A classic bellydance show in the American Cabaret tradition consists of 6 parts: entrance, veil dance, party dance, ciftetelli with or without floorwork, drum solo, and finale. While a typical show lasts about 20 minutes, Tanna offers a 6-minute mini-show for practice and performance on special occasions.

The music of Bellydance Show Basics is by New York s favorite Middle Eastern band leader and master Arabic percussion instructor Amir Naoum Chehade. It can be downloaded from iTunes or purchased on Amir s CD Bellydance New York. Together with the 6-minute mini-show, Amir s CD contains the full-length versions of each song used in the show, as well as other bellydance favorites you can use to improve your skills - or expand the mini-show into a full-length professional performance.

In a Concept section for each of the 6 parts of the classic show, Tanna Valentine explains the mood, the expectations of the audience, the image the dancer may seek to create, the ways she can project her energy, and interact with and manage her audience. Tanna teaches how to differentiate each part of the show through expression and dance vocabulary, and delves into the logistics of each segment, giving you the blueprint for a flawless and confident performance.

In the Step-by-step section for each segment of the classic show, Tanna breaks down a number of the steps appropriate for that rhythm and mood. These steps are rehearsed in the Practice sessions. Practice sessions can also be played as one non-stop segment with music and vocal cues or with the music only. The six Choreography sections offer a simple and elegant sequence for each of the six portions of the show. If you would like to practice your performance skills by following Tanna, you can play the choreography sections as one full 6-minute show with music and vocal cues or with music only.

Tanna also offers a rich array of resources to help you create and perform your own show.

Special sections of the program are dedicated to learning the basics of floorwork, and to playing finger cymbals. Staging your show is all about the logistics of performing a bellydance show in a public venue, such as a resturant or lounge, as compared to a performance in your living room.

In the Costuming section Tanna discusses traditional bellydance costuming, explaining the explaining the diversity of possible styles and how to obtain them (accompanied by costume demonstrations), and experiments with creating impromptu bellydance costumes from everyday items found in her closet.

In the Makeup section Tanna is joined by her makeup model, New York bellydancer Mary. Tanna demonstrates dance makeup application from foundation to the decorative elements such as rhinestones applied to the corners of the eyes. The demonstration offers meticulous step-by-step makeup instruction.

In the Performance variations section Tanna improvises to the music of the bellydance mini-show, demonstrating alternative steps, patterns and modes of expression.

Director:  Tanna Valentine
DVD:  Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Company: StratoStream - World Dance New York  (2008-04-22)
List Price: $14.98
Amazon Price: $7.75
Used Price: $8.63

New York nightlife…the elegant Café Carlyle…Paris, London…Cole Porter, Gershwin, Sondheim… This is the world of Bobby Short, the reigning monarch of the nightclubs of Café Society. Born the ninth of ten children in the small town of Danville, Illinois, this renowned singer/ pianist with his legendary repertoire from the greats of Tin Pan Alley is now celebrating his 20th year of packed performances at the Café Carlyle in New York.

"A marvelous compound of elegance, vitality, nostalgia and sophistication," Short is "a poignant reflection of a colorful, all-but-vanished generation of international Café Society" said R.E. Kimball of the Yale American Musical Theatre Collection

So join Bobby at the Café Carlyle for this thrilling set, delivered with his usual verve and charm. He also invites us into his home, for an exlusive and intimate look at the man behind the music. No Cover. No Minimum. Just You, Bobby Short and the intimacy of New York cabaret. The music is forever. SELECTIONS:
1) Four Walls and One Dirty Window Blues
2) (I Love You) Samantha
3) Honeysuckle Blues
4) When My Sugar Walks Down the Street
5) You're the Cutest One
6) Too Marvelous for Words
7) Bojangles of Harlem
8) Streamlined Lulubelle From Tennessee
9) Posin'
10) Everybody's Truckin'
11) Breakfast In Harlem
12) Old Man Harlem
13) Truckin', Thanks To Harlem Now
14) Why Shouldn't I?
15) The Best Is Yet To Come
16) New York Is My Personal Property
17) How's Your Romance
18) I'm Satisfied
19) Do As The Romans Do
20) On The Amazon
21) Dancing At That Moving Picture Ball
22) Sat It Isn't So
23) Losing My Mind
24) Pilote-moi (Pilot Me)
25) Cuba

DVD Bonus Features
- Trivia & Fun Facts Subtitles
- Bobby Short Biography
- Instant Access to Over 35 Selections
- Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
- Multi-Directional Interactive Menus

DVD:  Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Live, NTSC
Company: View Video  (2004-04-20)
ISBN: 0803023073
List Price: $17.98
Amazon Price: $8.75
Used Price: $8.74

Audio CD:  1 pages Audiobook
Company: HighBridge Company  (2008-03-04)
ISBN: 1598875884
List Price: $24.95
Amazon Price: $15.04
Used Price: $16.11

Burlesque and the Art of the Teese

"I advocate glamour. Every day. Every minute."

I'm a good dancer and a nice girl, but I'm a great showgirl. I sell, in a word, magic. Burlesque is a world of illusion and dreams and of course, the striptease. Whether I am bathing in my martini glass, riding my sparkling carousel horse, or emerging from my giant gold powder compact, I live out my most glamorous fantasies by bringing nostalgic imagery to life.

Let me show you my world of gorgeous pin-ups, tantalizing stripteases, and femmes fatales. I'll give you a glimpse into my life, but a lady never reveals all.

Fetish and the Art of the Teese

You may have come for the fetish. Or you may just be sneaking a peek at this mysterious and peculiar other side. No matter what you've come for, there is something for you to indulge in.

My world of fetish may not be the one that you would expect. As a burlesque performer, I entice my audience, bringing their minds closer and closer to sex and then -- as good temptress must -- snatching it away. As a fetish star, I apply the same techniques. . . .

An opera-length kid leather glove, a strict wasp waist, an impossibly high patent leather heel, a severely painted red lip. . . . Come with me into my world of decadent fetishism.

Author: Dita Von Teese
Hardcover:  272 pages
Company: HarperEntertainment  (2006-03-01) (2006-03-14)
ISBN: 0060591676
List Price: $39.95
Amazon Price: $22.38
Used Price: $21.00