Bellydancing For Fitness: Sexy Art That Tones Your Abs, Butt And Thighs

Rating:
Summary: Just bought it yesterday
Review: I just bought this book yesterday. I am very happy with my purchase; more so with the purchase of her videos. What made me pick the book up off the shelf was the vivid color pictures on the front and back covers. That is was also made me buy it. Rania manages to overcome the hurdle of trying to teach dance moves from a book by having 3 or 4 serial shots of her performing some of the moves. She also demonstrates the importance of proper posture by showing several side views of herself performing.
What I also liked is the fact that she devotes a chapter to describing the aerobic benefits of Bellydance, then underneath the title of each move she demonstrates, she gives a brief description of what the benefits are for that particular move.
She also demonstrates the Khaleegy Head Toss and the Zar Head Roll, mentioning that that the head roll should only be done once or twice, lest you hurt your neck.
There is a short chapter on the history of Bellydance, her own introduction to the dance, layering movements for a routine, balancing and floor work, use of a veil, warm-ups, and a glossary of terms.
She lost one star because the included music CD was so-so (some of it was a repeat from the Bellydance Divas dvd), and the fact that she says in the book that she tells people all the time that Bellydance is her only workout; she does not lift weights. Then she mentions in another part of the book that she used to take gymnastics when she was younger. That gave me the impression that she was never overweight (like I am now). So I think that she has no knowledge of what it takes to "Shimmy away the fat"
However, I am happy that I bought this book.
CHALLENGE: I would like to challenge Rania or another certified fitness trainer/dancer to take an overweight person and slim them down and get them fit with bellydance and diet alone.
If any one has done this and wants to share the experience with me my email is [e-mail]


Rating:
Summary: A straightforward introduction to bellydance moves
Review: The creator of the wildly popular "Bellydance Fitness for Weight-Loss" video series presents Bellydancing For Fitness: The Sexy Art That Tones Your Abs, Butt, And Thighs, a straightforward introduction to bellydance moves that can be incorporated into a solid and beautiful exercise workout. Full-color photographs clearly illustrate warm-up stretches, basic movements and poses, and offer suggestions for putting it all together into a dance routine. The texts describe what to do and how to do in detail, and an accompanying music CD offers 40 minuts of modern, enthusiastic bellydance music to get one started shaking the fat away! A delightful and effective guide to enhancing physical fitness and sex appeal alike.



Rating:
Summary: Great intro to the world of bellydance
Review: This is a great book, with tons of gorgeous pictures and info about starting bellydance. Rania is also gorgeous, but not in an intimidating way, so you feel like you could be just as sexy as she is by bellydancing. This book and the one by Tamalyn Dallal definitely have a place on my bookshelf now, and the CD that comes with this book, which is full of great songs to get you started, has an almost permanent home in my CD player.