The Way of the Belly: 8 Essential Secrets
of Beauty,
Sensuality, Health, Happiness, and Outrageous Fun
Neena &
Veena
As Reviewed by Nizana
This glossy book comes with a DVD that is instructive
and includes a choreography. Neena & Veena, aka “The Belly Twins,” wrote this
book with Nancy Bruning. Its sole focus is not belly dance; it speaks to the “8
Secrets” that will enhance incorporating belly dance into your life and provide
ideas for life balance. I’m all about life balance, so I looked forward to
checking this out. Flipping through it showed a variety of tasty morsels to
glean from and some lovely color photos!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Neena and
Veena, you can find them online at bellytwins.com. They are successful belly
dancers who have graced many stages, appeared in films and magazines, and have
a line of DVD’s. Neena and Veena take you through ways to do just what
the book title implies, while incorporating tidbits about belly dance, such as
a description of Middle Eastern musical instruments. Starting out their book,
they present an introduction to guide you through the use of the book and DVD;
how handy!
Chapter One starts out with “Knowing Your Belly”
which touches on astrology, Ayurvedic Dosha, chakras and color preferences,
which are all book topics in themselves. The point being is there are many
“guides” out there to help you be healthier and happier and being open to them
could be beneficial. They also discuss the origins of belly
dance.
Each following chapter has “belly” in it- lighten,
listen, shape up, pamper, adorn, beautify and love your belly. The Belly Twins
provide ideas on how to do all these wonderful things to and for your belly and
your overall being.
The chapters are followed by special sections
covering menus, recipes, and “Salon.” The menus include some of Neena and
Veena’s favorite Middle Eastern and Indian dishes and beverages. The recipes
are also select favorites of theirs. The “Salon” section covers spa treatments
you can do at home- scrubs, aromatherapy baths, masks and more.
The DVD has some odd colorings throughout. It goes
from color to black and white or sometimes overlaid with a color such as red.
The backdrop is lovely as the Twins start with a warm-up accompanied by soft
music. Not only do they have names for all the movements, they actually have
names for the different arm frames, which is pretty cool. They used an overlay
to show the name of the movement as well as an insert box of a close-up of the
movement as the Twins demonstrate the movements. The verbal instruction is
clear. Sometime they would mention a layer to a movement and not demonstrate
it; I’d have preferred they demonstrate it if they’re going to mention it.
They cover different basic movements, traveling
steps and undulations. Movements are done on both sides - they do a short
segment on veils that combines movements shown earlier with tips on veils. A
short choreography follows putting it all together and they give you veil and
non-veil option. Time is not given to practice it; they move straight through
then do it to music and voice-over. This is then followed by Neena and Veena
performing the number in full costume with a new setting. Bonus footage covers
belly stance, breathing, posture, and voice.
If you’re looking for a strictly belly dancing book,
this might be disappointing. If you look at it from a more holistic
perspective, you will probably enjoy it. I’m glad I added this to my “belly
dance” book collection!
