alonewiththemoon | Rachel Brice Tribal Arms and Posture DVD review

Yesterday I used Rachel Brice's Tribal Arms and Posture DVD.

I was excited about this DVD; I am not tribal style, but I find occasionally cross-training in tribal to be helpful especially for my arms, and Rachel is certainly elegance personified, in her own special alien way.

What I liked:

all the shoulder rotation exercises were very helpful for warming up the shoulders and getting a sense of the full range of possible motion. I will incorporate those into my regular warm-up.
I liked the concept of performing sun salutations like a dancer. It made me smile while salutatin'.
I liked that she was filmed from the back while facing the mirror. I find this is the format that is easiest for me to follow.
Camera work was clear and easy to follow throughout.
Rachel makes an excellent model for this type of instruction, as you can see every muscle in her body working.
The combo exercises were a nice way to illustrate how to put what you are learning to practical use.
Rachel's constant reminders and remarks about where your shoulder blades and arms should be were very helpful.
Her movements and the music were always in synch. It's a big pet peeve of mine when the movements and the music are slightly off. There's a section of Aziza's drilling DVD that is like that and it drives me nuts.
The short performance at the end of the DVD was very nice, and the conversation between her and Miles Copeland included as an extra was endearing.

What I did not like:

The DVD has no flow to it. Transitions from one exercise to the next felt choppy and occasionally rushed. For example, one exercise might end with you standing, and then the next have you kneeling, but there's no moment for you to switch positions before the exercise is already underway. This was a problem in her first DVD as well. The fade to black between every single exercise exacerbated this feeling.
Some of the exercises did not seem relevant to anything that came later in the DVD, like the "level changes" exercise.
And since I've mentioned the level changes exercise, rapid fire knee drops are downright dangerous with no warming up even for experienced dancers, never mind the less experienced dancers who are likely to be using this DVD. I also think that doing that exercise slowly would be more useful for developing strength and tone anyway.
It did not make sense to me that some of the preparatory exercises were repeated only a few times and then more complex movements were repeated for 2-3 minutes.
It was not clear to me what level this DVD is aimed at. Arm movements were broken down into miniscule elements, but other movements were just thrown into the combos with no break down or explanation at all. I could easily follow the combos but I don't think a beginner dancer could. Yet the packaging and marketing of the DVD makes one think it is more of a beginner thing.
The cool down was, imo, ludicrously lacking. The viewer has just done all this intense arm work, but there are no arm and shoulder stretches. IIRC, the cool down consisted of two yoga poses and savasana.
Between the lack of a serious cool down and the nature of some of the exercises, I think this is a DVD with a high potential for injury, especially for the inexperienced dancers who are likely to purchase it.

So in the end, I sadly give it about a C+. I did learn a few good exercises, but I am not at all likely to purchase this for myself. I should be clear that I don't think the production/editing/flow problems are Rachel's fault; I suspect all that happened after her involvement was finished. I would also absolutely rent anything produced by the Belly Dance Superstars before purchasing it, as I find the quality very erratic.

This weekend I also started a decoupage project. I've never done any before, so of course I am starting with big bangle bracelets instead of something sensible like a nice flat box or some such. It's pretty addictively soothing, though.