Moun of Tunis presents Princess Farhana (Pleasant Gehman) Bellydance DVDs

"Princess Farhana displays remarkable ability to instill the essence of belly dance basics. More than that, she projects the insouciance and playfulness inherent in Middle Eastern Dance. Why is Belly Dance everywhere on the planet? Princess Farhana is a poster girl for the joy and self-awareness that this art can bring to you." - Marta Schill, co-author of The Compleat Belly Dancer and President of M.E.C.D.A.

 "Belly Dance Basics" is one of the best teaching videos I have seen. The
background is simple so there is nothing to distract from following the movements, and the speed at which whey are explained is good. Plus, unlike most American dancers who move as if they are doing an exercise routine, the movements are soft and fluid as the dance should be. It is just brilliant" - Roya Riazi, UK

Princess Farhana provides an introduction to Egyptian style raks sharqi, teaching basic techniques and sharing her knowledge of dance history. From warmup and correct postures to hip accents, undulations, shimmies, traveling steps, combinations and graceful arms, every moment is clearly broken down and easy to understand.

Her performance in the exotic North African atmosphere of Moun of Tunis will allow you to experience the beauty of Oriental Dance and allow you to see how these steps can be put together for your own use.

Princess Farhana's "Raks and Rolls, Tantalizing Taqsim Technique" - Running Time: 66 minutes. Order Princess Farhana's DVDs

Learn how to make your oriental dancing look "boneless" as well as effortless! Princess Farhana focuses on honing your skills with combinations of slow movements and luscious layers that are perfectly suited for languid taqsim and chiftetelli pieces. Beginning and ending with costumed performances, Farhana teaches strong foundation techniques for beautiful abdominal work - undulations, rolls and flutters, as well as hand and arm positions and interesting, unusual variations on camels and figure eights. In addition, Farhana demonstrates how these moves can be used in a more syncopated fashion, with an exciting spontanous performance featuring Arabic percussion duo Youm It Talaata.

Princess Farhana's Belly Dance & Balance:
The Art of Sword and Shamadan, 46 min DVD
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"No other video teaches these special aspects of balancing and also gives you the "nuts and bolts" of preparation and care for your balance accessories. Additionally, Farhana reveals secrets about the hottest moves for enhancing your bellydance performance. This video is a MUST for any dance video library." - Marta Schill, co-author of The Compleat Belly Dancer and President of M.E.C.D.A.

Farhana is known for her grace, fluidity, and precision, dancing while balancing swords and the traditional Egyptian shamadan, or candelabrum. On this exciting video, Farhana gives dazzling performances and shares her expertise and knowledge providing a strong technical foundation for balancing skills and floor work.

Her comprehensive teaching style includes a full warm-up; hints for selecting and caring for props; historical aspects, safety and troubleshooting, as well as a complete choreography geared towards intermediate/advanced level Oriental dancers who want to add an unforgettable specialty to their performance.

"I would highly recommend "Belly Dance And Balance: The Art Of Sword And Shamadan" because it is the clearest and most comprehensive teaching video on sword and shamadan I have ever viewed. " -- Patsy Okada, The Cymbal

"Princes Farhana is able to de-mystify the art of balancing props. She achieves this with careful instruction and troubleshooting techniques. If you are ready to try working with swords or a shamadan, or just need to polish some skills, "Belly Dance And Balance" is a must-have video." -- Stephanie Viens, Discoverbellydance.com

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Gilded Serpent presents... a Review of Princess Farhana's Bellydance & Balance: The Art of Sword and Shamadan by Eugenia Chao.

People who already know Princess Farhana's impressive accomplishments and glamorous credentials might be a bit taken aback upon putting "Bellydance & Balance" into their VCR and pressing "play".  While Farhana is a brilliant performer, the video looks a bit like it was filmed with a handheld camera, and the sound quality is nowhere near professional.  These realistic qualities, however, might make viewers feel like they're sitting in Farhana's living room with her, or taking a private lesson in her studio.  Even the tape itself has the humble appearance of a homemade, self-labeled tape.

This may not be the most professional-looking bellydance video you ever bought, but it definitely serves its instructional purpose -- perhaps more so than many high-budget productions. 

A full 48 minute video includes a brief history of the dance, warm up, stationary and traveling movements with sword balancing, and a shamadan or candelabrum routine.

