Rating: 
Summary: Buy it on video!!
Review: A caveat to begin:
I bought two (defective - skipping straight out of the case) copies of the DVD before getting it on video. Emails to Natural Journeys Customer service went unanswered. The "extras" on the DVD consist of bonus performance footage (the same footage at the end of each of the videos), benefits of bellydance (goes on for pages and pages - essentially every positive benefit you could ever want) and commentary. Pretty useless. Buy it on video.
I'll start with the negatives... and with the aforementioned commentary.
- Most of the bellydance exercises are ineffective if you use improper posture and form. Unfortunately, there is very little guidance as to proper form. I was hoping the commentary would provide this, but it is mostly dead air interspersed with the twins talking about buying costumes in Egypt, and saying "this exercise is great for toning...."
- The routines are very slow-paced, and could be quite boring for many people.
- Although the twins have wonderful form for dance moves, I wince watching them perform the more standard exercise moves. Ex. lunges where knees go far past the toes, bad form on crunches..
- The twins have distracting "stage smiles," and the voice-over narrator keeps making reference to how "sensuuual" everything is.
The Good:
- These are great, short exercise routines for the beginner. For someone with an interest in bellydance who doesn't mind a slow pace, they could be quite fun. The only exception to this is that the end of the ab tape is WAAAYY harder than the rest of the videos. My abs hurt for days.
- The twins have great dance form, and are cheerful. The cueing is pretty good.
- On an interesting note, one of the twins appears to be a far better dancer than the other. The camera work focusses on her, however.
A tip: when doing bellydance you should have very upright posture, with the shoulders back. If you do not do this with the arm exercises you will only work your shoulders. With the shoulders back, some of the work is shared with triceps/biceps etc.
Rating:
Summary: Good if beginning to work out
Review: Although it is not the most spectacular DVD ever, its pretty good if you have a busy lifestyle, and need an easy work out to do in the morning or evening. I travel constantly for my job, and I needed something fairly simple to do if I can't make it to a real gym, or to complement hotel's lacking resources. Although I don't miss the annoying peppy chatter in ordinary exercise workouts, this one is kind of hokey because they don't talk at all, and there's this disembodied voice that randomly chimes in to instruct you, for no reason though.... The only thing that is annoying is they have all these dance sequences in the beginning of each exercise you have to fast forward through, which is cool and all--except you are trying to exercise, not watch a performance. All and all, I consider this a decent workout if you are starting a routine. Its different, and that makes it more interesting than, say , Denise Austin, who makes you want to hurl sometimes from her voice.
Rating: 
Summary: not the best dance technique
Review: As a performing belly dancer, I do not care for these ladies. They are a bit hard to take seriously with their plastered smiles and over done moves. DO NOT get these videos to learn how to dance. The moves have been modified to be fitness oriented and not true to the dance. Their Sensual Art of Belly Dance videos are better, but there are MANY other amazing videos out there that are not quite so cutsie. Use these as a starting place to learn or check out your local Parks & Rec, Community College, or arts center for instructors in your area.
Rating: 
Summary: Get Sexy Feelin' Sexy
Review: Hey. I bought this for my mom. At press time she still hasn't used it, but when I went home recently, I used it (since I am the workout fiend of the group). It was a great workout, was fun, and I felt really sexy doing it. I think you probably have to already be able to move your belly to really do it, but it is fun. Definitely a beginner tape though. Don't expect to be hoppin' around getting paid $$$ for your belly dancing moves after this one, but it's definitely fun!!
Rating:
Summary: Elegant - Great Post Pregnancy workout
Review: I am 2 months removed from my second c-section. Situps are still very uncomfortable near my incision and I could never do them right anyway. I bought this DVD and the basic fat burning dvd mainly for the abdominal work. The instructors are VERY talented and the programs are easy to follow. If you are looking for a taebo type energy this workout is not for you. It is however very tranquil, elegant, and demanding. After my first workout I felt a burn in abdominal muscles I didn't know I had. I highly recomend this dvd for moms who are looking to strenghten and tone abs. It is also a great dvd to learn the art of bellydance. My husband loves it!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I am not the best toned person ever. So, if I can do the workout, so can you. It is really low impact and you feel really lose and energized after working out. You're not tired and ready to collapse to the floor. I recommend both dvd's: Basic Moves with Fat Burning and Arms, Abs, & Hips with Buns & Thighs. You will start to notice results within a week of doing it everyday!
Rating: 
Summary: Not very good in terms of both exercise AND dance
Review: I bought this DVD after reading the reviews and was extremely dissapointed. First of all, the instruction is horrible. The disembodied voice instructing you does very little to actually tell you what you are doing. In order to get the full effect of some of these movements you need to know exactly what you are supposed to be doing. In this case, they are basically doing standard exercises, while saying these are traditional bellydancing movements. And frequently these exercises are done in a manner that is incorrect and places too much strain on your body.
