Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed...but still a good buy
Review: I bought this DVD for 2 reasons 1) the support Rachel Brice who is not only a fantastic dancer but beautiful outside AND inside...a great person and 2) to hopefully get some good footage of her style. The previous review about poor camera footage of her was accurate. She's the only dancer where the cameraman had diarrhea of the camera crane. <start rant> The camera is constantly moving around. Here are a multitude of great shots of her arm and hand when the viewer has the glimpse that she's doing some rockin or sultry belly/hip moves...like I *want* to see her *arm* (it's nice too...but you get my point). A message to the guys with the camera -- hold it still for goddess sakes...geez man. I saw minutes of Suhaila (albeit a fantastic dancer) with full body shots, her flipping her hair and in contrast Rachel's ... <sigh> ...arm. <end rant> Anyway, I'm still glad that I got it. What I saw of Rachel was great...I'm tibal/fusion style dancer, and I really did appreciate all of the other dancers. Picked up some moves too (from *all* of the dancers).
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining. . . but. . . .
Review: I bought this performance video not only for the enjoyment I have of watching belly dancing, but for the "study" value in watching other dancers in order to help with my belly dancing. The dancers were all fantastic and talented, the costuming was incredible, the sets were gorgeous. I felt that the camera work was rather annoying, however. Too many fast cuts and not enough showing of the dancer's entire body. I feel that if you are not familiar with this type of dance, this is a great way to see some incredibly awesome dancers. If you want this DVD in order to check out some great choreography, this one might not do it for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as I had thought
Review: I didn't buy this DVD right away due to the negative feedback, but I wasn't going to pass it up on that alone. When I watched I kept thinking, 'Okay whens it going to get as bad as people say it is? Sure theres the occasional irratating camera angle, but nothing out of the ordinary for bellydance performance videos. Us dancers are hard to capture on film! Overall the most annoying things to me were when they had some object in the foreground (move stupid lamp!!) My guess is they wanted it to seem like we were 'spying' on the dancer (roll-eyes) and that gigantic overhead light that when they shot low looking up at the dancer it looked like they were being beamed up into a UFO. The smoke wasn't too big a deal to me. What I did like about this video is the variety. There are several different dance styles, different costumes designs, for the most part different music, and I like that they had a variety of entrances and exits. I think its a pretty good deal for the money. I took 1 star off cause there are some imperfections and nothing for bellydance is 5 stars except for IAMED.
Now, the dancers. Disclaimer that this is strictly my own opionion. Amar-I really liked her, it was my first time seeing her dance and I liked both of her performances. Ansuya-I have several videos featuring her and I almost think this represented her better, save for the times when she had too many crash closeups. Rachel-I've never seen her dance(though I will soon at a workshop, another reason I bought the DVD) and just from what I've seen in still pictures I can tell they cut her short. The camera angles bugged me the most on hers as I really wanted to watch her. I liked her more 'taximy' drum solo. Jillina- I thought both her dances were good. I liked the interaction with the drummers during her drum solo, she really showed how your dancing 'with' the drummers that you don't overshadow them with your dancing. Sonya- first time seeing her dance and I didn't take much from it. She is pretty and dances well, she just didn't stand out too much to me. Maybe blame it on too many face close ups. Suhalia- I really didn't care for either of her performances, her costumes were weird(I thought her hair looked a bit ungroomed too) and it seemed like she was jazzed on caffiene and was just shaking all over. And the rotating camera with the violin was irratating cause there were several times when we would be looking at the back of the violinist and he's totally blocking what she's doing. I also give the violinist credit for not blushing while she was dancing. Tamalyn- I love Tam, her dances are great, but really she's so much more awesome in person! She has awesome arms, fantastic zills, and extremely unique veilwork. Rania- I'm not too big a fan of Rania but I liked her performances on this video better than others I had seen.
