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Dancer's Body
Dancers Body
strength training for hot mamas of all ages with Aruna

Review by Nita Collins
June, 2007

Who is Aruna? Karen Andes (Aruna) has published several books on mind-body fitness including A Women’s Book of Strength, A Woman’s Book of Power and A Woman’s Book of Balance. She is the co-owner of World Dance Fitness Studio & Boutique in San Anselmo, California where she teaches fusion dance (her own blend of tribal burlesque bellydance fusion) and strength training.

Who is this video intended for?
This is a 42-minute strength training video aimed at dancers who want to incorporate some strength training into their dance workouts at home.

What is taught?
Aruna uses a blend of Pilates, yoga, bellydance, modern dance, ballet, traditional strength training all rolled together to create a 30-minute strength training workout. Aruna describes it as “bodybuilding filtered through a dancer’s mind.” You will need an exercise mat & light hand weights.

· Segment One (7½ minutes): Stretching warm up. Nita’s note: As usual, I recommend you walk briskly or move about a bit before doing a stretching warm up. However, once you’ve warmed yourself up a bit and are ready to hit “play”, this stretching section is very nice.

· Segment Two (8½ minutes): Legs. This section works the legs with ballet-inspired movements as well as variations on the squat. There are also some interesting (and muscle burning) lunges with hip circles.

Nita’s note regarding the plié & relevé: if you’re unfamiliar with ballet, be sure to keep your knees pointed over your toes and the turnout happening from the hip joint. To prevent injury to the knee, the turnout must come from the hip joint, not the knee.

· Segment Three (6½ minutes): Chest & Back. This section uses yoga & Pilates inspired movements, including the yoga move called “low pushup”.

Nita’s note: If you’re unfamiliar with yoga, you may find this movement confusing at first and the muscles required to ease into the “low push-up” may be weak. If you find this movement too difficult, instead of doing it on the knees, try lowering so the thighs are closer to the floor, toes stretched out and pointed behind you. Use your arm strength to lower toward the floor with the elbows squeezing inward. Aruna does a good job of reminding you to squeeze your elbows in.

· Segment Four (8½ minutes): Core Abdominals. This section uses a lot of Pilates-based movement with some interesting seated undulations drawn from bellydance repertoire. This section of the workout does a nice job of working the entire core, especially some good work for the lower abs.

· Segment Five (7½ minutes): Upper body. This section is bodybuilding using light hand weights, including a great workout for the triceps. All of the repetitions are done slowly, incorporating circular motions and full range-of-motion through the shoulder. Aruna sits cross-legged on the floor, but I preferred to sit on my exercise ball.

· Segment Six (11 minutes): In this segment you dance along with Aruna in a fusion of American Tribal Style, Modern dance and dancing in her own fashion. Aruna doesn’t break anything down in this section (it’s a follow-me, right!) and so someone unfamiliar with the different dance styles may feel a bit at sea. I didn’t really care for this part of the video because it’s a bit of a mish-mash of unrelated movement and Aruna doing her own thing, and I probably won’t use this segment much.

The video was filmed in her studio in front of mirrors so you can see her from different angles. The lighting, camera work and sound are excellent. Aruna teaches using the voiceover method with Aruna herself speaking—you are watching her do the workout and at the same time listening to her speak. She has a pleasant voice, speaks casually and is enjoying herself. The music used is a sort of bland new-age techno music that I found dull and uninteresting. I would have preferred something more upbeat.

I found that sometimes it was difficult to figure out exactly what she was doing, especially in segment three (back & chest) and if I hadn’t already been familiar with the low push up (yoga), I might have given up on it. I would recommend that if you purchase this video, you watch each segment first to see exactly what and HOW you are to execute each movement. The verbal breakdowns are not consistent and some of the moves may be frustrating if you don’t have any dance training.

I basically liked the video and will continue using it as a way to mix up my workouts and weight sessions at the gym with stuff I can do at home. Many of the movements were challenging and I could tell I was working hard because the segments were difficult to complete and my muscles were sore the next day. I enjoyed having some dance moves incorporated into the strength training exercises. The workout is focused on the dancer and targets muscle groups that dancers need to build and maintain strength in. The entire workout (not including the follow-along) is 30 minutes long, which is manageable on a day when you’re short on time but still want a workout. An article can be found on The Gilded Serpent at http://www.gildedserpent.com/art35/ArunaStrength.htm written by Aruna on the topic of weight training for bellydancers, including a breakdown with photos of that pesky low pushup yoga move.

Where Can You Purchase This Video? I purchased my copy through eBay, but you can also order one from Aruna’s website at www.worlddancefitness.com.