I didn’t do very good on my challenge this week. Due to a combination of laziness and laptop problems, I only used Datura Online 4 out of 7 days. Of those days, two days were yoga practices, one was jamming along with my favorite zill video, and one was ATS(R) Fast 1, which is a highlight from one of Colette Todorov’s American Tribal Style (R) lessons.
I’m working on my ATS basics for reasons which I will get into sometime in the future, so having these Datura Online videos available is very helpful, since my other options would be to buy the DVDs or drive about 3-4 hours round trip for classes in Phoenix. This video covers the Arabic, Shimmy, Egyptian and Choo-Choo, starting with the footwork and then adding the arm movements and discussing how the arms serve as the cue. After you learn and drill these four foundational moves, you get a brief explanation of zills, a quick talk-through of playing the triplet, and then you get to drill the moves again with zills. Colette Todorov teaches the class with two of her students (troupe members?) to help demonstrate, which gives the feeling of being in an intimate class.
I like the fact that this video comes pretty close to giving you an authentic ATS experience, as you get to follow the teacher as she cues between the different moves after you’ve drilled them individually. I also like that the zills are included in the video, as I was looking to practice my ATS -and- my zills, so I got to do both in one lesson. The other dancers in the video seem to know what they’re doing as well, so they don’t distract you from the teacher or throw off your attempts to follow along.
What I don’t like is that I don’t feel the moves were broken down very well. Egyptian arms especially can be tricky to get right without making them too crazy, so I felt like a little more time explaining the components of the moves would benefit a newbie. I mean, me personally, I’ve been dancing tribal style for years now, I know what I’m supposed to do and am using these videos to make sure I know the proper ATS versions of moves. They’re more of a refresher/stylistic guide for me. But if I was an inexperienced dancer curious about ATS, I might feel like I needed more instruction. I suspect this video serves better as a companion for the ATS dancer looking to practice between classes than as a lesson for a dancer without access to an ATS teacher.