Bellydance with Fire: Stellar Body

Rating:
Summary: An Exotic Celebration of Feminine Radiance
Review: Neon is an innovative New York dance artist and instructor who has taken bellydance to entirely new levels. Not only does Neon effortlessly balance trays of burning candles while dancing, she uses unique iridescent wings to enfold herself and reveal her exquisite costumes. Throughout the entire performance there are more costume changes than I can count and the flower tray is also featured. As she is dancing she empties the tray of flowers and they fall to the ground around her. There are a few moments when she is on the floor, but most of the dancing is done with swirling veils or wings.

My favorite sections were when she dances without balancing because she makes wonderful use of her long flowing golden hair. She becomes the epitome of goddess femininity with a hint of innocence.

Neon's highly creative interpretations of bellydance are inspiring and her angelic interpretation amidst falling stars was one of my favorites. Neon becomes a fantasy of spiritual realms as she dances in swirling galaxies. The backgrounds are constantly changing and at times there are twin features where she dances with herself or at times she is dancing in three sections of the screen.

Overall, I thought this entire performance was visually stunning and the dancing is quite mesmerizing as it mingles with the music. I loved the costumes, music and the performances are highly creative. If you are trying to create your own bellydance routines and you want to be completely inspired, play this while you are exercising and you are sure to find many new moves. This is not a bellydance workout, but if you have been doing bellydance workouts and are familiar with the moves, you might enjoy this as your own private Neon bellydance party. I lit candles and exercised in the dark. I found it rather inspiring and even created an exercise routine for myself that I can use with
my own music.

Neon has also created a crash course in bellydance called Instant Bellydancer. You might want to buy some professional dance heels if you want to learn all her dance moves. I found they are not as easy to do in bare feet and it is actually easier to follow her instruction in heels.

~TheRebeccaReview.com


Rating:
Summary: 21st Century Belly Dance
Review: This video consists of a few parts, different in their choreographic flavor, using different costumes and presenting different moods, all to medium-to-fast tempos. In practically every dance Neon balances either a tray with tall lit candles placed on it in various arrangements, or a shemadan (Egyptian candelabra with candles). Neon does not go from pose to pose like most dancers who perform balancing acts. She is not interested in tricks like going down to the floor and rolling over maintaining the balanced object on her head. She just dances. The focus is on dance, not on balancing. This is what gives this video its unearthly flavor. I have never seen a belly dancer DANCE so effortlessly like this while balancing. (I should add that few bellydancers can dance like this WITHOUT balancing!) The tall 3-tier candelabra floats in the air over Neon's head without a tilt while she performs very modern fast-paced dances with a lot of sharp hip work, turns and undulating. Often, especially in the very first number, Neon's body seems like quicksilver. Neon's performances look very modern: Most belly dance shows you see around feature the belly dance style developed in the US in the '50s and '70s. Neon has her own glamorous style, which I think is very sellable to modern urban audiences. And I can see a lot of imitation following this video, which IMHO is okay, that's why artists and writers publish their work, to make their impact on the art scene. In terms of production, this video is unlike any dance performance video I have seen. It is more like a painting. Some scenes from this video belong in a video art gallery.