLECH. But typical.
We get the Monkey-cam and quick cutting, and some rather bad lighting at times. These performances are filmed at what looks like a large auditorium, instead of the intimate coffee-shop feel of the first set of dvds.
There are some CUTE performances, including one of Jillina doing an interesting take on the goblet dance -- she's dancing on the head of a Doumbek! The filming was off-putting to me, but I'm old and I like things to stand still.
All in all, I like these dvds and can see them having quite a bit of "air time" in my dvd player. I'm pleased with quality and quantity of material on each dvd and think the price is fair for what you get.
I'll review her workout video in another post. Thanks for trudging through all this! If you have any specific questions, please post them and I'll try to be more specific for you once I've had a chance to really sit down and WATCH these without also watching the stove.
:0
posted by:
|
Indiana
|
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Wed, February 6, 2008 - 7:58 AM[B]"Shape Up n' Hip Out"[/B] (the workout/fitness dvd)
I watched a bit of this one, and it looks like a REALLY good option for people wanting drills.
There are 3 sections: slow moves, faster moves, and REALLY fast moves, and each section is about 18 minutes long.
The great part about these is that each section is structured with enough repetition that they can be used as a personal drill. The 3rd section might also be an effective cardio workout! I'll try it this weekend.
I watched this from the comfort of my kitchen, but I followed along a little bit. Each "workout" will definitely work your muscles. The music is all original compositions by Paul Dinletir, and the music itself MAKES you want to dance along with it. It's not just the same boring drum beat over and over again.
Jillina does the workout with some of her students, facing the camera.
The one thing I wondered about -- and maybe I missed that chapter -- but there does NOT seem to be any instructional section on this dvd. Let me double check that first.
The workouts are pure workout -- she doesn't stop the momentum to teach a step. But on the fastest "turbo hips" she uses the Hagallah shimmy, and I think this would be a tough step to figure out if you hadn't seen this taught on her other dvds.
There are a BUNCH of performances on this dvd -- some by Jillina and some by her students, I assume? I look forward to watching all of these.
I think this one might also stay in my dvd player a while, especially if that last workout gets my heart rate up high enough!
:) Amanda -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Wed, February 6, 2008 - 12:35 PMThank you so much! I was sooo hoping to get an idea of the content. I think the drum solo will be mine! I am only a little advanced, though, haha! But I am ready to mis-uhm - mismanage! -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Wed, February 6, 2008 - 12:58 PMLOL! The way they're structured, you can work at your own pace, with each combo -- and practice it slower until you really "get it."
Just approach any of these the same way you eat an elephant -- one bite at a time :) LOL. -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Thu, February 7, 2008 - 3:50 AMYeah... There is a herd of elephants on my table at the moment! But they do look tasty.
It is a brilliant idea that she would demonstrate with her back to the viewer. One of the worst things was transferring left and right in my head when she turned and moved on her first drum solo dvd. Many teachers never consider this problem in their dvds. The best instructional dvds just by the method to me is still Jenna's heartbeat of bellydance dvd. The way she makes you go through the choreo is really good.
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Mon, February 25, 2008 - 4:02 PMHmm, I'm looking for a video focusing on drills to help with technique. Having some cardio is plus. Which would you recommend? Thanks!
Roya -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Fri, February 29, 2008 - 12:51 PMDefinitely the Shape Up and Hip Out, for you Roya.
I've actually started doing the 3rd drill a few times to get my recommended "cardio" for the day. And I do the first drill with my sword on my head, and I think I can say it's getting to the point where it's staying there pret-ty darn good!
But I still use Jillina's original Drum Solo choreography as a workout too. I do that choreography about 5 times, and that's 15 minutes of pretty good cardio. ! (Can you tell I just HATE aerobics!) LOL. -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Wed, March 5, 2008 - 9:43 AMthanks ;)
-
-
-
-
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Sat, February 9, 2008 - 11:36 AMThanks for your detailed review. I think it's pretty much right on!
When you mentioned the way I demonstrate the choreography you said there is a lot of room for personalizing it , and boy is there .
I really want everyone working with these dvds to find their expression in each choreography or combination ,as well as challenging themselves with new steps .
As far as the performance section I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the lighting :-( But under the circumstances I am glad it all came together .
We shot a live concert at the El Portal Theater here in LA,"Dance Del Vientre ". We had dancers from all forms of dance participating and donated 100% of the proceeds to a women's shelter .
Also I want to mention that the dancers who perform with me in "Shape Up 'n' Hip Out " are all accomplished dancers Heather, Louchia, and Denise have trained with me extensively and Ahava has
been to some of my workshops . Louchia is a master at Persian dance and before joining my company Denise trained and worked with Amir Thaleb of Argentina. I chose them because they all have a their own expression and I thought it was interesting to have a variety of dancers doing everything from cane,sword, wings,pure Egyptian,double veil to drum solos . Oh did I mention that they are all wonderfully talented dancers.:-)
Anyhoo, I am glad that so far , I have gotten a good response .
Thanks again for the review and for all of you who ordered the dvds and waited so patiently . -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Fri, February 29, 2008 - 12:55 PMJillina,
That's awesome about the concert and donating to the Women's shelter. Yet another way you absolutely ROCK :)
Hey, if the worst that I can say about a dvd is the lighting is less than perfect in the performance section, I consider that a pretty darn good dvd! LOL.