Rating: 
Summary: I love both these routines
Review: I don't technically have the DVD yet (it's in transit as I post this), but, I have both routines on video. If this is a direct transfer, it can't help but be wonderful :). Neena and Veena have made my boring exercise maintenance into a fun and muchly-anticipated part of my week. I did these routines near daily for 3 months, and then transitioned them to once or twice a week (doing other things, also). But, during that three months I improved my flexibility (I can reach *past* my toes!), my muscle tone, and learned to pinpoint my muscle isolations. These two workouts have a good mix of "traditional" exercise movements (squats, lunges, crunches, etc.) and movements unique to belly dance. I think the twins provide an almost flawless method to learn the movements, as the routines are slow enough that you don't need a separate teaching segment, but, fast enough to keep you improving once you know what you're doing. I really appreciate their teaching style. They wear snug spandex workout clothes with dainty scarves, so, you can clearly see what they're doing. Plus, there's two of them, so, if the camera angle is a little "off" on one, you can see what to do from looking at the other. The arms and abs routine is dedicated to strengthening your arms, rotating through a variety of arm movements, and an almost yoga or pilates style ab workout. These seem to be a bit more general, in the sense that you're working your full arms and shoulders for the arm routine, and most of your abdominals at the same time, for the ab routine. The hips, buns and thighs routine is more focused on isolated movements. There's also a good stretching section that I really like. What's particularly nice is that they teach you "real" belly dance movements but in the structured environment of exercise routines. So, you can enjoy these workouts if you're looking for something a little different, or, to build up a basic collection of movements. However, if you want to learn to dance properly, you'll have to look elsewhere. These are exercise routines, not dance lessons.
Rating:
Summary: Exercise workout video with a few bellydance moves
Review: I had been taking bellydance for over one and a half years and was looking for a DVD that would review the bellydance moves, show me new ones, and allow me to strengthen myself and practice at home. In the few dance sequences, Veena and Neena's dancing and costumes were beautiful and I would have loved to have the movements broken down so I could learn, but the DVD did not provide that.
I really felt this was more of a workout exercise video with a few bellydance moves thrown in. I was very disappointed, because the DVD description said "Conventional abdominal workouts can be extrememly strenuous and uncomfortable, but this program will teach you moves that are easy, sensual, and fun." When I watched the DVD, I found myself having to take off my bellydancing coin belt and skirt to get on the floor to do those conventional abdominal exercises anyways with the only difference being with some prettier bellydance-like arms motions. I somehow missed the easy, sensual, and fun part, unless you count watching the twins dance.
Rating:
Summary: Charming but useless
Review: I have been using Crunch's Pick your spot and wanted to add variety to my daily routines, and especially to focus on my arms. After a thorough search, and reading all the reviews I picked this DVD (and the other one on Basic moves and fat burning). Some of my reasons for these two selections were: I had taken some bellydance classes years ago and enjoyed them very much, I love bellydancing music and rhythms, the reviews mentioned the low key approach which is a plus for me because I have no patience for the shouting or mannerism of the over enthusiastic LA crowd. I never, ever, return products but I am sending the two DVDs back one day after receiving them: I started with Bellydance Fitness for Beginners Arms, Abs, Hips, Buns & Thighs, and I did not bother opening the other one on Basic moves and fat burning. Note that I played the DVD on my portable. Here is why I am returning the product: 1. The structure of the DVD, as other reviewers mentioned, is wrong--you have to fast forward a dance and a silly little speech to get to each exercise program. Tedious and unecessary. It would have been much better to have an introduction accessible from the Main Menu, so that the second time one may go directly to the exercises (See Crunch's Pick your Spot for a good example on how to do it). 2. I did not mind what another reviewer called "the disembodied voiceover." In fact, I found it pleasantly unobstrusive. What I did mind is the quality of the instruction, because it is: (i) not well synchronized with the exercises. If you do not look at the screen all the time you will not realize the instructors are onto another exercise--not a big deal but annoying;
(ii) not complete, but a rather superficial description of what is going on instead of useful directions about how to do the exercises and what to watch for in terms of doing the exercises correctly to get the maximum benefit and to avoid injuries;
(iii) I believe not accurate--e.g., on the very few occasions when breathing is described, the breath in and out instructions seem counterintuitive;
3. The exercises sequences and progression do not seem to have been well thought out, particularly the second series of exercises Hips, Buns, and Thighs. For example the cooling exercise is not so much about cooling. In sum, Deena and Veena had a great idea, are pleasant and charming, but they are not professional trainers and they were not well advised. I am certain they could have put out a superior product if they had worked with a professional pilates trainer who would have helped them select the movements, build the right sequence, write useful directions, and synchronize the voice over. The DVD has a bonus section on belly dancing performances that is wonderful to watch. The costumes are beautiful. Fine. I'll keep looking.
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