| | |  | INDIA & SUBCONTINENT | Home » » Dances of India: Ancient to Modern with Meera | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | ANCIENT TO MODERN: Redefining movement, expression, and fitness through the timeless body language of her ancestry, Internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer, Meera Varma, translates her uniquely passionate vision into this fitness enriched instructional journey! Through the intimate exploration of artistic movement, Meera's in-depth instruction, introduces you to three of the most stylish and popular Indian dances today. Enjoy a complete Yoga warm up, the pageantry and color of "Bollywood Grooves", the explosive energy of "Bhangra Fitness", and the expressive power of "Bharatanatyam," all at your own pace! Also includes the world premier of an exclusive Performance Music Video "Insaniat" as the highlight Bonus Feature! Approx 89 Mins. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Meera Varma | | Format:
| Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, NTSC | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Akasha Productions | | Run Time:
| 89 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| October 03, 2006 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 5 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 Indian Dance with MeeraJul 02, 2010
This is a wonderful dance dvd for learning a little bit of everything India has to offer in the three main dance styles. Professionally done and filmed in a nice studio.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Don't waste your moneyMay 26, 2010
I've bought lots of DVDs through Amazon. This is the first time I've written a review. I felt compelled so no one would waste there money expecting to get a workout DVD.
I bought this DVD based on reviews from others. I expected to get a workout DVD. I would have given it 1 star, but the DVD was well put together it's just not a workout DVD.
If you want to learn a very small amount of classical moves, but you aren't interested in a great work out spend the $. I viewed this DVD but haven't done it.
The dance steps are taught as follows:
1) slow motion; 2) full speed; 3) in combination 1; 4) in combination 2; 5) combination 1 & 2.
Most of the DVD is instructional. Only a small part is done with the full combination for maybe 5 to 10 minutes. If you have a remote that jumps between scenes I guess you could put all the combinations 1 & 2 together to create a workout that's about 30 minutes. Why bother.
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Interesting and fun...Dec 21, 2007
If you're looking at Meera's DVDs for the first time, I would try this one. There are four DVDs available on Amazon. The chapters on this one seem to be shorter segments of the other 3 DVDS according to the description. I'm not sure if they are abridged or edited versions, but that is what it appears like to me.
As I had never heard of Meera, I was cautious about purchasing her DVD. Living in the USA, I haven't had much exposure to Bollywood and Indian pop music either.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a high-energy and fun dance routine. I must agree the set looks like MTV goes to India, but at least it's not boring.
She clearly describes what she is doing and you can see her clearly. There is a "distance" to the filming which makes it appear farther away than it should and it doesn't look as professional as it should for the price ($24.95 at Amazon). At least I didn't notice any weird close ups or angles. The music was tolerable and didn't annoy me.
Individuals who like smooth and fluid exercise should enjoy this DVD, like dance or yoga. Meera actually incorporates some yoga into this DVD as well.
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
If you love Bollywood or Fusion, you want this DVD!Oct 28, 2007
I am slightly biased in that I have met the wonderful Meera, taken dance workshop with her, and I knew right away that she was kind, professional, and knows what she is talking about. However, this DVD makes her shine even more in my eyes....it's awesome!
It has easy to follow instructions and short history about the various styles of dance she presents. Even beginners will be up and moving right away. An added bonus is the final presentation of each choreography you learn has Meera in full costume. As someone who loves the presentation of costume as well as dance, I enjoyed getting an idea of what is appropriate to wear when dancing these styles.
I also greatly appreciated that she is able to maintain appropriate respect. She makes it clear what you are learning is from a sacred devotion, and that she will present only a small portion of it for that reason. You can tell she loves and respects Indian dance, and isn't just trying to make a buck with this DVD. There is also a visual library of the mudras towards the end, which I found very helpful.
All in all, a great DVD and well worth it's price. Highly recommended!
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Great for those interested in learning bollywood dancingJan 15, 2007
This is a great intro to Bollywood dancing. The best part is that you see all the different angles and close ups of what you really need to see what she is talking about. Even the quick lesson on different hand postions for dance. Even though the steps seem simple, it gets you moving in different ways you wouldn't think of being in for bellydancing. I didn't like the performance part of the DVD though. It seems more for the MTV set than for someone to enjoy the performance. I would have really loved to see how she did the six swords as a dance instead of a pose. Worth the money and the time.
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