Plus, I'm old and I'm picky about performances. I'm sort of prejudiced against video because it never captures the raw power of a live concert.
BTW -- Jillina -- does it ever weird you out to see a student dancer like moi perform one of your choreographies? Are you usually horrified by what you see, or do you ever get to see some good interpretations of your work?
-
-
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Wed, February 13, 2008 - 10:04 PM"Seriously, this is a VERY modern drum solo -- think lots of tick tock pops and locks and shimmies over everything. This looks NOTHING like the drum solo from her IAMED video. It's a long and technically pretty difficult piece, but I would imagine if you worked your way through this, your technique would be SO precise and tight! "
How pop locky is the drum solo? Ava fleming pop lock or similar to the folies bergere drum solo? -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Fri, February 29, 2008 - 12:57 PMHow pop locky? Um, I'm not sure!!!! Can someone else make a comparison? I mean it's not WEIRDLY poppy -- just more modern in feel than the older Drum solo video. I really liked the choreography, but I could tell it was going to take some work to really master. I'm sorry I can't be of more help!! -
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Tue, March 4, 2008 - 11:17 AMwouldn't it be cool if there was sort of a fragment on youtube? I am wondering about this "modern" thing.
-
-
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Sun, February 24, 2008 - 6:37 PMJust wanna say that I own 3 of the dvd's.
Love them!
I bought the "Entrance Choreography" first and learned that and plan to work on the other two soon! I am an intermediate-advanced skilled dancer and it took me a couple of run-throughs to iron out the kinks. Jillina teaches a new choreography to each technique as Aziyade stated and they are all fun to dance to!
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Thu, March 13, 2008 - 7:50 PMHere's my review of the workout segment...
In my utter Jillina fandom, I bought her latest 4 DVD set, and with a little bit of time before my rehearsal with Lilya, I popped in Shape Up or Hip Out. Now, this is a bellydance workout video, better than I have seen on the market before, aside from Aziza's Drilling DVD. This one was really intended simply as a workout, not a drill or technique video. and it is far better than Dolphina's "Goddess Workout" or the Bellytwins or - and perhaps especially better than Rania's.
There is a warmup on the DVD. I could only criticize it in that it doesn't seem exactly safe for all people. There are some deep knee bends that seem ill-advised, and I'm not sure if it's the best way to warm up. Also, she uses yoga-inspired moves, but without the yoga-inspired cueing, people may miss the point of the stretch. Overall, I would do my own warmup and move on. Luckily, it's a separate menu item.
Next is the Slow Moves. I admit I skipped this one when it started with a very slow broken-down snake arm. I don't ever want to do a slow broken-down snake arm again because every belly-fitness class or video has them and, well, I know how to do snake arms and there is nothing to be gained for me in breaking them down into their components. So I am not really reviewing this workout - I admit, I skipped to the next one! I'll probably go back to it later.
The second workout was a bit more upbeat and the third workout, while no marathon, was the fastest. I became mildly warm, although I did not sweat through the whole forty minutes. The format was this: breakdown two movements slowly, then do it them fulltime. Then repeat the entire sequence from the beginning, stringing all the pairs of movements together. Jillina puts an emphasis on the muscles, talking about obliques, abs, and glutes. She even modified her normal technique. For example, camels include the chest - whereas she mostly does lower-body camels in her real dancing. Later on in the video, she uses hip shimmies, with bent knees, rather than Egyptian knee-driven shimmies she often puts in her choreographies- and she adds an ATS-style arm pull to her hip lift walk. Many more of her movements are flat-footed rather than releve. All this is a sign that Jillina understood this was to be a workout video, not a technique video, and she took the most athletic ways of doing things from a variety of styles and combined them.
The movements were combined in fun ways that would make a good beginner choreographer, and the arm movements were interesting. Although this is a workout DVD, I believe the way that the arm movements were integrated into the combinations would be very instructive for beginner-intermediate dancers. A beginner (6 mos- 1 year) could easily follow this video, although some movements would be difficult for them, such as the haggalah. The 'choreography' such that it is was simple, 8 counts of each move like any aerobics class. This would teach the beginner a lot of movements, in a basic choreography that is more exciting than a drill. Plus, remembering the steps in sequence is preparation for choreography. For the intermediate dancer, the challenge would be adding the arm movements that accompany. Finally, the advanced dancer could focus on her posture and smooth transitions. All dancers could use this "workout time" to strengthen their muscles.
Overall, the music was fairly good background noise, having a steady beat and occasionally reminding me of Paul Dinletir's other compositions like Ancient Ruins. But the music did not take away from the video, as it does on Rania and the Bellytwins videos. I actually enjoyed the music for the workout, though I probably wouldn't choose to dance/listen to it otherwise. I love the option to do the workout without the instruction! That makes it much more re-playable.
-
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Mon, March 17, 2008 - 8:09 AMI'm an ATS dancer but I'm thinking I might get that Shape Up dvd just for working out. I hate hate hate the gym!
-
-
Re: The new DVDs -- my not-so-brief first thoughts
Wed, April 2, 2008 - 1:05 PMWooHoo New Jillina Action!
