Customer Reviews

Dance Today! Samba - Active Lifestyle Makeover

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Quenia Ribeiro's method of teaching you the basic samba steps and slowly (but not too slowly) bringing up the tempo and increasing the patterns will get you dancing an authentic Rio de Janeiro style samba the first time you play this DVD. It is really incredibly simple, and anyone who has the desire to learn will have no trouble at all with the steps, but it can be a workout! If you're out of shape, you'll be feeling it in your legs and may be breathing a little faster too. The samba if done to full speed can be a terrific cardio workout, as well as being enormous fun. Quenia doesn't give you a "warm up" or any preliminary stretches, so some people may want to limber up a little...especially their calf muscles and feet, beforehand. Quenia demonstrates the lessons barefoot on a hardwood floor; I enjoy dancing barefoot and do so on a thick large rug, and find it very comfortable.

There are 2 combinations, the "Samba 2" being harder and a lot faster than "Samba 1." Each is demonstrated first, and then broken down step by step to learn. Quenia is a dynamo with a marvelous personality, and an excellent way of teaching; everything is clearly explained, but it keeps flowing, and is always enjoyable. The music consists of 3 drummers (Nick, Nick and Ze), and they produce a wonderful sound to dance to. The ambiance is good too, in a spacious, well lit studio, and it is simply but well produced, with excellent camerawork. The real treat comes in being able to watch Quenia in lavish Carnaval style costumes (one of them very skimpy but still lavish!) in 3 performances. The amazing platform shoes she wears will astound you and wonder how she can dance in them! This "Dance Today!" DVD is a great addition to a DVD "fitness collection," as well as teaching you how to samba like a native Brazilian.

Though I dance latin dance styles. The content was new for me. But Quenia does a great job of teaching. It has pluses and minuses but I really like the DVD and use it 4-5 times a month. (I workout ~30 times a month)

Pluses
1) She teaches the basic samba step at 3 speeds. Very helpful for a novice like myself.

2) She is not patronizing like some DVD instructors.

3) She is built like a real woman and not a 12 year old boy and she moves like you wouldn't believe. Very impressive.

4) Steps are repeated so you can get the hang of it without having to rewind 100 times.

5) She turns as she shows some steps so you can she the moves from different angles. That is helpful for improving posture and technique for those who want to be that technical.

6) She shows you how to "freestlye" some moves for those who want don't want to take themselves so seriously.

Minuses
1) It is unclear which foot should lead some moves. Left or right. Sometimes she says one and does another and then vice versa. I just did what naturally felt right but...

2) In the basic samba step she doesn't mention to sweep your leg around like she does at full speed. I still feel like I am missing something between the slow pace and full speed.

This DVD does exactly what it says it will do...teach you to samba the rio way. There are no warm-ups or cool downs. There are 2 demonstrations and 2 samba lessons. Samba 1 is demonstrated 2x and samba 2 is demonstrated 1x. I suppose that after you learn the steps, you can just do the demos over and over again until you break a sweat. My complaint here is that she didn't design this DVD as a workout tape but as a learning tool only. That said:
Samba 1 gives the basic flat footed samba (samba no pe)and teaches you how to dance on the beat. This is the samba that they do in Rio at carnival, which is different from samba in Bahia. She goes over each step many times and it culminates in a routine. Lots of hips. Samba 2 is the almost the same routine but it is the 2/4 samba on the balls of your feet, like you were wearing high heel shoes. It is more performance or samba with attitude or in Diva mode as she says. The steps are faster and the choreopgraphy a bit more complicated. My only complaint is that she DOES NOT do mirror image to you so you will always be going in the opposite direction she is. Confusing when trying to learn a step. In real dance classes, the teacher faces the mirror so she can show you the steps from YOUR prespective.
Now in all fairness, I haven't done the DVD yet, just viewed it. But it looks like great fun. About the music. There are 3 musicians with one having a whistle. That's all you really need to samba. The music is great and is the same for Sambas 1 & 2. The DVD also include 3 samba demonstrations by the teacher. Fantastic. I'm sure that after you learn to samba you can free style dance with her. This DVD probally works best on hard wood floors. I have carpet and wear slippery socks when I do dance tapes. If you love Samba you will like this. I'll add more to the review when I do it!

