So I thought I’d share my thoughts on Jillina’s latest series…They’re great – I have finally gotten through all of them and learned all the routines, and I have even had some chances to perform some of them at restaurants.

I’ll start with the first in the series, “Entrance Choreography.” When I bought the series and didn’t know what music was used for the choreographies, I was hoping for a traditional Raqs Sharqi entrance piece. I’ll be honest and say that I was a little disappointed when I heard the music (Wait! This turns out good!), although I liked it fine – I was hoping for something more traditional. Then I watched the performance of the dance and thought, “OK, liking it!” Then I learned it and now I’m totally in love with the music and the choreography! It’s a wonderful way to start a show at a restaurant, or to perform at a seminar gala show (Other belly dancers will recognize Jillina’s signature moves right off the bat! I think it’s in the BDSS’ repertoire? (I imagine I’m a BDSS when I perform it!!! LOL!)). And speaking of it being recognizable, Jillina does encourage viewers/students to “make it their own”, which is great advice because it pushes students to be creative and to use her dance as a framework to venture into their own style. After I learned it well, I added different arm positions, additional turns and generally my own style to it like she suggested – of course it’s great the way it is, too!

Now on to the “Lebanese Pop Choreography” DVD. I’m not sure if she intended the series to be in order of skill levels (maybe it’s supposed to be in the order you’d perform them in a set instead – then what you’re about to read doesn’t matter!), but if so, I thought the entrance choreography was a bit advanced for less experienced dancers, whereas the Lebanese Pop Choreography seemed to be quicker and easier (but still a beautiful dance and visually exciting) to learn, perhaps because it was so short and repetitive. I thought the fact that it was short and repetitive was good, though, because keeping dances short keeps the audience wanting more! And adding repetition to choreographies lets the audience have a chance to actually see what the dancer is doing, so they can appreciate it more, especially since phrases in music often repeat, which I’m sure is exactly what Jillina was going for! Jillina instructed viewers to add different arm positions when the sections of choreography repeated so they would look similar but not exactly the same. The music for this dance is so beautiful! The choreography is completely lovely, too. The steps go so perfectly with the music! I have to say that this one is probably my favorite to perform. The added mood and feeling of the music makes it that much more special – it’s a love song about missing someone you love. I liked that Jillina addressed the element of emotion – you don’t see that much on instructional DVDs, so she brought a new dimension out for viewers to think about.

The “Drum Solo Choreography” kicked my behind! I really liked this too. It’s very challenging and exciting. It seems that most DVDs out there are geared towards beginners. There needs to be more advanced level DVDs for professionals! When dancers hit a certain skill level, it’s easy to become stagnant without insanely good will power, regular classes or ADVANCED LEVEL DVDS!!! (So this is a request for more challenging stuff like the drum solo DVD!!!) I loved learning a drum solo choreography that’s so completely different from how I dance to/choreograph to drum solos – it’s very refreshing. Jillina’s drum solos are always very original and mirror the music so well! If you are working on a drum solo and need some cool ideas, I really recommend this dvd. Not only that, but it’s a wonderful workout!

And speaking of working out…Jillina’s “Shape Up n’ Hip Out!” DVD! This DVD is divided into 3 different 18 minute workouts, progressively getting more difficult and sweaty. They are really good for beginners to get better at belly dance movements or for advanced students to drill technique. Even though the movements are presented in a workout, repetitive format, there are some pretty cute combinations in there! All of the workouts go over a variety of belly dance movements from head to toe. There is a warm up and cool down, too. Actually, there are warm ups and cool downs on all the DVDs. I like how each warm up is different from DVD to DVD. There are some useful warm up ideas for instructors, as well.

All the DVDs are chock full of PERFORMANCES!!! Especially the workout DVD that even features different dancers in addition to Jillina. All of the choreography DVDs show 2 performances of Jillina – the one featured on the DVD and something different! BONUS! And of course the performances are masterful and stellar!

The quality of the video footage couldn’t be better! The camera work and editing is extremely professional AND dancer-friendly. These kind of professional presentations of Belly Dance help raise the bar for our art form and help to enforce that it’s a legitimate cultural, artistic dance form and a great way to get in shape! There are many “home-made” DVDs out there, and even though content is the most important feature, it was really nice to learn from a DVD that was so well organized in it’s format and very clear to learn from because the viewer can see Jilllina clearly from multiple angles. Very well done!

I don’t own Jillina’s first series of DVDs that came out several years ago, but I’m going to go buy it now! Jillina is a one-of-a-kind instructor. She has figured out unique and clear ways of teaching even the most difficult movements. These DVDs are really great tools for dancers of all skill/performance levels! I bought mine at www.jillinshop.com – Oh and I got the package with the bonus CDs! Very helpful when practicing! I recommend it!

-Sa’diyya :)