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Reach for the Stars with Jasmin Jahal
Who is this video intended
for? What is taught? The video begins with Jasmin reading some of her thoughts about dancing with the veil, what will be taught in the video, and a few practice and performance tips. Also included is a brief discussion of fabric, in which she is upfront in telling you that silk is her personal preference and is the fabric used in the video. (I must interject here for the benefit of my students to say that there are many types of fabric that make lovely veils. The type of fabric you choose will depend on the way you intend to use it, and you may have several veils for different purposes.) Her explanation and breakdown of proper body alignment and posture is clear and easy to follow, as is the demonstration of how to hold the veil. She discusses arm placement and takes you through a short warm-ups for the shoulders and arms. The movement breakdowns for the swirl, figure-8, and half-figure-8 are clear, and easy to follow and understand. I especially liked the simple way of teaching the swirl (throw). You are reminded throughout the video to keep your shoulders down and your fingers extended. After teaching these three movements and how to walk, the video moves to the combinations. Four combinations ranging in time from 40 seconds to 65 seconds are taught. Each combination is a full mini-routine including an entrance and ending. She takes you through each combination three times: Once slowly with the veil, once slowly without the veil and once dancing it straight through with the music (drum). The routines incorporate the moves taught earlier and also introduce a few other very simple concepts and steps. The routines are done to a simple drum rhythm and should be fairly easy to adapt to a piece of music. You get a nice idea of how to open a piece, string together a series of movements, and end your piece. If your living room is small and doubles as your practice space, you will find the mini-routines difficult to do as they require more open space than most of us have. The video ends with 15 minutes of Jasmin performing three different pieces in full costume, and using the veil. You will recognize many of the movements and combinations as having been taught in the instructional portion. The video was filmed in her studio in 1996. The sound and lighting are good. The video is laid out nicely with the exception of the beginning segment, which is a bit disjointed. Instead of moving smoothly from the discussion on body alignment to the warm up and then straight into the movement instruction, she stops between each to discuss fabric. So, you just get started and then you stop. Also, I have a problem with “truth in advertising” on the jacket, which claims to teach you to “dance with a veil like a pro.” While you will certainly get some nice ideas and tips from the video, three veil movements and four mini-routines are not going to make you a master of veil technique. I also don’t like the fluff bit where Jasmin tells you that “the veil symbolizes the mesmerizing mystery of the women of the Orient.” The truth is that the beautiful and intricate veil work done by bellydancers is America’s gift to the dance form, and did not originate in the Middle East. The video is not 90 minutes long as advertised: by my calculations there was just under one hour of actual instruction with 15 minutes of performances at the end. Jasmin does tell you straight up in the beginning that the instructional techniques are for dancing with a very long silk veil in particular. In my opinion, while silk is lovely and can be wonderful to work with, it is often difficult and frustrating for new dancers, especially in the length she recommends. If you don’t have a silk veil you may be frustrated because you will be unable to achieve the same results with a heavier fabric. Would This Video Be A Good Study Tool For My Students? In general, I liked the video: there are some useful techniques and tips for dancing with the veil, and Jasmine is an experienced teacher who can speak with authority on her subject. However, I do wish she had covered more of the basic veil movements—in my opinion three movements were not enough, and some basics were not included that beginners should learn, especially considering the video is advertised for all levels. Because of this I would have to say that the video is best suited to level 2 and 3 students. You will like this video if you have just purchased your first silk veil and are wondering what to do with it, or are interested in performing with the veil. It would also be a good video for those who like to pop a variety of instructional videos in at home for personal practice between classes or for those who don’t have access to a regular teacher and have some experience with the dance. This video might also be useful as a tool for practicing improvisation. I would suggest taking one of the routines and putting it to lyrical music. Let the music be your guide for speed and repetition of the moves in the routine. Allow yourself to deviate from the routine at will, using those movements to fall back on when you falter. As you know, this is also something that I encourage you to do with movements learned in class. Where Can You Purchase This
Video?
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