Luscious: The Belly Dance Workout for Beginners, with Neon, Blanca and Sarah Skinner - Beginner belly dance instruction and fitness classes; Dance fitness

I was pretty turned off by the 'beginner' aspect of the title, so I hesitated to purchase this DVD. After completing the workout I was really happy I did buy it.First off, it is probably too much for absolute beginners, if you have a few class sessions under your hip scarf or have worked extensively with other DVD's you should be fine. The 'combination's' are pretty short, most only being 2 or 3 moves. Some of the names they use threw me off at first but it's all basic stuff. All of the sections are narrated by voice-over (I love listening to Neon & Blanca with their accents, but that's just me) so the voice volume is constant and you don't hear heavy breathing. There are a few lunges and deep level changes but they can easily be modified or ignored.I really liked the contrast between the 3 dancers, and I like that its not "4 this, 4 that" start over. It really feels like dancing. I liked the costumes, it gave the video more interest. I could have done with out some of the cheesy empowerment shenanigans but they weren't over powering.The first section is CIRCLES (7:31), led by Blanca. The moves covered are hip circles, 1 hip circles, pelvic circles (interior hip circles) and chest circles. There are 3 combination's in this section. The skeleton is pretty basic but they add nice arm flows (often a major issues for beginner dancers) that get you used to moving your whole body (aka actually dancing). This section is pretty relaxed and I liked the soft stretching from the large circles. Keep your abs engaged to really feel the workout.The next section is INFINITY LOOPS (6:44) aka Figure 8's, with Neon. The moves are horizontal 8's, chest figure 8's, vertical figure 8's up and down (I do the down section with my feet flat, better workout and better for the ankles) with some variations and 1 hip figure 8's. There are 8 combination's. This section moves pretty fast, typically with Neon there are a lot of quick changes; I found that they aren't always announced with enough warning. In this section you can really see the differences in the 3 dancers, I find Neon's dancing to be somewhat jarring, and I think her movements often look jerky.The next section is UNDULATIONS (7:02) with Sarah Skinner. The moves are snake arms, side undulations (I really like how this move is broken down), up and down undulations with variations, there are 3 combination's. I think Sarah Skinner does the best job of telling you what is going to happen before it happens.Next is HIP ACCENTS (7:57) with Neon. The moves are vertical (weighted lifts/drops) and horizontal hip slides, unweighted lifts and drops with variations, there are 8 combination's.Next is SHIMMIES (5:43) with Sarah. She covers basic hip shimmy and twist shimmy and shoulder shimmy. There are 4 combination's.Next is BODY LINE (5:08) with Blanca, there are a lot of sways, flourishes and accents. She also does torso drops, back arches, pivot and three step turns and arabesque.There are 6 combination's. I thought this was actually the hardest section to do while still looking `pretty'.Last is the dance, which I honestly haven't done. Once I get the hand of the combination's a bit better I probably will. I also haven't used the tutorial sections, I didn't find that I needed them. Over all as an intermediate/advanced student I found that this was a fun work out that helped me focus in on some moves that I would like to polish and it was interesting enough that I'll do it again. I would really recommend it to anyone with at least a basic understanding of belly dance fundamentals.

For the price, you get what amounts to a 'two-fer': an instructional video--sort of a short form of Neon's "instant bellydancer" series that lasts 50 minutes, and a 45 minute connected workout. The instructional section has Neon's typical focus on proper posture and alignment as well as her wonderful way of conceptualizing the moves. If you've never ever ever bellydanced before, this might require a few watchings to get the moves right, because she's a real stickler on form. It's that focus on form, though, that a) keeps you safe physically (no hyperextending or dangerous twisting) and b) works the deep muscles that show real control and grace. It's worth it to learn how to dance with proper form!If you already know a bit about dance, jump right into the workout. There's plenty to keep even intermediate level dancers involved--incorporating arm movements, studying how they put together combinations, etc, so don't pass this one up as too basic. It's harder than the BellyTwins stuff! It may take you a time or two to get all the moves down yourself!The production value, especially for bellydance videos, is high. The dancers are easy to see and well lit, you can see their knees and feet and what they're doing to create the movement. The music isn't too loud or too soft and there's no distracting background.This video showcases a series of moves and puts them together in short combinations of anything from two to five moves. An advanced dancer could profit from this video studying how they put the combinations together--the interplay of soft and hard movements, upper and lower body movements, and transitions.Bellydance has lately seemed to bifurcate into the camp that thinks dance should be hard and extreme and damaging on the body--if you're not doing aerial Turkish knee drops, you're a poseur--and the camp that thinks that bellydance is something all women of all ages should be able to do and do safely. Neon is in this latter camp, but her moves, though safe on the joints, are not simplistic. I've seen women struggle with the one-hip figure eight for a long time. So there's complexity here, but a complexity you can achieve with practice.

I have just started learning how to belly dance but have been looking and watching numerous videos for years before I got up the nerve to now try to do it(a 100 lbs lighter!). I have seen lots and I have to say, I just absolutely LOVE this video!! I was at first kinda turned off by the title of the video but I decided, what the heck? Give it a chance. From the first move, I was hooked! I love how Neon would do the move and then all three ladies would do the moves together to music; they danced together so effortlessly, it was beautiful to watch. The other thing was, I loved how she patiently and thoroughly explained how to do the move precisely and how not to do it so you hurt yourself. Neon really makes a struggling beginner, like me, feel like you really could do it with her kind instruction and gentle accented voice. The music, the costumes, the backdrop of the video, was exquisite and sensual! It is also great that its not one of those so-called 30 minute teaching videos that you pay an arm and a leg for and you wonder what for? and be disappointed at the amount of time they spend on technique and how they gloss over a lot to fit it into 30 minutes. I disagree, however, with people who say that this video is not for absolute beginners. It will be hard and you may stuggle for a minute but if it is too hard, go to the beginning and do tht tutorial and learn the basic moves. You can do that for a while until you can do the other beginning moves and you should be fine. If you buy this DVD, you will NOT be disappointed! The moves are authentic, the music is good and you will be learning while having a great time and getting in shape! I will definitely be buying the rest of their series!