Drills! Drills! Drills! A complete workout with finger cymbals for belly dancers of all levels |...

Drills! Drills! Drills! A complete workout with finger cymbals for belly dancers of all levels | Michelle Joyce | Yeah! Yeah ! Yeah! Drills ! Drills! Drills!

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Drills! Drills! Dr...

	Drills! Drills! Drills! A complete workout with finger cymbals for belly dancers of all levels Michelle Joyce Cheeky Girls Productions, 2008 average customer review:based on 26 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Quite simply: thrilled with Drills

Nobody else is as turned on by the dull word "drill" as belly dancers are. And turned on we are, because drills happen to be the key to making second nature of body isolations and moves. If you've ever watched a belly dancer's apparently effortless control over her movements, know that this has come from hours of determined and very careful practice. It's the drills that make moves natural enough to layer one on top of the other until you have an overall incredible result that mimics the music even as it happens.

Michelle Joyce, a total godsend to the belly dance community, brings the thrill of the drill to belly dancers in a complete package on this video. If you were to look around at discussions on the internet, you'll find not just praise, but absolute gratitude from dancers. You will readily find those who are willing to give this video at least a 10 on 5. Somehow, Michelle has hit the right note with dancers and is speaking to them in a language they're comfortable with. She's covering all the essentials, organizing her material very neatly, and giving excellent advice, reminders and encouragement throughout the instruction.

There's enough content on this video to keep dancers, of any level, as the title says, busy for a long time. If you're a beginner, work with some other videos (or better still, classes) for technique, and drill with this video. But my advice would be to be hugely careful about posture because this is hard work and be tough on an unconditioned back or knees. Once a certain amount of optimum strength has been developed, go go go.

Before each segment, Michelle has an explanation section. That arrangement helps the instruction reach out to beginners more readily. It also refreshes the basics for already-dancers. She begins with four exercise drills to strengthen some of the essential muscle groups and your "core". For those of you used to tribal drills or Suhaila-style exercises, it should be familiar enough.

The instruction then moves on to isolations. There's technique explanations and tips before moving on to drills that have a separate slow and fast section. What I really like about these is how Michelle has added four foot positions and arm positions to do these drills with. I do a lot of drills but I haven't come across any that call for changes in arm positions. I immediately found myself faltering on that aspect. There's a beautifully simple symbols explanation and drill next, also with arm movements.

Then come two of my favorite drills on this video, the Zig Zag drill for both hips and ribcage, and isolations all layered on a grapevine traveling steps. This addition is excellent - and challenging. And if that weren't enough, we layer cymbal playing on to that lot. There are also ¾ shimmy drills (up and down) and standing shimmy drills. What's missing is shimmies layered on other hip isolations like circles etc. But there are rib cage moves layered on hip moves. These latter sections of the video increase in difficulty level, specially when they include cymbals. But this is exactly what will overcome everyone's problems with wiring the brain to do 3 or 4 things at the same time.

To end with, there's a "choreography" which isn't really a complete dance as the word may imply, but 3 short (and challenging) routines based on the isolations learnt on the video. You can, of course, add these into your own dancing, but here they're meant to be a different type of practice of drills. It These are really nice and are meant to help make you choreography-friendly. This again is really unique and well-planned. Dancers are already saying that this video is also a lesson in how to practice.

Drills Drills Drills ties in very well with another product that actually make earlier, Pop Lock and Shimmy. On that video, these drills are taken to the next level and also go on to make up a choreography. Overall, these two videos take into account everything that dancers have been wanting for their practice.

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Yeah! Yeah ! Yeah! Drills ! Drills! Drills!

When I got my copy of "Drills! Drills! Drills!", I immediately popped it into my DVD player and sat positively transfixed until the last minute. All I can say is WOW - this is the drill DVD that I've been waiting for!!

I can't praise Michelle enough for the quality and quantity of information contained on this DVD, while keeping the price affordable. Which, in this out of control economy, I am sure is not an easy task.

