Dance Videos | Jade Belly Dance

How to flip videos to make learning dance choreography easier.

10 Jan 2016 4 Comments

by jadebellydance in Belly Dance, Dance tips, Dance Videos, Tribal Belly Dance Tags: Belly Dance Tips, bellydancing, bellyqueen, Dance, flip video, Jade Belly Dance, Perth, silk road, tip, video

As some of my belly dancers may know, I am currently cast to perform in the Perth version of Bellyqueen’s ‘Journey along the silk road’ production. 🙂 I am super excited!

As I live in a regional area, most of my learning of choreographies for the shows comes from watching videos posted on youtube. Some of the clips are in front of mirrors and shot from behind which makes it easier, but some are not. Flipping the video footage of dances shot face on makes it much easier to get left from right as you can just mirror the dancers in the clip.
It is not only big shows that flipping a movie clip is useful, if you are collaborating with anyone online, this simple trick can be useful. I realised from comments on the shows forums that not everyone knows how to this, so I thought I would share the quick method I use. You can also use video editing programs such as iMovie but it is a bit more fiddly – this way is fast and easy.

STEP 1

Go to youtube (or whatever platform you are sharing video clips from) and find the clip, copy the URL.
Open another tab and load “youtubeinmp4.com” (if you don’t like this one just do a search for ‘youtube to mp4’, there are several websites that do this – beware of ads, etc when using these sites)
Paste the URL into the field and hit ‘download mp4’ , in the case of this program it takes you to another page where you can select other formats you may want it in. I always use mp4.

Now you have a copy of the clip on your own computer.

STEP 2

Open QuickTime player (this is available for both Mac and PC) and open the clip (if it didn’t automatically open for you on download of above clip).
Go to ‘File’ and ‘Duplicate’ if you want to keep the original view as well. OR skip this and go straight to
‘Edit’ and ‘Flip Horizontal’
Next save the clip. This was a bit tricky for me as the name field kept being greyed out BUT if you try and close the clip it offers you the chance to save and re-name it.

And that’s it – your clip is now flipped and you can mirror the moves – just be aware that if the dancers turn around at any time in the clip then following can get confusing 🙂 Happy dancing! Belly dance show in Australia

If you are in Western Australia at the end of the month be sure to catch the fantastic show!

Do you have another method of flipping videos for dance? Please comment below.

Al Rakesa. Egypt’s controversial belly dance show – Is it worth watching online?

30 Oct 2014 5 Comments

by jadebellydance in Belly Dance, Belly dance dvd reviews, Dance Videos Tags: al rakesa, Arabic, Belly Dance, bellydancing, Dina, Egypt, review

Al Rakesa

The belly dance show we were all waiting for that got cancelled!

While it was cut from TV in Egypt, it is still able to be watched online via youtube and lets face it, most of my readers would have been watching it online anyway.

The show is still worth watching for the following reasons:-

Dancing (no brainer!)

These are a must watch. Some great dances, some not so great. Ala Kushnir is on board and regular readers will know I am a big fan of hers. Some other quite accomplished dancers drop the ball so to speak and let nerves get the better of them. No one dances terribly though, I really felt for the dancers and think it is great they gave it a go.

There were a few obviously bad music choices. The Americans seem to be favouring fusion choices eg. one hip hop and one to the old classic ‘sway’. These would be better choices for a an audience that was mostly English speaking but this was filmed in Cairo. Personally, I have found that Middle Eastern audiences love the Arabic music but Western ones need a bit of fusion and props to help them relate to the dance. Instrumentals are good if you don’t feel comfortable about correctly interpreting the lyrics.

Do you agree with my ideas on music choices for different audiences? Please share your thoughts below.

Language

If you are learning Egyptian Arabic it is kind of fun trying to work out what they are all saying. Lots of repetitive phrases makes it actually quite a good for practicing your listening skills. The disadvantage of course is that if you don’t understand enough, it quickly gets boring. Personally, I hate reality television in any language … so repetitive and so little content. The great thing about it being online is you just skip ahead to the action. By persevering with the full show you learn a bit more about the dancers but if you can’t handle it Al Rakesa has also uploaded clips of the individual dancers.

Uploading is sporadic so I have been keeping an eye on things for you.

I have made a playlist on youtube with the individual dances that have been uploaded so far. The earlier episodes have yet to have the solos added separately. Really inconsistent format by the producers. I will add solos to the list a they are uploaded.

Background dancers!!!! OMG!

Like a car wreck that you can’t look away from – some of the worst and most distracting background dancers in television history. Incongruous, poorly choreographed and concept poor. The drunk greek statue in the 12/10 episode are particularly awful but the bizarre cheerleaders in knee length skirt 1950’s style with neon futuristic bobbed wigs leave me wondering what drugs the costumiers were taking. Imagine a bad eisteddfod going on in the background, with moves that only occasionally matching the beat or feel of the dance. The only ones that make sense are the folkloric ones.

UPDATE! the latest lot of finalist solos have background dancing that makes sense!!! What a relief!

Al Rakesa on youtube can be found here https://www.youtube.com/alrakesa

You can find my playlist of the solos only here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLApICzQclcZ5m-BtBJRX2QGV3Nnz6tBup

Life as Dancer in Egypt – documentary

11 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by jadebellydance in Belly Dance, Dance Videos, History Tags: a trade like any other, Belly Dance, Dance, Egypt, Jade Belly Dance, review, video

There is a documentary about dancing in Egypt has been making the rounds on social media that is of interest to belly dancers.
It is about Egyptian dancers – not the famous dancers in the 5 star hotels, etc. This is about the dancers that do the rounds of the weddings and clubs that ordinary Egyptians go to.
Some dancers like what they do, others are ashamed.
check it out here
The story is reminiscent of “A Trade Like Any Other – female singers and dancers in Egypt” by Karin van Nieuwkerk

a trade like any other

“In Egypt, singing and dancing are considered essential on happy occasions. Professional entertainers often perform at weddings and other celebrations, and a host family’s prestige rises with the number, expense, and fame of the entertainers they hire. Paradoxically, however, the entertainers themselves are often viewed as disreputable people and are accorded little prestige in Egyptian society.”

The film and the book are well worth watching / reading for those that are wanting to get a better understanding of the cultural nuances involved in the belly dance scene.

Have you watched or read either of these resources? What did you think? Was it a shock to you? Please comment below.