As Printed in the Quarter 2/06 (March/April/May) Issue of The Belly Dancer Magazine

TWIN BLADES

Sword Work With A Partner

Reviewed by Denise Mannion

Instructional Bellydance Series, Featuring:

Princess Farhana and introducing Samra

Running time: 37 minutes

Music provided by Hollywood Music 2005

     As a follow up DVD to "Belly Dance & Balance" and "Raks Al Sayf: Advanced Sword Choreography", "Twin Blades" begins with the statement that I have, over the years come to embrace: "Sword work with a partner is not only a visual treat for an audience, but a wonderful and fulfilling experience for the dancers." It can become the most exciting portion of a group performance when performed with perfection, style and simplicity. Farhana continues to say that "In the process, both partners dancing will evolve and improve through heightened awareness of everything from basic technique to isolations, posture, speed and your partner's proximity, as well as fine tuning your sense of spatial awareness onstage." For trained dancers in ballet, jazz, or modern dance, or for those who dance with groups and/or companies, this is already understood. For many belly dancers who have no other formal dance training, this is an important statement to comprehend and utilize. It is the perception and practice of this statement that will prevent you from appearing that you are on stage dancing 'alone together'. It will assist you in becoming aware and confident of your personal dance space.  You will never be on stage and look worried that you are cramped for space and you will never fear dancing with others again be it with or without props.

     Princess Farhana, as the back cover explains is "known for her grace, fluidity and precision dancing while balancing swords and other traditional props." As you will see, she is a wonderful dancer, smooth, graceful, relaxed. As I mentioned in my review in the last issue, visit her website to see the almost unending list of celebrities she has danced for. She is a working, working, working dancer who has appeared on television and in movies. She studied in Los Angeles with Zahra Zuhair & Raqia Hassan in Egypt. She "draws inspiration from the classical but is also well known as an adventurous, high-concept fusion performer." She performs many distinctive styles of Bellydance and can be seen at the Moun of Tunis Restaurant in Hollywood as a regular performer. She also is a practitioner of, and has a true understanding, respect and knowledge of Burlesque. I enjoy her sense of fun and the twinkle in her eyes.

     There is another statement near the beginning that should be taken quite seriously: this is not a DVD for beginning dancers or dancers that have never danced with swords. There are no explanations or break down of steps. Some important safety tips are given, and additionally, my advice would be to watch Farhana's "Belly Dance & Balance" DVD for additional information. Become proficient with your dancing, and then balancing your sword before attempting solos, duets, or group sword dances.

     The written introduction is followed by a video collage of Farahana and Samra dancing in various places in quite a few beautiful and varied costumes. You will be able get a feel for their diverse styles and gain some costuming ideas in the process.  Heed the safety tips, practice many hours alone until the sword becomes a natural extension of you and your dance. Farhana emphasizes that in order to perform a smooth and seamless sword dance with a partner, much practice together is what is necessary. "There is no such thing as too much practice!"

     The warm-up section is next and while it is not a total dance warm-up, it does offer excellent warm-ups for sword and prop balancing. A technical note: the audio in this section changes quite a bit. The shotgun microphone on a video camera is not always the best choice. Changes in locations mean changes in audio and an adjustment in microphones is necessary.

     Different places to balance your sword on your body, handling techniques and a few important tips regarding adjusting your sword are introduced. Understand that the sword really is a dangerous weapon and when you dance with it, you must impart this to your audience without threatening them or making them feel uncomfortable. In addition, you must always use extreme care and common sense.

     Assuming you have accomplished all of the above AND located a partner that is of similar stature as yourself, you are ready to proceed to the next section:  Synchronized,   Mirrored  and Independent movements. Briefly discussed and demonstrated, you may be inspired to add many of your own unique personal touches. I love mirrored movements that are polished and performed well. However, too many similar, repetitive movements are uninteresting and frankly boring for an audience. The dance elements presented here, although fairly simple, have a good balance of different movements along with level and spatial changes.

     Sword Transfers: Chest to chest and head to head along with verbal cues.  Although the chest to chest transfer could look quite awkward if not polished, the short portion on communicating by audio cues is a very valuable element for your 'partner dance'.

     Techniques: The type of movements illustrated here each have a little subtitle to remind you if it is synchronized, mirrored, transferred or independent movements performed simultaneously. This is an excellent tool to help you keep your dance varied and balanced.  I liked the level changes and floor work and I could see that a train wreck could occur during the 'turning hug' if not perfected. Practice, practice, practice and then do it again in your costume.

     Choreography: This is the technique section danced and counted out.  Following this section, the dance is performed and the subtitles with each of the moves and the counts are right on the screen. The magic of technology! You don't even need a paper and pencil.

     The final segment is the entire choreography presented in costume; tribalized cabaret that looks great for a dance such as this with appealing hair and makeup to complete the effect.  It is videoed from different angles and you cannot always see both dancers in their entirety. If you are really paying attention, you will realize that this is actually the 3rd reinforcement of the dance presented. You will have to back up to see the steps in full view, if necessary, to a previous section. Nice to see the dancer's faces, but somewhat irrelevant and unnecessary when trying to view a total picture of the choreography and technique primarily as a learning tool.

     There are many acknowledgements at the end, and in addition there are music credits that list the individual pieces of music used. This is a definite plus for anyone who may wonder "what music was that".

     In conclusion:  there is a quantity of valuable information in this DVD. If you practice with it and learn the choreography that is presented, it will give you a good foundation, but don't stop there. Expand on what is offered. For example, you may choose to select different music, weave a sword dance into a complete show. Please avoid the common mistakes of many dancers who just plop a sword on their heads and go on and on and on ad nauseaum to unexciting and monotonous music. The dance then loses it uniqueness and the audience will forget that anything at all is on your head, much less that it is dangerous, thrilling or the least bit dramatic. 

     You should be able to learn much from the different, solid techniques and elements presented in this DVD and be able to craft your own distinctive and electrifying version of Twin Blades Sword Work With A Partner. One more thing: don't forget to practice, practice, practice!