Middle Eastern Dance
Video Sourcebook 2001

A Guide to Performance & Instructional Videos

What It's About

If you're trying to find an instructional video that teaches a particular specialty of Middle Eastern dance, this book may offer exactly the kind of help you need. This book provides a comprehensive list of many Middle Eastern dance videos, both instructional and performance. In most cases, it identifies the instructor/performers, video length, video cost, and whom to contact if you want to buy one. Donna Barbrick Carlton's focus has been on NTSC videos (the VHS format that is standardized for the U.S.), but the book does identify that some of the videos it lists are also available in PAL and other formats. Although it focuses mostly on videos produced by U.S. dancers, it does include some produced outside the U.S., such as a group of Canadian videos taught in French. All information is purely objective in nature -- this book doesn't provide any kind of review or opinion, so it doesn't offer much direction in choosing from among the available videos. This is a rather slim little book. Out of 50 pages (which include the front and back covers), about 30 consist solely of display ads. Most of these were advertisements for videos, often providing additional detail beyond the information found in the official listing. A few ads promoted other things such as costumes, finger cymbals, etc. I liked the ads. Since most of them promoted videos listed in the sourcebook, I found the additional information they contained about the videos to be helpful. This review is based on the 2001 and 2002 editions of this book. I have not seen editions from other years, and it's entirely possible my comments might not apply to those other editions. The sourcebook is updated every year in April.

Its Good Points

This book is reasonably comprehensive. Although I can think of some videos that it doesn't list, it does cover almost all the ones that I know about that are still in print. This book is an excellent resource if you're hunting for a video on a particular topic. For example, if you want an instructional video that teaches sword balancing, the 2001 version of this book will identify six different ones. Or, if you'd like ideas on how to use a fan as a prop, the 2001 edition lists four videos that cover it. (I haven't counted the exact number of videos for each of these specialties in the 2002 version, but it's reasonable to expect the numbers are similar since listings typically carry forward from one year to the next unless the videos have gone out of print, while new ones could be added.) There's a useful index in the back. It lists every page a video seller is listed on, including their display ads. If you find a video in the listing that you want to know more about, this helps you find the display ad which often has many more details about the video itself. I found some older videos that have been in my collection for many years in the listings. It was nice to see that the sourcebook offers current ordering information and contacts, because it means I can recommend them to people I know with the expectation that they're still available.

On The Negative Side...

The book claims to arrange videos by title, but this is inconsistent. For example, the video titled "Dancing with a Prop" appears under "A" for "Aneena" (the instructor) rather than "D" for "Dancing". So you have to use some imagination if you're trying to find a specific video. Fortunately, the index helps address this problem for people who are trying to find videos featuring a specific publisher. I wished many times that the pages with display ads would have page numbers. After finding an entry in the index that I wanted to look at, it was difficult to find the actual page because most pages didn't have page numbers. Surprisingly, the editions I reviewed don't mention what a display ad or an enhanced listing costs. There is some cost information on the International Dance Discovery web site, but I would have expected the book to come out and say that readers who want to advertise should see the web site for rate information. If you're looking for a video featuring a particular specialty, such as cane, it can be time-consuming to dig through all the listings. It might be nice to have an index that covers specialties as well as publisher names. Still, if you want to learn the specialty badly enough, this sourcebook is still the best way I know of to find out about the choices available to you. The 2001 edition doesn't say how to get a listing for your own video added to the sourcebook, but this was remedied on the Table of Contents page in the 2002 edition.

In Conclusion

This book is a very valuable reference if you're shopping for instructional and performance videos on Middle Eastern dance but you don't have particular artists/instructors in mind. It's great if you're looking for a video on a particular topic and you have no idea whether a video even exists on that topic. You can order a copy of this book from Amazon.com, or for more information: International Dance Discovery P.O. Box 893 Bloomington, IN 47402-0893 U.S.A. Phone: (+1) (812) 330-1831 E-Mail: IDD@compuserve.com Web Site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/IDD/