Goddess Workout: Introduction to Bellydance with Dolphina (VHS)

Get tired of being barked at through a screen to get your exercise routine done? Seriously, none of us need that when we're trying to get fit.Dolphina is both inspirational and just plain sweet. Her encouragement throughout the video gives you a solid dip into the world of bellydance without feeling intimidated. Instead, you're warmly welcomed and treated as an equal and as if you were with the dancer herself.Take the video in short steps which are clearly outlined at first, and work your way up to the full routine - just make sure to stretch out before and after. One of my top recommendations on anything, anywhere, ever.

While this isn't as fun as the Belly Queen DVD, it's much better if you're a beginner, not in shape, and really klutzy (like me) and she is very positive and talks about Goddess energy which can be very nice and soothing as well if you need to connect with female energy after working around males all day. I'm not very disciplined at exercising but I keep coming back to this one because it's fun and simple enough that I can do it, yet challenging enough in other areas that I know I have a long ways to go before I'll actually be able to move on to the next one in the series. Like the characters in Full Monty, I find myself trying to work out the moves in the oddest places. I do recommend this workout DVD.

This work out kicks your butt, but at least it's fun. My hips have loosened up so well, and I've had long standing problems with them. My husband even attempted it. He really liked it, but likes to watch me work out instead! Ha.

Sometimes the instructor is a little strange, but her workouts are nice and I enjoyed the instruction. Some of the setting were strange, but again, the information was useful for a beginner in this art.

My massage therapist suggested this for limberness. A little too "new age"for me and then my chiropractor didn't think the neck exercises were the best.

Absolute scam artist. I signed up for Dolphinas Bellydance Instructor Training and she never sent me the private videos for it. She met with me promising me a class where we structure choreography. She was most definitely high on something and left to the bathroom every 15 min. She ended up ordering me food and having me pay for it when I insisted I just ate before our meeting to be ready for our dance lesson. That never happened. She only talked about goddess energy the whole time. She blessed me with a belt and then asked for it back when we parted ways. I was shocked and infuriated that nothing that was promised was delivered and then she immediately blocked me after giving me excuse after excuse. I was so incredibly let down. After.2 months of nothing and her blocking me, I had no choice but to force the venmo payment to be reversed by my bank. So incredibly disappointing!!!

I have very mixed feelings towards this workout. I like the bellydancing but something about Dolphina turns me off. It felt like she was trying to be a sex symbol and appeal to men at the same time as trying to connect with the women who are trying to learn the dance. As a result you get unnecessary foci and panning of her body which unfortunately inhibit the workout. This is particularly true where it gets into the really interesting hip movements. However, if you choose to ignore this you will still be able to learn a majority of the moves in the workout (She also isn't the best at giving directions, but it doesn't matter too much as this is a very loose, free formish workout).Another issue is her vague goddess talk. Since she doesn't go very in depth about the history and legends she is referring to it ends up sounding very gimmicky, like a ploy to appeal to women seeking empowerment. It makes the dance seem more commercial, especially in light of her company goddesslife.On the positive side, the sets and costumes are very beautiful. Her voice is very nice and soothing(although that is nullified somewhat by the empty goddess talk). Most importantly, it is fun!If you want to see what bellydancing is like, want to experience something new and different, or want to add a little variety to your fitness regime (Be forewarned: this is not the best for cardio as it will barely raise your heart rate) then try this. If you want to seriously learn to bellydance I recommend you pick a workout that will illustrate all the moves fully.

While this DVD is better for aligning your chakras than learning proper dance technique or calorie-burn, charismatic California babe/love goddess Dolphina teaches the basics in a slow and simple fashion that even the most scaredy-cat beginner with no dance training can follow. Dolphina is astoundingly pretty/sexy; she's as easy to follow as she is on the eyes. This is not the DVD for the serious dancer, but if you are simply looking to get off the couch and feel more in-tune with your body and inner goddess, then this is for you! The outfit/scenery changes for each section of the DVD add to the fun. This is the perfect DVD for beginners to whet their appetite for belly dance, it's less about steps and more about MOVING body and soul.

excellent value and a good start to learning belly dance; very feminine and respectful of goddess-worshipping, pagan cultures as it is is FOR women and BY women as an exercise routine. lovely music and scenery...luvvit

Not a work out, just a couple of moves. Lots of unnecessary yapping about belly dancing.

Pro-Lingua is a small publisher of classroom-ready and legally photocopiable resources for ESL/EFL teachers. _Shenanigames_ is a book that I have dipped into regularly for the past seven years. It is often the case that smaller ESL/EFL publishers publish materials that are more useful to hardworking teachers in the trenches. The huge-name slackers such as Cambridge and Oxford regularly churn out overpriced rubbish amid the odd useful book. Pro-Lingua deserves higher praise. It's up to us teachers to support the smaller publishers who create materials we can use in our classrooms with minimal modification. These publishers make our lives more livable. Let's support them and buy their stuff (and not pirate it). Keep the generous publishers publishing!

Brilliant! At last after searching Dolphina has answered my prayers. A fantastic belly dancing instructional video that's easy to follow and FUN. From the beginning warm-up exercises Dolphina explains about the flow of energy (chakras) and tells the viewer a little history of the dance (just enough to make you want to learn more). With brilliant sequences and best of all, a little routinue to learn at the end - this is what a belly dance video should be all about. I'd recommend this to anyone of any age and tell them to buy it and get shimmying. More videos like this, please, Dolphina.

Very good !