Belly Dancing with Jacqueline Chapman

This is a low-budget video done by Jacqueline Chapman alone who has a lovely British accent & looks to be in her 40s-50s. When she is inside, you can hear the bellydance music off a stereo, hear her beads moving very clearly as if you were really there. The video & sound are clear considering the non-professional production. she had a lovely patient, relaxed disposition & style of teaching. She always shows the movments slow at first & builds. She tells you how movements will keep you in shape ocassionally & analogies. There is some lack of teaching & I'm not sure I would fully recommend this as a first dvd.
It starts with her dancing outside in a beautiful costume in a park for 4 min with a voiceover telling you why bellydance is good for the body, the precautions & other general exercise video guidelines.
Next for 5 min in a small room w/basic rugs & decorations is Chapman showing you a warm up of neck rolls, shoulder rolls & a rhomboid strengthener, horse stance & plies & standinf forward bend while in 80s looking gym spandex.
Next is her dancing again outside in a beautiful outfit for 4 min telling a general history of bellydancing, but not too much too much.
Back inside with her in bellydance costume (lifts the skirt to see feet ocassionaly), for 12 min, we start with the basic posture which she teaches well & even reminds to use pc muscles like sqeezing a pencil. The movements she does are basic hip circles w/also level changes; hip twists w/turning (seems a little sloppy here); horizontal figure 8s w/turning; hip lifts & drops w/level changes; alternating hip thrusts w/going by music, turning & on tip toes; traveling in step/turn/step fashion.
Next is her outside again dancing in a 1 peice custome for 2 min w/o anything but music.
Next back inside for 11 min is camel w/turning & walking; reverse horizontal figure 8s (she brings hip up) w/level changes; stationary Arabic walk & w/hip lifts & drops, vertical hip figure 8s w/turning & level changes; 2 basic hand movements.
Next is the Choreographed Dance for 2 min teaching w/no music background & done once in normal speed.
Next is her doing it again outside w/only music, then again is her doing it inside w/only music.
Last is her in a gravel & cultured flower garden is her doing a differnt dance using veils.
She is a good teacher, she kept my interest though I found her actual dancing a bit stiff. She executes the moves w/decent fluidity, but between each movement many times she stops to think for a second or even just moves normal in between that kills the flow.
I still recommend the bellydance twins Neena & Veena, Suhaila, Jillina, Neon, Rachel Brice or Jenna before hers.

I actually found this dvd at the library and decided to give it a try. It's actually pretty good. The budget for it isn't big, no flashy details, etc. but you see Chapman dancing outdoors in a garden at the start and for segments in between, and she gives some background on bellydance. There is no fancy camera work for the teaching segments, which is refreshing. The camera doesn't move, and you see her from the front, and then she moves to show you moves sideways. She explains postures well, and offers tips and some good descriptions to help you along. You'd see a lot of stuff other videos cover, but she is a bit more clear here, and she adds a couple moves that you don't see as often. It's a good product, worth checking out for beginners and for someone wanting a refresher.

I am a big-time Anglophile! I love all things English. However, Raqs Shakur, Danse Oreitntale aka Bellydance IS NOT SOMETHING THAT THE ENGLISH SHOULD TEACH! Or at least not make teaching DVD's for other people.

Bellydance is about passion, mystery, sensuality. It is a perfect prelude to Sacred Sex. It is part of my Spiritual Practice. She manages to make Bellydance BORING!

For one thing, the costume she wears while she is teaching the movements makes it difficult to SEE the movements. And the set appears to have several plastic trash bags stuffed with something that are meant to be used as beanbag chairs. And what is up with those tacky wicker plates resting on the oriental rug, which is the one good piece of decor?

The decor is England Rules The World. Very Memsahib and pith helmet. Lots of wicker furniture! She dances outside several times, but in an English garden! It is not hard to create an Arabic atmosphere. A few floor cushions, some candles, and hey presto, you are in a harem!

She is also VERY PALE. Doesn't she ever get out in the sun?

And where are the upper body movements?

Now, for the good stuff. I love the fact that she is not a young woman! As a woman of 52, I really appreciate seeing other women of my age doing Bellydancing!

She does a good job at teaching the few things she does teach. It is a very basic lesson! You won't learn much. She does give some interesting combos!

And of course, the best thing, is her lovely voice with her quintessentially English accent! As a matter of fact, it even says on her website that she is "a very English dancer!" And she is.

But when I Bellydance I prefer to get swept away in the Magick and Mystery!

So all in all, I would rate it at two and 1/2 stars. It is probably the worst Bellydancing DVD I have seen.

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