Customer Reviews

Dance Lessons 101: The Basics and Beyond

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Nicely done, - for beginners you'll learn the basic step of each dance, Shawn & his partner break down the step into its parts in a easy-to-follow format - for advanced beginners, it's a good refresher DVD.
I'm a single male with 1 year's ballroom & Latin lessons under my belt. I use the DVD for practice without a partner before going out to dance.

Shawn Trautman (a coach of World Champion dancers) presents Dance Lessons 101, a DVD introduction to eight of the most popular social dances: Slow Dance, Waltz, Swing, Salsa, Two-Step, Cha-Cha, Hustle, and West Coast Swing. Enabling viewers of all backgrounds and experience levels to learn dance basics with or without a partner, Dance Lessons 101 is ideal for preparing for weddings or cruises, or simply trying out something new to stay fit. The infectiously upbeat attitude and user-friendly instructions effectively make Dance Lessons 101 a top-of-the-line private classroom. Highly recommended. 2 hours, color.

I'm so glad I ordered Dance Lessons 101 and am impressed by how simple it was to follow. Shawn Trautman lives up to his reputation in this one of being one of the best instructors. He and his wife are very patient and certainly know what it means to teach beginners. Overall, great instructions - we loved it and will continue ordering more. BRAVO!

My husband and I are really enjoying Dance Lessons 101. We were looking for a way to get some exercise and enjoy each other's company after our son goes to bed. This DVD has been perfect. It was so interesting that even after 12 years of marriage the dance lessons gave us that awkward but fun experience you have when you first date someone. We were forced to be aware of our personal space and the shared space between us. We laughed about the way we were trying to get our bodies to move, and about each other's awkwardness. This DVD has given us an opportunity to reconnect and take time for each other in the comfort of our home. This video is paced well and is easy to understand. I love the variety of dances we are learning and feel certain we will be purchasing more Shawn Trautman DVDs in the future. Finally, I really appreciate that Shawn and his wife come across as "down to earth" people. Obviously they know how to dance and both have great skill, but they make it appear attainable for the average couple. Thank you so much.

This DVD isn't intimidating, and it basically puts a world-renowned dance teacher in your living room. I actually think it's better than an in-person lesson because you're able to see the steps from every angle. By the end of the lesson, I was so excited that I had learned the steps - it's almost as if I internalized them.

Ten and twenty years ago, my wife and I took a few months of weekly dancing lessons for around $600 each. After each lesson, I couldn't remember much of what we had learned in the previous lesson and my wife and I would disagree with our steps. Because each of the dance companies were preparing us to dance competitively, although we were there to learn to dance socially, my back was always hurting after each lesson from trying to conform my body to these exact positionings. My wife and I learned very little, and thus when we went out dancing we rarely used anything from our dance lessons but just danced like everyone else did, so we could have fun. When we saw others dancing ballroom style, they always danced the same basic moves counter-clockwise around the dance floor (i.e., forward, left turns, and lady turns), regardless of which dance they were performing.

After 33 years of marriage and dancing in our own styles, I thought I'd try learning ballroom dancing for my wife again but decided to try something different. I bought 6 of Shawn's dancing DVD's and took them with us on our vacation, watching one dance lesson each day, taking my time analyzing them and making detailed notes of each move (my wife would watch them after I had studied them, as she could learn faster and remember better than I did). In each lesson, we learned more than several lessons with either of the dance companies I mentioned above. Then my wife and I took our time to slowly work on each dance together. We moved the chairs and table out of the kitchens and set up speakers that were hooked up to my computer to play music, and would dance for an hour each night to different songs. Just for fun, we even tried new moves that Shawn hadn't taught and probably doesn't exist. Learning to dance was enjoyable and dancing with my wife turned out to be a wonderful experience - I finally understood the joy of dancing with one I love. After three weeks traveling through the U.S. and dancing almost every day, my wife and I knew how to perform 10 different dances well. We next went on a cruise, where we danced these dances every night and received compliments that we appeared to have been dancing for years.

Since our cruise, we were unable to dance for a few weeks, so I forgot many of our dance moves. Unlike taking lessons from the dance companies, we didn't have to pay to relearn the dances - I went back to my notes and went back to Shawn's lessons and were quickly able to relearn the dances.

We have since purchased additional dance videos from Shawn and will purchase additional ones in a few months. He takes his time instructing us and gives various angles to his lessons. I'm sure you will see how great he and his wife do from the other reviewers, so there's no need to cover that here. I just want you to see the benefits of purchasing his DVD's over taking dance lessons from the dance companies (even if you want to compete, I suggest you learn the dance lessons from him first, as he was a dance teacher at one of those companies long ago according to his statements on his DVD's and in his book).

