Datura Online Review: Is it worth the price tag?
I have been using Datura Online since October 26, 2023. I decided this would be a great time to write a review of it for anyone looking to use the platform to achieve their dance aspirations for the new year.
Please know, that these opinions are completely my own, and I paid for my annual Datura Online membership with my OWN money.
If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I’m real af and cannot hide my true feelings on anything. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Now with that stated, let’s get into the nitty gritty of the platform and if I believe it is worth the $260 annual price tag.
What is Datura Online?
For those of you who do not know of Datura Online, it is a platform created by Rachel Brice, a highly renowned American “Belly Dancer.”
I use the term “Belly Dancer” to indicate someone who practices the art of Oriental Dance in its various styles and fusions.
The platform caters to those of us who are wanting to practice, perfect, and procure the art of belly dance.
Content:
The content of Datura Online ranges widely! There is everything from tutorials to documentaries on the site. Even live classes and discussions are available.
There are talks by Donna Mejia, pilates classes by Ashley Lopez, zills and musicality lessons. I will say that you can find a whole lot of stuff on here that suits your personal movement practice needs.
When I signed up for DO, I was expecting mainly tutorials. What I encountered was completely different! Signing up for Datura Online was a little like signing up for dance school, in a great way.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an essay contest on the various styles of Belly Dance or something (getting excited thinking about it 😅).
The content is expansive. With that said, I will say that this expansiveness can come with a bit of overwhelm. You may feel like “Omg! Where do I even begin?”
I imagine the Datura Team understood this might happen, because they put a lot of guides, drill sets, and playlists in place for specific needs. There are sections in place depending on what you wish to work on and practice.
Teachers:
The amount of teachers with content on DO is insane. It reinforces my idea that this is a Belly Dance School rather than a simple belly dance tutorial platform.
The teachers have a wide range of abilities, focuses, and skills that they share. Also, even though it’s “Datura Online” created in the namesake of “Datura Style,” please don’t think that this is the only style taught on the platform.
Almost every style that is well-known in the Belly Dance world is featured, with each teacher bringing their own flavors and pizzazz to the mix.
Teachers such as Sadie Marquardt and Ebony Qualls with her Urban Fusion style are featured on the platform. This gives the platform a robust energy that ignites anyone’s desire to get up and dance.
There are also live classes with some of the teachers like Rachel Brice herself, Bevin Victoria, and so many more.
Usability:
Here are some features on the platform that I find useful.
Calendar: track tutorials, workouts, and drills, and schedule them to keep yourself accountable. It can sync to your google or apple calendar as well.
Community: There’s a community tab where you can ask questions, talk to people, post your own ideas and have discussions (I’m nerding out right now 🤓!).
Challenges: In 2024, DO is having challenges to hold its members accountable in order to get the most out of the platform. They have the videos selected for you and everything. I’m not sure if this was a thing previously, but I think it’s cool they are doing it this year.
Pricing:
Let’s address the elephant in the room. $260 a year is a lot of money. I cannot lie to you. I was shocked when I saw this.
As a single person paying her own bills on a single income in the inflation infested world we live in, I really had to think long and hard before I hit the subscribe button.
I will say that after I saw the tutorials, live sessions, documentaries, and everything involved in the platform, the price tag started to make sense.
Each of these teachers are getting paid for the content on this platform, as they should.
That’s a lot of employees to be paid.
Not only that, but also I imagine the upkeep of the content, site and app is probably a hefty bill in and of itself.
With that said I understand how it can cost that much for an annual membership.
There is a monthly pricing option as well. I think this is great for anyone who is on a budget or who doesn’t want to commit to the full year.
I can honestly say that the Datura Team is not ripping people off. Trust me, I’m a skeptic about how and where I spend my money.
There really is a tremendous amount of content on the platform. If you are someone that is all the way obsessed with Belly Dance, including history, costuming, and stylistic variances, then this platform may be the one for you.
I say this because on other Belly Dance platforms, there are hefty price tags and you do not get nearly as much in depth content as with Datura Online.
I believe that the Datura Online membership is worth it, if you have the extra money to spare. So, save up your money for the yearly membership or pay for a month here and there if it’s something you really want.
Overall thoughts:
To put it simply, Datura Online, completely replaced YouTube for me, and then some, in regards to anything and everything Belly Dance.
I do think you can find a lot of tutorials for belly dance online. However, DO introduced me to a lot of stuff that I didn’t know was out there. Also, it created a place focused on overall fitness and dance that I haven’t found anywhere else.
I highly appreciate the dance school model of the platform. It definitely gives me the feeling that I am diving deep into dance as an intellectual art form, rather than simply the fitness aspect of it. Here at Intellectual Pursuits, we love that sort of stuff!
All in all, if you are obsessed with the dance style and you want to get in depth with the art form then I say go ahead and subscribe, Sis!
