43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Latin dance instruction and workout, July 28, 2005
This review is from: Dance Fitness for Beginners with Joby 'Brava': Havana Heat Workout/Latin Dance Instruction (DVD)
In the instructional portion of this video, instructor Joby 'Brava' teaches four categories of Latin dance: bachata, salsa, merengue, and cha-cha-cha. She spends about 10 minutes on each segment, and they all follow the same pattern. First, you briefly watch Joby and a partner perform the dance while her voiceover describes the origins of that dance. Next, Joby alone teaches the variety of different moves that make up that dance. She starts by demonstrating the move with music, and then without the music, she breaks the move down, teaching it very slowly from both the front and the back. Finally, the music returns, at she encourages you to practice the moves several times with her at tempo. Although Joby's instructions were clear and precise, there were several things I didn't like. First of all, viewing the move from the back seemed unnecessary, as this made the video move along extremely slowly and caused left-right confusion. Secondly, Joby explains how each move is counted, so you need to remember this and be able to follow along--no easy task for those new to dance! I was also surprised by the complexity of some of the moves which Joby selected for this video; the salsa section in particular includes quite complicated foot movements that I found very difficult to replicate. The entire instructional portion is about 45 minutes long.
The second part of this DVD is the Havana Heat workout. Like the instruction, the workout is broken down into separate chapters for the bachata, salsa, merengue, and cha-cha-cha, plus there is also a warm-up and cool-down. The 5-minute warm-up is a combination of moving and static stretches, and then Joby begins the workout with the bachata. Surprisingly, I found this 5-minute segment to be quite boring: the music was very low-key, and the routine seemed to be very low-energy. The Salsa segment (6 minutes) was a bit more upbeat, yet the footwork was quite complicated and the moves repetitive. The merengue section was probably the most enjoyable, as the moves were easier to follow yet still fun; this segment lasted 6 minutes. But then Joby finishes with a short (4 minutes) cha-cha-cha, which I also found to be too complex for my liking. A very brief (1.5 minutes) stretch brings the workout in at just over 20 minutes.
The DVD includes several bonus features: a couples and group performances (Joby is obviously an excellent dancer), a workout without narration option, trailers of three other Natural Journeys videos, and a photo gallery of Joby (I can't understand why Natural Journeys always includes these). Overall, I was disappointed with this video, especially given that I had difficulties following the workout and did not find it to be at all fun. I think that this DVD might be more suited to someone who is looking to learn Latin dance moves for use on the dance floor rather than someone who is looking to use dance for fitness.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
interesting dvd for beginners, February 4, 2005
This review is from: Dance Fitness for Beginners with Joby 'Brava': Havana Heat Workout/Latin Dance Instruction (DVD)
Joby is a well known LA style Salsa teacher and has had our respect for several years but in this dvd she lets herself down.
The instructional video section is suitable for absolute beginners. The Bachata instruction is the highlight of this section. The other instrucional sections were okay, nothing really different from other dvd's.
The workout section is badly thought out. Jody has chosen some terrible steps & patterns to perform in this section of this dvd.
The workout is not fun.
The dvd is a very good length & is good value for money however
unless you are looking for a good intro to Bachata I would look to buy other dvd's on the dance styles covered.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Havana Heat Workout not for beginners, July 23, 2005
This review is from: Dance Fitness for Beginners with Joby 'Brava': Havana Heat Workout/Latin Dance Instruction (DVD)
I was very disappointed with this video! I dance various styles of latin dance and was looking for another good workout video with latin moves. However, after trying the video three times, I just gave up. Joby may be a good dancer but this video is not for beginners at all. Could be a combination of video editing and teaching that needs improvement, but it's definitely not one of the best out there. Joby does a variety of steps during the workout and instead of showing a closeup of her feet doing the steps, her upper body is in view. At other times she would switch steps without giving an advance warning and I got lost so many times it wasn't fun anymore. I'll stick to my other latin workout videos ....
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