Customer Reviews

Dance Hot Salsa level 1 & 2 [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was my very first salsa video ever, and it is still the best.
I have other beginner videos and they don't come close for these reasons:
1. There is a sequential order to the steps unlike other videos that throw steps at you haphazardly, Josie presents the basics in timing lead and footwork and builds up from there.
2. Each steps builds on the last so you feel like you are progressing and understanding the fundamentals of the dance
3. It shows the entire dancers from head to toe all the time so you don't get lost in fancy filming tricks that just hinder the learning process
4. It comes with a card insert that lists all the steps and the dance combinations of each section.. so useful in the practice studio.
5. It has over 25 moves on it. Some of the other beginner videos have only 11 moves! This is well worth the money.

You think others would have seen and possibly improved on this video, but none have so far. This beginner video as well as its 2nd part Dance Hot Salsa Video 2, are still the best salsa instructional videos for beginner and intermediate students around.

Level=Beginners Intermediate + ( Not really for absolute beginners or those unsure of the basic Salsa steps) Dance Hot Salsa 1 video starts out with some nightclub & class clips. The instructions start off with sections on subjects like Salsa music & rhythm. These sections include general tips with written key points on the tape. The most important section for me was the Leading & Following Hold section. This is a must view for all females. Note the placement of Josie's hand on Pedro's shoulder. This is the correct position. Many Salsa teachers fail to show this important hand position which leads to mix ups when you are doing certain advanced turns. Included is a written card with the tips & the steps in the video. Josie counts the beats then dances the techniques with music. Josie then finishes the tape with a demonstration of techniques. There are 25 steps shown in this video. They are all shown first in a combination dance then each is shown separately. Video is 45 minutes long. Although this video teaches from the beginner level the steps are fast paced. I feel this video is better suited to those who understand the basic steps. This video is part of a series of videos by Josie on Salsa dancing sold here on Amazon.com most of which are very good.

As the Webmaster for the Internets largest Salsa video site I am happy that Josie's videos have finally gotten here. Of the current 160 Salsa teaching videos on the market Josie's are the best. This review is of Dance Hot Salsa 1 & 2 videos. Dance Hot Salsa 1 starts out with some nightclub & class clips. The instructions start off with sections on subjects like Salsa music & rhythm. These sections include general tips with written key points on the tape. The most important section for me was the Leading & Following Hold section. This is a must view for all females. Note the placement of Josie's hand on Pedro's shoulder. This is the correct position. Many Salsa teachers fail to show this important hand position which leads to mix ups when you are doing certain advanced turns. Included is a written card with the tips & the steps in the video. Josie counts the beats then dances the techniques with music. Josie then finishes the tape with a demonstration of techniques. Video 2 follows the same pattern as video 1 but with more advanced basic steps. This video is better suited for beginners-intermediate, i.e. those who understand the basic rhythm & step. There are 25 steps in video 1 & with video 2 you have 47 different steps. This is all you will need for nightclub dancing. Most of Josies videos are great. There are several others on Amazon.com.

I own approximately 40 dance videos, representing dozens of different dance teachers. I am also taking dance lessons, including salsa, at a commercial dance studio, in which I am exposed to a several different teachers. This video demonstrates a number of moves well and is well filmed, despite always showing the moves from the same perspective. Moves are adequately well explained, but it leaves out the most critical information for someone who is a beginning dancer -- Cuban motion, footwork, styling, connection. It does, mercifully, explain how the man should lead the woman to do the dance figure -- a topic which many dance videos neglect completely. If you don't know how to lead a dance figure, your partner will have no idea what you're doing. The instructor in this video makes the same mistake I've seen in some of the other poorer videos: it teaches a number of introductory level moves without teaching any of the basics about movement necessary to be able to dance without looking like you're merely marching through the steps. As such, it just isn't appropriate for a beginner, but contains moves that an intermediate student would probably already know.

