Product Details

• Actors: Jessica Sherwood
• Directors: Michael Berry
• Format: Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Isis Videos
• VHS Release Date: April 15, 2000
• Run Time: 65 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005Y89L
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,133 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Tough muscle-toning combined with ballet-oriented cardio ... all done to a stirring orchestral soundtrack. From basic sit ups and push-ups to elegant chassés and arabesques, you're sure to develop a lean, strong dancer's body (as you experience the joy and energy of classical ballet). The ending aerobics is especially fun - a graceful, flowing medley of simple movement phrases. Jessica Sherwood, from New York's Crunch Gym, blends authentic dancers' training techniques with down-to-earth teaching ("this doesn't have to be perfect ..."). A very "artistic," stylish production and fabulous, motivating music by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Strauss and Bach. No equipment needed. ©2000. (65 min.). For a slightly more intense workout with different exercises, see BalletBootCamp II.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Taebo to Ballet......This video ROCKS, November 25, 2005

By 

flying_roundhouse (Saratoga, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ballet Boot Camp (DVD)

I have been doing Taebo on and off since 1999, so I am what you would consider "fit". However, I didn't like what Taebo was doing to my body - i.e. making me look like Billy Blanks....so I switched to ballet, hoping it would sculpt me to look like a woman. Well! Oddly enough, I had just bought about 4 belts when I started the ballet. Within 3 weeks, all of the belts were WAY too big, and I was suddenly able to get into pants that I haven't gotten into in years. Furthermore, my extremely stubborn little belly has virtually melted away, and my arms are getting very firm. Ballet rocks! And, of the 4 videos I bought (including both NYC Ballet videos), this one is my favorite. I like the music, which changes a lot depending on the exercise (some of it is cheery, up-tempo, and some is slower, quieter). The instruction is good, but I did ballet as a child, so a lot of it comes back to me. My mom, who has never done ballet, had a hard time following the instruction the first time. If you dance with someone else, have the person who knows what they're doing stand in front of the other person. It's easier to watch a live person do the exercises than try to follow the video, if you're an absolute beginner. All in all, a wonderful workout. Highly recommended.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I was not impressed., February 4, 2006

By 

E. Blaim (East Lansing, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ballet Boot Camp (DVD)

I did ballet for the last 4 years before coming to college. I missed ballet and was looking for something that would help me keep up with it- and give me a workout as ballet does, from the comfort of my own room. I feel like this was made for those without any or much ballet experience. But at the same time, the way it is shot/edited at times makes it hard to follow. When a step is being demonstrated suddenly it goes to a black and white zoom on the instructor's upper body, when what you need to see is her feet! Furthermore I'm disappointed with the non-ballet muscle toning parts. It's nothing special, crunches and push up, which when I'm buying an excersive video I don't want the abdominal excersizes to be all crunches- I could come up with that on my own.
It's not awful, ther are things I like, but overall it's not as good as I was expecting.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As close as being in a dance studio as it gets., December 4, 2010

By 

Nora Hernandez - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ballet Boot Camp (DVD)

This is the best ballet video class I've had,and I've owned just about all of them in a quest for a stay-at-home alternative to a $40 studio class.
It goes through routines the way you would in a classroom and Jessica goes through the technique like a real-live instructor does.
My beef with other videos is that they're structured more like a strength training work-out and fail to stress injury prevention which is boring, dangerous and doing ballet a disservice because it's such a fun and effective way of staying in shape.
I danced until I was 20, stopped for several years. This summer I got to a size 16 when I decided I wouldn't betray the sisterhood if I assessed a need to get in shape again. Since I dislike traditional exercise and I missed it I chose ballet for the job. I'm 4 sizes smaller after only 2.5 months. That means I went from an XL to a L-M before the season was over. I credit ballet boot camp with that. The awesome thing is that even when I skipped for a very busy week, the muscles kept getting leaner, a total incentive to get back on the wagon, plus it is really very fun.
I love this video so much I want to take it behind the bleachers and get it pregnant.