Online training is it for you?  We are in the 3rd part of this discussion and I hope by the time I am finished I have given you enough information so you can decide for yourself if online training is a good fit for you.  This week we will be talking about Datura Online.  Datura is the brain child of the one and only Rachel Brice.  The link to the website is here:  http://daturaonline.com/.  I am currently a member of her online training for at least a few months now.  Datura has not been up and running very long but they already have over 100 videos to choose from.  Datura features just a few of the best dancers some of which reside in Portland.  Datura offers a variety of styles from Cabaret, Egyptian, Tribal Fusion, ATS.  The website also offers things such as yoga, pilates and strength training!  It is literally a one stop for most of your needs.

Datura offers online classes with not only Rachel Brice, herself but other instructors as follows:

• Rachel Brice the owner of Datura is a Tribal Fusion Dancer and I have always been captivated by the way she moves!  I love her classes she focuses on strong hip work, yoga and all of the other elements that goes into tribal fusion.
• Sedona Soulfire is one of my favorites and she is an American Cabaret Dancer I love her simplicity, style and how she explains things.
• Amy Sigil is another teacher and she has her own style her focus is on Improvisational Tribal Style she is a her classes are very challenging and in her classes you will get an introduction and breakdown of her style that she has been very hard at creating.
• Zoe Jakes is a tribal fusion dancer and I have dabbled in a few of her classes; she focuses on strong technique and is a motivator.
• Collette Todorov is an ATS dancer American Tribal Style I have taken quite a few classes and she breaks everything down easily and tells you how to work as a group and what the standard signals are with ATS.  She gives you a good understanding of ATS style.
• Henna is one of the newest ones featured on Datura and she is an American Cabaret Dancer, but also teaches Egyptian.  I have taken a few of her videos and I have come away with something new each and every time.

Datura online offers an unlimited subscription to watch all videos as much as you want for a monthly payment of 35.00 a month and can be cancelled at anytime if you choose to do so.  Datura also offers being able to rent videos on an individual basis for 1.99 which is how I started out before I realized I was spending more then the monthly fee so it was to my benefit to sign up for that.

Datura does not offer a free trial but on each video you do get to preview any where from a minute to 2 minutes.  There individual pricing is so low that just buying one or two would give you an idea if it would be a good fit for you without putting to much money up front.  With each video they tell you what music is being used and if you want to purchase the music you can also download it.

The website is very easy to get around and they have at least one/two new videos uploaded quite often and the library already has about 100 videos to choose from.

What I like about Datura online is that they offer different styles from different teachers so you get a really good perspective  of all styles, it is like having my own workshop right in my home.  This being said though, online teaching is a great tool to use, but cannot replace what you can get from a live teacher.  There is something to be said about going to a belly dance class with other students and having a teacher in front of you telling you what you are doing wrong and helping in correcting your technique or movement. This is one thing that online training cannot do for you so if you are a brand new student with not experience at all with belly dance then how do you know you are doing it right?  Well, you don’t know, you can only guess.   Online for me is just another tool for me, but does not replace learning from what I call live teachers.

I also wanted to tell you that none of these teachers have asked me to write about there online training.  As a teacher myself, I feel it is my job to let you know what is out there and try and give you as much information so you can get the best for your money.

This ends the third part of online training.  Next time I will focus on Belly Dance Village and Leyla Najma.  I have known Leyla for about 6 years now and she was one of the first to do online training.  That is all for now and stay tuned as we talk about Belly Dance Village and Leyla Najma!!