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Rating: 
Summary: four stars
Review: I did enjoy this workout, and the performances, but I did not give it five stars because the music was to 'elevator' sounding. I don't hold it against Rania because most of the workout videos have that kind of music, but then again, the box said 'hot latin rhythms', which is false. Rania's bonus workout was great and showed her fitness experience, and her performances were pretty good (way better than the Twins), so I was impressed with the bonus material. But the main reason I chose to write this review is that I did learn some fun new steps to go out clubbing with, and I feel I got my money's worth.
Rating: 
Summary: No sweat; no bellydance
Review: I enjoy bellydancing classes and I wanted to be able to practice at home. This was not the right DVD to accomplish that goal. In fact, I am not sure what this DVD would be right for.
The music is terrible--canned, tinny, and unenthusiastic at best. The idea of doing bellydance moves to Latin music is interesting, but the least they could have done is get some real, electrifying Latin music. This is bellydance to Muzak.
As others have mentioned, Rania does not appear to really enjoy being in this video. Her blank expression led my husband to ask whether she was the person doing the voice over. I paid more attention to one of the background dancers who seemed to be far more enthused to be in this video than the "star". Another of the background dancers was definitely enthusiastic; however, her shimmies looked more like a cartoon character "vibrating to a stop" than a dancer performing a technical move.
The moves themselves bore little resemblence to the bellydancing I have seen or been instructed in. Oh, some of the basics are there, but to call this a bellydancing workout is giving it airs. The most bellydancing I saw was when the dancers entered the studio before the workout began. The actual workout steps were much more basic dance steps.
Finally, I failed to work up any sweat doing this video, and I am not fantastically in shape. After losing patience with trying to sweat to the instruction sections, I skipped to the end where the simple sequence of moves is repeated several times. Perhaps I was too annoyed by the other things listed above to do the steps with the intended vigor, but after completing the entire "set" twice, I still wasn't breathing hard.
I suppose if you are looking for gentle dance motions set to nondescript music, this video might be for you, but don't expect to learn bellydance or hone your technique with this one, let alone find a serious cardio workout.
Rating: 
Summary: love the dancing and learned alot
Review: I really enjoyed this dvd. I got the set of four and liked every one of them. What I liked best about this one was the variety of movements and combinations, and that they were all put together at the end into a dance. Although I wasn't sweating too much as far as the workout goes, I did break a sweat, and I felt that I learned so much in terms of dancing that it was just as important. There are extra workouts and performances by Rania also that were beautiful. Get the set.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Little Sweat, Too Light
Review: I recently started working out again after having had a slipped disc. I needed to start with something light yet exciting enough to keep my interest. So, naturally I thought this dvd would be perfect.
I barely broke a sweat in this workout, so everytime I see the cover, I break into a laugh.
I expected to have some authentic belly dance moves. I've taken a class of beginner's belly dance and I guess I expected something along those lines.
This dvd left me feeling cheated out of my money. Now, I feel hesitant to buy another belly dancing dvd workout. Maybe I just need an intermediate dvd workout.....Hope this helps.
Rating:
Summary: Salsa Anyone? Bellydance Fusion for Weight Loss
Review: If you're not familiar with the Bellydancer Rania and her Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss series, she is an AFAA certified Fitness Instructor and internationally renowned bellydancer. Her four part workout series fuses bellydance moves with a variety of different Western musical rhythms in her belief that bellydance can be done to any kind of music. With soundtracks not always coming off as authentic sounding as one may like, you'll have to use your imagination a bit when you hear the `Disneyesque' and sometimes cartoonish sounding strains of Hip Hop, Salsa, and R & B. The Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss series are a set of fun workouts and a great way to interject life into a dull and stale workout routine.
Before beginning each workout it's important to keep in mind what these are -- workouts. Although you will learn some bellydance, as all of the routines are nearly completely comprised of bellydance moves, don't expect to buy this DVD and have it be your one-stop shopping for instruction and workout. They haven't made anything like that yet. The pacing required for instruction is way too slow to get your heart rate up for a cardiovascular or fat burning workout. Rania does a very good job of creating routines with moves using similar muscle groups, starting with a slower tempo to teach the move and then returning quickly to full tempo, layering all the movements together to create an interesting routine. Lots of repetition will give you plenty of great bellydance practice.
Each one of the four follows a similar format and vary only in specific content and theme. Pure Sweat is the "Latin-esque" flavored bellydance workout. The music is more `tropical' sounding than Salsa as it claims, you could imagine the soundtrack being written by Disney, but the workout is high energy. A couple of the bellydance moves featured here are similar to Salsa moves and with slight styling variations could easily be transposed and are further proof that learning one dance will help you in the learning process for another. The Bonus section features Rania's veil and cane dance as well as her Turkish 9/8 count Rompi Rompi dance from "Bellydance Divas" and has the 10 minute Abs Isolation segment from "Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss: Daily Quickies...5 Ten Minute Workouts."