Overall I think its worth the price and the content to add it to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: just let them dance
Review: I had mixed feelings, mostly sympathy for the dancers whose performances were mangled by the camera work. Yes, I'm repeating what has been said, because I hope the powers that be take notice, stop playing with the camera - just because you can zoom in doesn't mean it's good - and show some respect for the art form. The first few seconds of Rania's (PRODUCERS: check the spelling!) the camera work was interesting, then went to hell. Jillina's drum solo was terrific, as a former percussionist, I found her feel for the drum incredible. Those dancers I'm familiar with, like Sonia Rania, and Amar were misrepresented by camera madness and, I felt, even constricted by the cluttered set. Some performers were disappointing, but I don't feel right singling anyone out given the production problems mentioned. This DVD is worth it for some interesting performances nonetheless and exposure to different styles. Message to the Producers: next time, save the close ups, etc for a photo gallery and just let the ladies dance - they know better than you what they're doing.
Rating: 
Summary: I love it
Review: I have a lot of performance belly dance videos. This one is beautiful and the dancing is very, very good. I don't understand the comments about the editing. I have paid three times as much for videos that were much poorer quality. And if anyone has any videos from the middle east, well there is no comparison. Some of those are taken straight from tv in Lebanon. This is top quality. Sure, sometimes I think, gee I wish I could see a long shot instead of a closeup, but really, just a dancer dancing can get a bit boring, particularly if you are not a dancer. Anyway, buy this video. You will not regret it. The styles of dance are varied, and there are several drum solos. The costumes are to die for, too.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting addition to dance dvd collection
Review: I hesitated before buying this DVD, however I did have the CD so I was curious to see the choreographies that accompanied the music that I listened to all the time. That was a bit of a let down, not all songs from the CD are featured, such as "Khayarouni" my favorite. As well, the reviews from other buyers have been mostly negative due to the questionnable camera work. I can understand the dissapointment, however, I just look at it as a different type of representation of dance. I am happy to have it as an addition to my dance videos, however, having said that, I was surprised at some of the dancers that everyone raves about. For instance, Suhaila, what's up with that chick? (as someone else put it, she looks like she's having a seizure, and I also cannot watch the violin performance one more time) mind you often things that look very good live don't necessarily translate well on video, so I can believe that she is probably an outstanding dancer under different circumstances, in her defence, she does appear to really "feel" the music. As for Jillina, I was kind of indifferent,(enough with the hair already!) I will have to watch her a few more times to appreciate her expertise. My instant favorites were Amar Gamal, an energetic and interesting dancer -Sonia, very elegant and graceful. A real surprise was Rachel Brice, I am not in to the tribal look, but this woman is amazing, her performance no.1 is hypnotic, I think she has the most graceful arms of anyone I have seen, ever. Her arms remind me of snakes, and her drum solo performance no 2. shows how she masters isolated movements, again the only word I can find is hypnotic, so the DVD is worth it for her alone, since there appears to be little else (visual material) available on this dancer.
Rating: 
Summary: Thanks for the warning folks!
Review: I was gonna buy this vid (Maybe,when the price hits $6..)
However, the MAIN reason being that while I Love Bellydance,I
absolutely DETEST Porno-Girls-gone-wild-recycled Mtv(TM)Inc.
Camera work for my favourate dancing style.
The only good this DVD serves is the actual names of the Dancers
In which I'll gladly support with the purchase from their
own websites!
"Extreme Talents should never be Marred By Medrocrity for the
MASSES!"
Rating:
Summary: Well done!
Review: I've had this DVD for quite a while now, and I just thought about reviewing it.
I really liked the DVD. I thought that it showcased each dancer quite well. My personal favorite is Suhaila Salimpour's first performance on the video. She's amazing.
The camera angles can get a little annoying at times, but all in all, it is a very well put together DVD. I liked also, that they included dancer bios as part of the menu. Very helpful!