There are so many salsa instruction videos and DVDs to choose from - I bought this video based on the rave reviews it got. What a disappointment. Content aside, the quality is poor, particularyly the audio as Josie decided to dub over her counting 1-2-3, 4-5-6 with 1-2-3, 5-6-7 according to the beat count rather than step count. She really shouldn't have. It's very annoying. As for the steps, many of them are identical steps but with arm variations. The music is the same throughout. There are more titles than dancing. Don't get me wrong, there are steps to be learned here but for a fairly experienced dancer (albeit in ballroom) like myself who is looking for a quick overview to get a feel for the style, it's awful.

I purchased this video after having taken two private Salsa lessons and was very pleased. I strongly recommend that beginners first develop the right rhythm with the use of a private instructor or, if you're lucky, a friend that dances to Salsa well. If you're unable to follow the beat of the music you will never look good on the dance floor! Dance Hot Salsa teaches a lot of steps and I found them easy to follow. For beginners it takes a while to learn them, but once you've mastered the basics it really does get much easier. This is definitely the best video I've seen and I strongly recommend it. It's enough to get you out on the dance floor!! Josie is very articulate and she builds new moves based on what you've already learned. Just stick with it and practice, practice, practice! I'm very pleased that she made this video, it beats the heck out of those cheezy Latin videos with instructors dressed in 1970's garbs or tuxedos. LOL! Thanks Josie!

Josie is very clear and concise. A wide variety of moves are taught in the 45 minutes of the video. I would recommend this video to everyone. Beginners will find it useful for establishing good style and techniques, while advanced dancers can use it as a reference or teaching aid when helping others learn to dance.

I bought this video based upon the recommendations and reviews it received on amazon.com and must honestly say, just one night of watching/practicing with my wife has brought my dancing to another level!!! I can't wait to get home from work so I can practice again! This video is an important tool for anyone wanting to learn salsa, including people like myself who have a very limited understanding of the basics, but would like to learn more advanced moves without getting too complicated. Josie Neglia has done and outstanding job with this video... but the only thing I thought could be improved is having more practice music to use going at full speed (she uses the step by step method which is great, but only uses a 5-10 second section of music when demonstrating it non-stop), other than that... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!

I have been dancing salsa by "feeling" for over twenty years but only until recently looking at her videos became aquainted of the inner structure of salsa dancing. I believe this video to be an excellent buy to learn but also to teach.

Two characteristics of this video made me return it and not recommend this video: a) this video is not for beginners, and b) this video was poorly produced.

Learning to dance involves learning to coordinate different parts of your body to move at the music's rhythm. As such, when you start learning how to dance salsa --or any other dance for that matter-- you want to make sure that you are being thought to move one part of your body at a time, first individually, and then to the music's rhythm. Once your body part had developed some "memory" of a basic movement, you can add additional basic movements or additional body parts. Specifically, you need to learn the basic foot steps first, add some music, and, once you have learn these steps, learn how to move the arms or do some turns. Trying to learn how to move your feet, arms, turn around, and hold your partner at once, as the first "beginner" lessons of this video suggest, is not only virtually impossible to the untrained dancer-wanna-be but it is also very frustrating. If you are truly a beginner and want to learn how to dance salsa using this video, you will find yourself pausing and rewinding the tape a lot. Even then, you will find yourself not able to follow the "moves".

But even when the teaching methods used in this video were not as good or appropriate as I would have hoped, I would have kept the video had it not been because this video was poorly produced. When you buy a video that costs over $20 (same as a DVD), you should expect a fairly decently produced video. This video, nevertheless, was altered during post-production and the result is a low quality, patched, video. Case in point, in all lessons of this video, the last three counts of the 1-2-3 5-6-7 salsa rhythm steps have been altered. You would hear the instructor go 1- 2- 3 and then a different voice (probably the instructor's, but at post-production) will go 5-6-7. This is not only distracting but it is also ends up being annoying. A video made with so little attention to detail should not be released/sold as a professional video -at least, it should not cost as one.

On the positive side, the video contains some cool salsa "moves".