The brief history segment of the tape shows beautiful paintings and photographs of historical and fictional dancers balancing objects such as jars or swords on their heads as they perform.  Farhana herself narrates during this informative part of the video.  This section would make a great introduction for bellydance students and any audience unfamiliar with the dance form.

"Bellydance & Balance" is for beginning balancers, not beginning bellydancers.

Farhana goes through different movements combined with sword balancing fairly quickly.  Only balancing techniques are addressed and none of the movements are explained, so the viewer must already know basic hip moves, undulations, drop kicks, belly flutters and rolls as well as some floor moves.  One might find it difficult to follow Farhana through all the movements while successfully keeping the balance object (book or sword) at the center of one's head (my book was slipping all over the place); this video has challenging technique combinations that one can practice again and again to improve gradually each time.  In other words, you get many classes out of one video tape.

In the warm-up segment, Farhana teaches the viewer some excellent ballet-inspired plies and releves that strengthen calf muscles.  (She can do a full split -- definitely the most flexible teacher I've ever seen.)  She also makes sure that the neck and shoulder areas are fully warmed up for balancing later. Farhana teaches the whole routine twice, once with demonstration and her counting the beat only (no captions or explanations), the second time with captions that break down the choreography. 

This highly versatile routine can be adapted to different kinds of slow music with either sword or candelabra.

Farhana fidgets a little while she talks, and looks slightly bored, but the advice she gives is valuable.  Here are some of her gentle warnings to the aspiring balancer-bellydancer:

1. Do not leave your candelabra alone in a car. (Farhana's shares her personal negative experience with this.)

2. Clean the wax residue off the cups that hold the candles.

3. Battery-operated candles are extremely heavy, even if you don't think so at first.

4. Be sure to know the locations of curtains, draperies, and air conditioning vents in the venue where you will be dancing. This prevents starting a fire or wax being blown all over your body.

Farhana also gives the viewers helpful tips about purchasing and caring for swords and candelabras.

The tape ends with Farhana doing a beautiful, fluid candelabra routine.  She is simply fantastic. 

If you are willing to look past the home video quality and quaint cheesiness of this tape, do check out Princess Farhana's "Bellydance and Balance"!

Princess Farhana: RAKS AL SAYF: ADVANCED SWORD TECHNIQUE AND CHOREOGRAPHY - 78 minues running time.
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Princess Farhana is known for her grace, fluidity and precision while dancing with balanced props. On this exciting follow up to her "Belly Dance and Balance, The Art of Sword and Shamadan," Farhana will help you take your sword work to a higher level. Her comprehensive teaching style and easy-to-follow directions will illuminate the intricacies of combining balancing with advanced movements. Featured here is technique such as undulations, layered shimmies, arabesque and floor work, including splits, all done while balancing swords. Also included: a full warm-up, advanced choreography with a step-by-step breakdown, costuming and performance safety tips, concluding with a demonstration of the choreography in a costumed performance by Farhana.

"Princess Farhana's explanations are clear, easy-to-follow and fun. Her videos have lots of information and they open and close with costumed performances ... her amazing personality and joy in dancing are clearly evident in the performances. Her first two videos were something I thoroughly enjoyed, so when I picked up "Raks And Rolls" and "Raks Al Sayf," I knew I would love them as well!" -- M. Antoinette Garcia, Zaghareet Magazine

"Princess Farhana is intelligent, articulate and an excellent communicator. As a teacher, she has the unique ability to break down movement in a way the student will understand." - Zahra Zuhair, master teacher and performer.

"Princess Farhana's clear instruction, warmth and humor as well as her beautiful dancing, are encouraging and infectious. Highly recommended!" -- Andrea Ferrante, Habibi Magazine

Order Princess Farhana's DVDs

Private instruction also available, especially for sword or shamadan.
Contact Farhana: 323 460 4890 for more information or Email: for more information

Belly Dance Showcase at Moun of Tunis - 3rd Thursday of every month. The Moun of Tunis Dance Showcases have spaces for 5-6 dancers (of all levels) every month. Sign up to dance by calling Princess Farhana at (323) 460-4890. Reservations are more than strongly recommended. For reservations call Moun of Tunis at (323) 874-3333.