This is a great DVD for anyone: bellydancers and non-dancers alike.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, but Uneven: Some Stars, Some Disappointments
Review: In Belly Dance Superstars the DVD (as in with the CDs and the touring show) Miles Copeland attempts to bring belly dance into mainstream commercial America. The DVD succeeds in presenting a fun, opulent feast for the eyes that is very commercially digestible (pretty women, pretty costumes, driving music.) In terms of the dancing, the video contains a few "Stars" who live up to the moniker; Jillina, Tamalyn Dallal and Amar Gammal are stand-outs on this video, as is Rachel Brice who, though a little too tattooed and tribal for my personal taste, has some of the most amazing abdominal muscles ever to grace the small screen. However, other "Stars" proved disappointing. In the Middle Eastern dance form, musical interpretation is paramount. The dancer and the music should be as one--the dancer's body, as though another instrument in the orchestra. Watching Suhaila Salimpour's rendition of "Nbtidi Min El Hikaya", I found myself wondering if she even knew the music was playing. The interpretation left those with whom I watched the video discussing whether perhaps the producers had simply dubbed the wrong music over her performance. Also disappointing was Rania. Though she is very pretty and clearly has some dance training, her interpretation is weak and her performance skill lacking. She's competent, but I could easily name at least a dozen dancers in the Minneapolis metro area alone who have comparable technique and are stronger performers. Ansuya and Sonia were less distracting to watch but also failed, in my opinion, to exhibit a true "Superstar" quality. The camera work, editing and set pieces are at times a little campy--we could have done without the smoke machine moments and the rotating stage effect during Suhaila's violin taksim, for example. Still, overall, the production quality is high, creating a slick, glossy look, similar to that seen in rock videos. Overall, the Bellydance Superstars DVD is good, slick Hollywood fun. For those not familiar with the dance or with Middle Eastern culture, it will seem easy and familiar--an accessible introduction to belly dance (with emphasis on the "belly".) For those with more extensive background, you'll see some worthwhile snippets of technique and presentation that may be inspiring, but be prepared for a campy, Americanized interpretation and a few clunker performances.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not enough...
Review: Let me start by saying that the dancers featured in this DVD are very talented and beautiful, but I just didn't get the essence of the Middle East, more Hollywood than anything else. This DVD just didn't show the performers skills, just a lot of camera angles and face close ups to show their beauty. The production is not the greatest quality, one of the dancers (Tamalyn Dallal) is missing her second performance, when she's marked by having two perfomances in the disc, and one of the dancers has her name shown incorrectly. The dancers: Suhaila, always beautiful and amazing, her performances were decent, but to me it seemed like either she didn't want to outshine the others, or she just wasn't into the whole thing too much.
Ansuya: She's incredible, I thought she did an amazing job playing the zills to that crazy song (chicky), but too much shoulder shimmies and not enough of Ansuya, she just didn't show what she's all about.
Sonia: Very beautiful, gorgeous costumes, highly skilled, but she seemed aloof.
Amar Gamal: Very nice performances, she's a great dancer.
Tamalyn Dallal: Wonderful dancer, too bad the disc has a flaw and only has one performance from her.
Jillina: Very talented and a beautiful dancer, her costumes I thought didn't do her any justice (I thought they were horrible), other than than, her performances were very nice.
Rania: Unfortunately, the camera angles killed her first performance, and personally I don't like Dilentir's music which she danced to. Her second performance, I'm not sure what to think of her, beautiful costume, but she just seemed stiff to me, like she wasn't into it at all, I've seen her dance in other videos and she was nothing like that.
Rachel Bryce: Wow! she's awesome, she has an amazing muscle control and unbelievably flexible, her performances are a bit slow but still breathtaking.
Dondi: Ugh! Horrible, I personally think the DVD didn't need that silly Marilyn show. My recommendation is to skip this DVD, most of these dancers have their own performances DVD/VHS you can buy through their websites that are 10 times better than this and show off their talents, I know for a fact that Jillina, Ansuya, Suhaila, Rania have performance videos that are way better than this 'Bellydance Superstars' disc.
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