Although I admitted to not be a fan of DVDs for practice earlier, I am slowly changing my mind. After taking the veil class with Sonya, I found myself looking at Sonya’s notes and thinking “What on earth is that?” The veil move names aren’t always descriptive, I didn’t take notes (which I should have), and Sonya and I think and describe differently.
Enter Veil with Aziza. I chose this DVD, because I know that not only is Aziza amazing with veil but also Sonya favors Aziza’s stylying and uses her terminology.
This DVD is very easy to follow. Aziza is very thorough in covering veil, discussing materials and of course, moves. She has a tranquil way of talking and instructing; I found that different from the workshop I had taken. She had more energy. Perhaps she choose to be calmer because of the veil work? Her demeanor was pleasant, but it was different from what I had experienced.
Aziza demonstrated everything slowly, so if you have little familiarity with veil, you can definitely follow. She does speed it up a little, which is nice if you have done some veil work before. Another strong feature of this DVD is that she does veil combos. Dance to me always looks best when there is a flowing stream of moves. With veil, it’s imperative to have one move flow into another. By showing combos, Aziza demonstrates how to use good transition and have beautiful veil work. She also emphasizes that you dance with the veil; you just don’t stand there swishing it about. If you’ve ever seen Aziza, you’ll see that the veil is very much, as she puts it, an extension of her body.
Beyond what she does, the production quality is excellent. Everything is clear and shot so you can see what she’s doing.
I recommend Veil with Aziza if you are interested in veil. Even though I’ve done veil a few times, having a video reference is always good. Below is a little segment of her DVD.
