Hip Hop Hip Drop

The first ten minutes Rania teaches you the basic moves such as snake arms, chest lifts, hip circles, hip drops, etc. starting slowly and then more quickly. I found it really easy to follow along. All of the dancers seem to be enjoying themselves.

Next Rania starts with one section of the dance,and does it several times. She then keeps adding new sections and going back to the other ones to learn them together. Then all the sections are done together. I was able to keep up with most moves but on a few of the really quick moves I was a little behind. My heart rate did get up a little and I had a lot of fun doing the dance.

This video is good for beginner exercisers or those with no prior bellydancing experience. I'm neither one of those so I got bored while doing this workout.

Rania does the hip drop, hip drop w/ kicks, w/ different arm patterns and going forward/back and side to side. The hip drop is a moderately easy step to learn. THis is repeated over and over for 20 more minutes until it gets very easy, REPETITIVE AND BORING. I tried to put in a lot of effort but it hardly raised my HR. This tape was disappointing to me, but would be fine for a beginner bellydance enthusiast.

THe music was like instrumental funk with some drums, not real hip hop (I been listening to hip hop/rap since the 80's and this is not hip hop!) I see that she was trying to make bellydancing marketable but I'm sure other hip-hoppers would agree about the music.
I had fun for the first 15 minutes, after that I couldnt' wait for it to be over. I got bored!

Rania goes through isolations to warm up, with rib shifts, hip circles, chest lifts, snake arms, and hip drops. These moves are also
used in the choreography she teaches. She exercises with several young, attractive background dancers. The set is very simple and nonmemorable. The music is synthesized and does the job but does not match the impact of bellydancing to real dance music, whether Middle Eastern or Hip Hop.

The choreography is very simple and she breaks it down into parts and uses a lot of repetitions of the moves. She introduces each move at a slow pace, speeds it up, and speeds it up again. Some of the moves include: Step together step touch (horizontally) while doing a big hip circle (which gets smaller the faster you go), then three hip drops. Step hip forward with big arm movements. Walking backwards while doing chest lifts and drops. Hip scoop and hip lift a few times while wrapping arms around body. Hip drops with kicks.
She includes a stretch at the end, then dances in costume to a choreography unrelated to the workout.

This tape is marketed as a fat burning one and I must say that the speed and repetitions did get my heart rate up. I think the tape is best for beginner dancers, perhaps with some Middle Eastern dance background. Form pointers weren't prevalent, as the emphasis was on moving and burning calories. The tape is about 30 minutes long.

The next day I had a good physical feeling that I attribute to doing this workout. It's not too long and the movements are satisfying and fun. I recommend this tape to anyone but intermediate or advanced dancers (who probably dance like this on their own and would find the tape restricting and dull, eventually).