“Arms, Hands and Poses”
an Instructional DVD by Aziza

As Reviewed by Nizana

As noted in my “Aziza DVD Release Party” review, I purchased Aziza’s Volume 1 Instructional DVD as I have studied with Aziza at least twice and appreciate her teaching skills.  Each time I have come away with something I still use to this day, The DVD can be ordered through azizashimmy.com and is 92 minutes long. Special features include a bonus performance, dance career info and an interview.

Aziza is an internationally renowned belly dance instructor and a beautiful dancer. Her graceful presentation is enhanced by how she uses her “arms, hands and poses.”  The footage is very clear, the room the video is recorded in is beautiful, and the sound is good.  Aziza gives you plenty of time to “get it” before she moves on instead of cramming as much content as possible, which I appreciated.  She sprinkles in plenty of “Aziza-isms” throughout such as “Be amazed” and “Move with Intention,” and good reminders about posture, breathing, and tension and energy.

In this DVD, Aziza starts with a short video introduction followed by a nice warm-up to get you ready for the arm work and transitional poses ahead.  This is followed by drills and exercises to routinely practice to build muscle memory for beautiful technique.  Foot patterns and wrist isolations are demonstrated as well, and Aziza stresses the need for daily practice and repetition.  Poses and combinations (three) are then demonstrated and drilled for your use in your own dance work. Aziza then leads a cool down to wrap things up. Lastly, she performs the combinations in a beautiful purple and gold costume to a slow piece. How lovely to see her put it all together formally!  

The special features are a definite bonus to the instructional portion of the DVD.  One section is a bonus performance with Aziza wearing a sparkling black and silver costume with a skirt to die for and effortless veil work.  She lists the music credits, which is nice as I really liked the music throughout the video. I enjoyed this DVD and recommend it to anyone who wants to get back to some good drills to enhance all aspects of your dance.