The workouts are set in a studio and Rania is backed up by a small group of dancers in matching workout attire w/ hip scarves -- similar in look and feel of the Crunch workout series but without all those annoying logos. The back up dancer's bodies are all variations on different female body types with some being curvy and some skinny, and at least one should look how your body could look if it were in a little better, but not rock hard, shape.
Each of the four workouts has a warm up of roughly 5 minutes. 20 minutes is spent on each disc devoted to instruction and routines. All four finish with a cool down and stretch segment of approximately 5 minutes in length. My biggest complaint is that I wish workouts were longer in length. 30 minutes just isn't enough for me to keep the fat molecules at bay. I would rather the workout be an hour in length and I could always quit part way through on days I have only 30-40 minutes to workout. Also, studies show that the body does not even begin to burn fat until after 20-30 minutes of sustained cardiovascular activity.
Not a lot of explanation is given to the individual bellydance moves but nearly everything is done in half-time to start before moving up to full tempo. Rania's voiceover often gives pointers as to how the moves are done but one would need to either be a little bit familiar with bellydance, or have a dance friendly set of coordination skills. Nearly anyone could eventually pick up most of the bellydance being done on these DVDs with enough patience and practice. Even without doing the moves perfectly you'll still have fun and get a good workout. Only the beginner absolutely new to all forms of dance would be truly lost. Some of the names Rania gives to certain Bellydance moves are different than I've heard them called before but this is common in the dance world where dancers come up with a move and patent the only part people can't `steal' -- the name. Don't let this bother you; it happens in Bellydance, Hip Hop, Salsa, et all. The move is probably the same thing you learned in class just with a different name.
Probably the biggest complaints about Rania's DVDs are concerning her stiffness, often vacant look, and inability to sustain a heartfelt smile. The look and smile I just consider window dressing for a video; I'm certainly more concerned with her ability to dance and teach. As far as her stiffness goes, it does have one advantage here -- a slightly stiff body is actually easier for a beginner to follow because lots of extra movement is distracting to the beginner who is merely trying to get the essence of a move down pat. While it may irritate an intermediate to professional dancer to watch, the beginner will benefit, and although Rania is certainly not the most fluid of dancers, the routines in the bonus section will attest that some, but not all, of her stiffness comes from making the workout moves look simpler. This is, of course, a fitness video for beginners.
In all, each of the four workouts are fun and you'll learn a little bit of dance. I just wish they all were longer.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite What You'd Expected...
Review: Ok, I've been a dancer (although not a belly dancer) most of my life and a certified fitness instructor since 1988, and I've never seen any anyone simply go through the motions like Rania. She is beautiful and has impossibly incredible abs but she is SO stiff. AND she is absolutely vapid. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know where she is. Rania's background dancers have more talent and panache than she does, and are apparently happier to be doing this video than she is. The workout itself is good for beginners and fun if you watch anyone but Rania, but I didn't learn much about belly dancing. I'd hoped I would learn a little more than was begrudgingly offered. Many "moves" are basic for any aerobics class.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: Rania's tapes are well-produced but this one did not make me sweat and it was much harder to follow than the Hip Drop Hip. I felt more like a club dancer than a belly dancer. Maybe it was my lack of connection with or inspiration from the music? I did not like this one very much. A fun fitness workout and I like the fact that she repeats things but I felt that some of the movements weren't explored/explained or done slow enough or enough times before trying to choreograph them into a tempo routine.
Rating:
Summary: Plastic and Stuffy.
Review: That's the feeling I get from watching this video!! The instructor is so stiff and looks like she is trying so hard to look pretty, happy and to actually do the moves properly that it just makes you feel tense watching it. I just didn't feel like these were traditional belly dancers. I feel like this was someone that is fit, and is just sort of going through the motions of the moves!! The Veena and Neena videos are so much better because they are more relaxed and really look like they know what they are doing.
Rating:
Summary: LOVE IT despite the flaws
Review: While I agree with some of the complaints in the other ratings (Rania's space cadet expression, elevator-style music, not true bellydance instruction), I still LOVE this DVD - so much so that I just bought the other three workouts. What's great about it... * No props or equipment needed, not even shoes
* A 25-minute cardio workout (with warm-up and stretching) that actually gets you sweating
* The women who accompany Rania represent a a nice range of ages and body types - it's good to see women bellydancing without perfectly flat abs or stick-like thighs
* No need to be coordinated. Rania starts slowly and repeats the movements until they build into a "dance" routine.
* Excellent voice-over. She may be a space cadet, but she has a clear, calm speaking voice and doesn't sound like a wind-up doll. She also counts and speaks just enough to get you going - she doesn't blab throughout the workout.
* Bonus 10-minute ab workout is extremely challenging (not necessarily for beginners or people with lower back troubles), but seeing Rania's rock-hard abs is inspiration enough for me. I've purchased and tried so many exercise videos, and this is the first that I really enjoy and look forward to doing. It's great to find something that feels effective, but doesn't punish my body as so many workouts do. I think that's the trick to actually working out, i.e., having so much fun that you WANT to do it. Best of all, and this may sound corny, but I feel feminine bellydancing, even though I do it in a gawky, goofy-looking way. All of these positives outweigh the negatives of this DVD for me.
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