Before you purchase a DVD of his, I recommend you purchase his book, which comes with a DVD of dance videos before purchasing your first DVD.

Shawn Trautman is a GREAT instructor! I attended one of his Dance Lessons 101 Live classes last week and was blown away by his teaching methods and ability to break dances down into pieces that everyone understood. I've taken many dance classes and this was by far the best I've ever taken. As a middle school teacher, I can honestly say I didn't expect to be impressed in the manner I was and I know others in the class were equally impressed.



I purchased Dance Lessons 101 and strongly recommend it! I already know some of the dances featured on the DVD, like West Coast Swing and Hustle, but have struggled to get the right techniques and footwork. Other dances I've seen, but not danced, so I was pleased. This DVD is very easy for me to follow, and I can replay and practice the footwork I need help with until it "clicks" for me. I really like how Shawn and his wife, Joanna, explain things thoroughly and demonstrate on the screen exactly as I see it; in other words, it's not the mirror image. Like excellent teachers of any subject do, they anticipate and answer questions you might have such as where your weight should be, or what to do with your hands. Joanna offers tips about things that make the dances easier for her to follow, and I find myself practicing those techniques as well. It's almost like being in your own 2 hour private lesson that you've recorded and can play back to review. I also liked that Shawn shows a little more of what you can learn in each dance from his other DVDs. You won't get to be an expert in any of these dances by this one DVD, but you can certainly learn enough to go out and have fun with each of the 8 dances. If you're new to dancing or just want to learn some new dances like I did, you should give Dance Lessons 101 a try.

I highly recommend the Shawn Trautman instructional dance DVDs. Shawn and his wife Joanna are excellent teachers. Shawn does a good job of breaking down the footwork and also provides tips on style and leading. Joanna does a very good job of providing info on following and style- and she makes cute and funny comments along the way. They are very down to earth and personable and really care about feedback from dancers.

This DVD is a great place to start for an overview of many of the most popular ballroom and social dance styles. Each dance is covered briefly in one chapter. If you want more detail about a specific dance you could purchase a DVD from Shawn Trautman's collection devoted to that specific dance (which we decided to do with west coast swing- which is actually a series of several DVDs). However, even from this one DVD we were able to learn enough basics, footwork, and rhythm to do nightclub two step, cha cha cha, and hustle on the dance floor in public. This is also a great overview for an "advanced beginner"- someone who is already a dancer in one or more styles and wants to learn a new dance.

My husband and I wanted to dance at his best friend's wedding this last weekend and not make fools of ourselves. We practiced at home over the last month with Dance Lessons 101 and I told him that if it worked, I'd be the first to tell everyone I knew - so here goes.

It worked!!!

We had a blast at the reception and had 4 (yes, 4!!) compliments on how good we looked and how much fun we were having (this never happens to us). This was HUGE for my husband's confidence and I can tell you he was just soaking it up. We danced a good 10 dances that night, which is more than we've danced in the last 5 years. Oh, and Swing is now his "favorite dance".

This video was our first time trying to dance together and we quickly saw how much we had to learn. We liked how it started out with a number of things that are important for all dances. It was a good way to get us started without the steps. We liked doing it on video, too, because we had to stop a few times and practice and talk through what we were learning. Overall, there were so many things we liked and only a few we thought could be improved. Here are my notes -

Pros: excellent instruction; easy to see and follow; down to earth instructors; a lot less than private lessons; convenient; information that made sense; a good flow to the lessons; a lot of information; instruction was done in a small space similar to what we learned in; two hours of lessons; good variety of dances; the fact that we learned without anyone watching us!

Cons: not enough practice time to music; there were a few times we had questions and couldn't ask anyone.

Overall, we were thrilled with what we got out of this DVD and will definitely be buying more of Shawn's videos. If you're looking for a great value and easy dance lessons, give this one a try. I'm convinced that if it worked for us, it can work for anyone!

My wife and I have watched the Shawn Trautman Dance Lessons 101 DVD several times. Each time we view a dance lesson, we are picking up new dance steps that neither I (nor my wife) ever thought possible! Being able to watch the steps, pause, practice and rewind at our convenience takes the pressure off learning new routines. Not only are we starting to look pretty good on the dance floor, we're actually having a great time during the video lessons. We look forward to getting other Shawn Trautman Dance Lesson DVDs.