First a disclosure; I really do love Princess Farhana. I’ve seen her dance, heard her speak and I do own several of her instructional DVDs. She’s a wonderful contemporary exotic dancer who’s also a well regarded performer and teacher in the tribal fusion belly dance world.
Seriously though, this DVD is fabulous; a fully loaded instructional on all aspects of burlesque performance. It’s billed as a workout but I think it’s more of an instructional and it’s perfect for both the beginner as well as any intermediate dancer.
The chapters are in logical sequences. There’s an intro, overview of costuming elements, warm ups, arms and posture elements, entrance and exit walks and poses, boa technique, bump and grind movements, elements of the tease factor in the dance, how to remove clothing gracefully, and finally some thoughts on how to put it all together.
The bonus materials that are included are also excellent. My favorite is the excellent tassel twirling section with Miss Indigo Blue, another accomplished burlesque dancer and teacher.
(Read more about Miss Blue in the review of documentary film ‘A Wink & A Smile’ here).
Miss Blue covers exactly how to get those tassels twirling in every different direction possible! There’s also a brief history of burlesque with a photo montage of vintage and contemporary performers and a voice over by Princess Farhana, and a little bit about The Velvet Hammer Burlesque troupe from Los Angeles that helped to spawn the contemporary revival of the art form. There’s also additional suggested resources like websites, books and video recommendations.
One of the best sections was the costuming one: Princess Farhana gives us a comprehensive look behind the scenes. When you look at a glamorous showgirl onstage it’s easy to assume she has these fabulous custom made pieces that are probably ridiculously expensive. The reality though is that most performers make and remake over their costumes, and it’s nice to see a pro like Princess Farhana showing us a headpiece she made entirely out of what she jokingly called “garbage”. (She just means made from junk she scrounges from around the house!)
The specifics about how to make your costumes more easily removable were particularly helpful. Princess Farhana actually breaks down the different kinds of clasps for your costuming, and talks about the pros and cons of each. She goes over Velcro, snaps and how important it is to replace tiny lingerie hooks with larger coat hooks and how large tooth plastic zippers should always replace existing metal ones. She also covers everything you need to know about shoes and pasties.
The only downside I noticed at the very beginning was that Princess Farhana seemed a little stiff. I think this is because she might have been reading off a cue card at times. This is totally forgivable given how comprehensive and well organized her material is. I appreciated the fact that she wasn’t winging it. Once you get past that, you can really see her wit and warmth.
This is a truly great DVD that would be an excellent addition to your burlesque collection. Highly recommended!
Click here to buy Hot Moves For Cool Chicks on Amazon. Princess Farhana: Hot Moves For Cool Chicks.
Instructional Burlesque
2006
1Hr 51 minutes