The first thing that I realized about this DVD is that, to paraphrase the back cover of the box, it truly is "a lesson in how to practice". I have never seen a DVD that teaches this important aspect of learning how to belly dance. I've been taking lessons for close to four years and I honestly say that I had no idea how to structure my home practice sessions until I watched this DVD! I know that, from now on, I'll be able to get the most out of the precious minutes I have to spare to work on my "skills" (and, in my case, I use that term loosely.)

Now to the title subject - Drills! Let me tell you, these are NOT your mother's belly dance drills - these are serious drills. The kind of drills that will get you in shape and increase your belly dance skills at the same time. And what an array of drills there are! There are drills for strengthening the muscles, drills to get your shimmy in shape, drills that will truly isolate your isolations, drills that have more layers than a bakery full of cakes (mmmm..cakes...), and something that I have never seen included in "drill" DVDs - ZIL DRILLS!!! Yippee!!

I can see this DVD staying at the very top of my list for a LONG, LONG time as it will, not only, improve my dancing and overall fitness, it will help me (finally) learn how to focus.

Again, many, many thanks Michelle!!!

PS - I also think this dvd would be great for any dancer no matter what genre of bellydance they study as these drills transcend style. So whether you are into Egyptian cabaret, tribal fusion, gothic tribal, Bellynesian, or whatever "Drills! Drills! Drills!" is an effective - and invaluable - tool that will build your overall physical strength and improve your dance skills. One thing is for sure, Michelle has a real gift for knowing exactly what every dancer needs!

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Excellent!

The one thought that kept popping into my mind as I was watching it was "Wow, that's really intelligent!" Michelle obviously put a lot of thought into this both from the perspective of an instructor and of her students.

The instruction overall had some aspects that I find very helpful. Michelle does a great job of explaining exactly which muscles are involved in the movements. That helped give me a better understanding of why I was having problems with a certain movement I've always struggled with. She was also good about pointing out pitfalls to watch out for. Much of the dvd was filmed with her back to the camera in front of a mirror, too, so you don't have to mentally translate when she mentions left and right.

Before she even gets to the movement drills, Michelle takes you through a bunch of well thought out strengthening exercises. Despite having taken classes and many workshops over the past several years, a lot of the strengthening exercises were new to me. I especially liked the body roll one which should help a lot with the control of my undulations. The drills themselves progress from slow to fast and basic to layered, to layered with zils, followed by a choreography using the drills. Again, I thought it was great that Michelle pointed out that you can train your mind to learn choreography more easily. So, part of the dvd is a drill for your brain, as well.

I can easily see it being one of those dvds that I come back to time and time again. I will definitely be recommending it to everyone in my troupe.

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Exactly what I was looking for!!

This DVD is exactly I was looking for to refine my home practice, on top of taking regular classes. Being a former ballet/contemporary dancer, I know the importance of keeping up with basic exercises to keep the body well conditioned for dance.

I discovered belly dance about 7 years ago, and completely fell in love with the art form and decided to study it extensively. But I always wished there was a method I could learn that is similar to the exercises I used to do in my ballet classes, in order to strengthen and tone the appropriate muscles and improve my quality and technique dance.

Michelle's DVD has given me exactly what I had been craving in my belly dance practice. It is very challenging, fun, and well produced! She has certainly given me a lot to work on now. Michelle has a very sweet and super friendly personality, so it's very motivating for me to put the DVD on and spend a little time practicing with her! She uses both encouragment and positive reinforcment to keep me working hard, especially through some of the more challenging drills.

All in all, this is an exceptional DVD for belly dancers who wish to refine their technique. Additionally it's a useful tool for teachers who are looking for new drills to help their students strenghten the the muscles used in belly dance.

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wow

Fun and informational what more can you ask for. I love the format, with the mirrors in the background, it's clear what the moves are, and they are explained clearly too. It's a real workout for any level of dancer. Plus it's sold for a reasonable price!
I would of liked to have a cool down included. Other then that it's my favorite DVD the use.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6

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