***UPDATE*** I did the DVD last night. If you have carpet don't get this DVD. You need hard wood or linoleum floors. My BIGGEST COMPLAINT is that she doesn't do mirror image to you. She does everything to her right. Which means you are going to your right, her left. Too confusing, so I did all of the steps to my left. There were one or two steps that I couldn't figure out going in the opposite direction. Also, I've taken samba before so the steps were somewhat easy. If you've never done samba before, coupled with the right, left thing and the rhythm thing, you will be probably get lost. You'll need to do it several times going in the same direction she does. I won't be doing this DVD again until I get rid of my carpet. Also next time I do it, I'll add a warm up. Next time, if someone does one of these tapes. they should do it with more people like a class setting. Samba is such a social dance. This DVD would have been more fun if she had been teaching a class with free style at the end.

I gave it 5 stars because all in all it's a great effort!! Love the music.

I use this video as an adjunct to my workout at home. I DO have carpet, which sucks, and have purchased a portable tap floor for just this sort of thing, which I do barefoot.

About the DVD, Quenia is fantastic, she's a real dance teacher, and she has grace. I love that she has a woman's body and grace, because samba and Brasilian culture is about sensuality.

Although Quenia looks like she isn't even breaking a sweat, you might, and the previous reviewer was right, it can be hard on your knees. I got a charlie horse the first day after and I did a ballet stretching program after. It's a surprisingly complicated way to move your body simply. If that makes any sense.

This is a real treasure, nobody else in this town knows how to samba (everybody here does salsa)...and I feel privileged to get a real lesson. VERY glad I took the time to research this (and saw free video clips on a different site, so I could pick the right DVD).

3 great performances, 2 samba routines by Quenia Rubeiro! Instruction to live drummers, her personal band.
I feel that the routines are simply broken down, the instructor does a good job, rather quickly though, despite her accent. She demonstrates basic footwork for 2 sexy brazilain samba dances rio style. The instructor explains the function of each drum and their place in the footwork of the dance.
As a bonus included are three great, colorful, performances by Quenia in beautiful and sexy Samba costuming.
Expand your dance vocabulary and introduce some of these sexy moves into your commanding dance.
This is fastpaced footwork, keeps you on your toes and is bound to keep you in shape!!! A true challenge, sexy, and fun. Music downloadable from I tunes.

Overall I LOVE this DVD. It broke down the steps easily and I was able to grasp the steps moreso in carpet than hardwood. The lack of a mirror image is confusing at first but once you understand it becomes easier. It teaches how to do authentic Brazilian Samba and gives you a mild workout in the process. I love this DVD & now I'm happy because I can really SAMBA!

This DVD wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I gave it five stars because it was great for what it is.

If you want to learn to samba, this is the perfect DVD. The wonderful Quenia Ribeiro goes through everything slowly enough that even someone with two left feet (like me!) could follow the moves.

If you're looking for an exercise video, check out some of her other DVDs instead. (I use The Samba Reggae Workout and The Brazilian Carnival Dance Workout five days a week. I wanted to get more of her DVDs for a little variety.) I'm overweight, but this DVD didn't hardly get my heartrate up at all.

I am giving this DVD a relatively low rating because the instructor is always facing you, thus making it difficult to follow the choreography, as you are left to figure out what side you should move to and what foot to start with. It's mostly ok when the simple steps are demonstrated in isolation, but extremely confusing when trying to follow the choreography. I found myself spending too much time concentrating on trying to follow her routine but in the opposite direction so to say, i.e. when her cues tell to step left she actually steps to my right etc. As a beginner with no background in dance, I wish the instructor would turn around with her back to the student at least sometimes so that I could just copy exactly what she is doing.

This video is great for those wishing to learn true authentic Brazilian moves and carnival street Samba. It is a dance video rather than a fitness dance video-but that is not to say you will not get a work out! Quenia is a great teacher and breaks down the routines very clearly. Being a teacher myself, what i love about this dvd is that it has a LOT of moves in the dvd even if it is the same length as some others on the market. She didn't save half to produce another dvd in the future...I do hope there is a volume 2 though!! There is also a performance segment which displays some of the moves and routines in action.

This DVD is great for beginners. Quenia really does a great job with breaking down each move. I haven't done any latin dances since high school, and my husband and I really enjoyed this dvd. We just pop it in and have fun. I also like the fact that she is built like a real women, and moves really well. Gives me inspiration that one day I can be in great shape and keep my curves as well.