Book Review of “Belly Dancing for Fitness”
Written by Tamalyn Dallal
As Reviewed by Nizana

I own a few different belly dance books (there sure a lot of them out there now!) and recently picked this one up from Powell’s in Portland.  It comes with a music CD. Tamalyn Dallal, along with Richard Harris, presents this book subtitled “The Ultimate Dance Workout to Unleash Your Creative Spirit.” It is full of pictures illustrating the movements described throughout along with some nice photos in the “non-technique“ sections of the book.

Tamalyn is a multi-talented international instructor and performer, and shares her career background as well as the basics of this art form in this belly dance guide.  In addition to DVD’s and at least one other book, she also has a newer book out (“40 Days and 1001 Nights”) that I have not had a chance to read yet, but I’m sure is a fascinating read as Tamalyn‘s dance career is an inspiring one.

After an introduction, Tamalyn tells how to get started dancing and how to use the book. She describes how health and fitness can be improved with belly dance, such as stress relief, improved self-image, and muscular and cardiovascular benefits.  Tamalyn addresses basics such as footwear, work out wear, and workout areas for the best results.  She has helpful introductory sections on veils and finger cymbals, and then a good section on music where she breaks down the rhythms and instruments. All of these topics are excellent for all dancers to be familiar with.

Tamalyn touches on costuming and the history to the dance as well as some of the styles of belly dance. Then she heads in to fundamentals such as the importance of posture and being grounded. I found the placement of the section on combinations and choreographies odd, (before the actual movements) but it is a helpful piece providing options for different music types.  The actual movements start out with a warm-up section before covering slow movements, arm movements, and many other types of foundational technique.  Tamalyn ventures into veil entrances and movements, traveling moves, and floor work as well 

At the back of the book, Tamalyn provides a list of dance names and their meanings, an index to look up specific information quickly and a list for different belly dance resources.  This book is well-written, easy to follow, and has good all around info for dancers. I found “Belly Dancing for Fitness” to be a great addition to my collection and recommend it to all dancers to help remember the roots and basics of the dance.  And the CD was a nice bonus with some really good tracks!   Easily found on Amazon.com.