BELLY DANCE WITH SNAKES

Embody Your Inner Serpent, with Serpentessa

Produced by TempleBellyDance.com

Run time is 3 hours

Reviewed by Zaina Hart

     Many of you are probably unaware that I have been doing reptile rescue for over ten years now.  I was a sitting member of the Board of Directors of the World Reptile Zoo in Oregon for a few years and volunteered a great deal of time at the zoo, working with the babies (some of them weighing in upwards of a hundred pounds).  You will therefore not be surprised to hear that I can quickly get on my soap box about the treatment and care of reptiles – snakes in particular. After rescuing these amazing creatures from some of the most awful situations, I have little patience for anyone I find mistreating them.  After rescuing literally hundreds of snakes over the last ten years, I grow weary over all the mistakes made.

     I used to think my fixation as well as being a rescue mama of these beautiful creatures was a complete accident, but after watching Serpentessa’s DVD I am more of a mind to now believe this was simply “snake fate”.  <grin> My snake journey began after falling into “adore” with a friend’s snake, who had babies.  I was fascinated by the little cuties.  A year or so later I found my very first baby, Pandora, was a mere 15 inches long when I purchased her, and grew to a whopping 75 pounds and 9 feet as an adult beauty, she was a Red Tail Boa.  Next came Shakespeare, then Houdini (yes, his name suited him well), Lucky, etc. etc.  As a dancer, I have seen good snake dance performances and bad, watched dancers almost mimic jumping rope with their babies, watched as snakes tangle in costuming, hair, and more. I have longed and was hopeful someone well experienced would produce a good (iun this case excellent) DVD/Video for dancers wanting to perform with their babes. 

     I am so thrilled to tell you that very DVD is finally here.  Serpentessa has brought us a COMPLETE guide to working with and caring for these beautiful dance partners.  Belly Dance with Snakes is a three hour adventure into the world of your inner serpent.

And sssssso it goessssss.

Serpentessa’s DVD outline is as follows:

Introduction

Performances (6, one includes an interview at the end)

Serpent Wisdom

A slide show of dancers, many of whom you will recognize

Snake Dance Instructional, includes bonding warm-ups, slow, fast and floor-work segments)

Extras

Optional Commentaries

Introduction.

The intro is probably one of my favorite segments in the DVD.  It opens with Serpentessa first talking about what brought her to the world of serpents; explaining her bond with Sophia, her red tail boa, brought her to a deep and profound healing.  She then explains what she is offering in the DVD.  She recognizes that everyone has powerful responses to snakes and sees one of her responsibilities is to help people understand those reponses (whether positive or negative).  She also states all of earths creatures are our teachers with the snake being one of the most controversial.  She desires to dispel any misunderstandings.

Serpentessa discusses all these things as Sophia slithers about her shoulders, arms and hands.  I love watching the way Serpentessa rubs just behind Sophia’s “jowels” and onto her neck.  If anyone ever wondered about snake personalities, and whether they love us, the proof is here, in watching these two together.  She laughingly says at the end of the introduction, “How do you know when your boa loves you? - - They give you lots of hugs and HISSES”. 

Serpentessa clearly expresses the animals in this DVD are all treated humanely and with great attention to their needs - they are not merely dance or ritual props and never will be.

Performances.


                           Sera, Jehan and Serpentessa

The performances are not only riveting, but sensual, and very powerful.  My favorite of the performances is a very pregnant Sera.  It is a beautiful site to see - that glorious pregnant belly surrounded with snakes while Serpentessa and Jehan dance around her.

There is another performance done with Serpentessa on the ground below Gwyneth Larson an aerialist who swings overhead – passing snakes between each other - very intriguing.  Another performance has Serpentessa costumed like the Minoan Snake Goddess statue from Knossos Crete.

Serpentessa and Gwyneth Larson

In the Ritual Montage Serpentessa gives an explanation of ritual work with snakes.  This is again another fascinating piece of the DVD.  She includes infrared or night vision film of what looks like people sleeping/resting with free roaming snakes.  Some people might be a bit frightened by this.  Not me - - I have a good friend who has a number of snakes who are “free roaming” in her home.  If you stay with her, you expect the 150 pound Sophia to climb over you at some point mid night.

Instructional.

This section is an excellent tool for anyone who has wanted to dance with one of these incredible partners.  Serpentessa opens this section with a conversation about the weight of a snake and the additional warmups to think about.  Equally important she talks about bonding with your snake partner – warming up with your snake and becoming familiar with his/her personality and remember.  She cautions that snakes do have a will of their own, therefore you will be dancing WITH, them, not forcing your will UPON them.

She covers jewelry and costumes, what to wear during performance with an emphasis on dancing in your costume BEFORE your performance so that you are prepared for any problems.

Most importantly, and I love this comment and thank her for saying it; Serpentessa says it is inhumane to consider your snake anything less than an equal dance partner.  Dancing with a snake - - is an extension of your body, and you will be dancing in the NOW.  (Meaning, absolute choreography will change based on how your snake may be reacting at the moment/s of performance).

What is covered in the Instructional Section:

5 positions in which your snake is most comfortable and confident

Snake on shoulders

Snake in arms

Lifting the snake

Snake as crown

Snake on waist

She covers the how to’s of achieving these positions, and even goes into recovery movements (as we watch her loose her bindi and head wrap but not her composure).

Slow movements are covered in all five of the basic positions as well as fast movements in all five of the basic positions.  She then moves on to shimmies with the assistance of Jehan Kamal and on to floor-work and finishing with choreography and improvisation.

One of the best tips of the DVD is Serpentessa’s tip for transporting her babies.  My biggest pet peeve is to see a snake in a pillow case, and sitting under a table, or in the corner of a room or event space, for someone to step or sit on.  Please protect your babies.  Keep them in something that will protect them with a hard shell.  She uses a rolling ice chest that has holes drilled into and that has wheels and a handle to pull it. Inside she can keep the temperature more stable, with heat or with something to cool in summer months.  It is important to keep you babies comfortable and SAFE.  It will make dancing with them so much better for you both.

In Closing:

There is a long list of credits for this DVD, with a number of music and dance chroreographies credited to Jehan Kamal.  I had not seen her perform nor had I heard her music.  She is as much a delight to watch as to hear.

Jehan Kamal

You will dance away with a complete guide to dancing with your new dance partner, keeping him/her ssssafe and happy, which will keep you safe and happy. 

I would like to extend a personal thank you to Serpentessa for bringing this wonderful DVD to our community.  In a five star arena, she gets all five stars for an excellent piece of work - - and of course highly recommended.

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