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The Secret Language of Belly Dancing |
Author: Maria Strova
Published: 2006-10-25 |
List price: $20.99
Our price: $20.99
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As of: November 19th, 2008 10:19:55 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Loved her approach
I liked the style of this book. And you can relate to what she has gone thru as a dancer.
 A bit of a struggle
I really struggled with this book. It is not well written, with fairly average (OK, bad) grammar, a few instances of incorrect word usage and lots of typos. With the amount of editorial influence in this book, with multiple extracted quotations in the margins of each page, I would have thought they would bother to proofread and copy-edit the material of the book, as well.
It is clear that the author is very passionate about bellydance, which I salute despite disagreeing with many of her viewpoints on various matters. I felt that in a number of instances, she tried using words outside her regular vocab to portray her feelings, or other aspects of bellydance, which gave the prose somewhat of a overbearing, superior tone. I would have liked to see her describe these things in her own words rather than pulling the thesaurus out at every turn.
 Full of passion for the dance
Maria strives to uplift bellydance into an art form with deep roots in history that should be respected, and I think she achieves that. This book is all about the feminine experience and how bellydance can allow you to explore your body's potential and your soul's desire.
At times Maria is very wordy and a tiny bit repetitive, but her message is so earnest that I didn't mind too much. I would have liked to see more concrete examples during the discussion of the symbols (more references to specific moves and what they mean, along with the symbolism).
Overall the book is uplifting and inspires you to dance passionately.
COUREGEOUS
My favorite part of this wonderful book was the autobiographical section called 'My Secret Dance'. There, Maria tells her own story. We get a glimpse into the life of a very interesting and courageous woman, and a taste of the kind of dedication it takes to follow one's art.
Shiny and Worth It Too
This book loses 5 stars for bad publishing and formatting, and for its sheer verbocity, but gains it all back for vivacious content. Not a primary reference book for dance, but a nice addition to anyone's dance library solely based on the author's intent and the scant few exercises the author prescribes.
Look, I instantly shy away from books that have flotsam photos and illustrations as well as over-fonted re-quotes in the margins as they smack too much of a publisher's interference and attempts to market to those folks who appreciate shiny objects (like me). It also is sad to see autobiographical information taking up more than a few pages in any book that wasn't meant to be an autobiography. I was disappointed to find this book had all of these symptoms of kitsche writing styles and cheap marketing. I blame the publisher, solely and completely. If I could roll this book up like a newspaper and swat the publisher, exclaiming "BAD, BAD PUBLISHER" I would (but security won't let me in the front door anymore).
I was pleasantly surprized to see that Ms. Strova actually listed her research references at the end of each chapter as well as in a full blown bibliography section at the end of the book. Now that is truly impressive and it made me want to actually READ the book instead of just look at the pretty fonts and pictures.
The content was not ordinary at all, and this is its most saving grace. Despite the spotty-but-good attempt to justify her "her"storical assertions, Ms. Strova really, really tries hard to put across the idea that dance is sacred (no longer a marketing ploy to neo-pagans, but a true attempt to reawaken artistic self-expression). In my opinion, she succeeds. Here, this book earns all its stars back.
I found myself "getting it" - now inspired to experiment a bit more beyond the mechanics of belly dance and the choreography of others, this book helps one to actually listen to the rhythm of Life. It inspires dancers and non-dancers alike to be better at recognizing their own, internal rhythms, without being too blunt (I did mention verbocity, but how can one put in words that which is without description otherwise, short of physically being in the room with you and demonstrating it?). Yes, Ms. Strova, I get it. You get waaaay more than 5 stars.
If just for that inspiration, this book is worth every penny.
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