Customer Reviews

Dance for Weightloss With Patricia Moreno

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

 

 

Ok. I was skeptical about buying this dvd. I was the one who trashed her first video because of horrible music. I threw that dvd in the garbage. This dvd is actually good, music included.

Setting: The same studio and same dancers as in the Dancers workout video. The dancers wear sneakers or jazz shoes. I did it barefoot. Works best on hard wood floors

Music: Smooth jazz with a definite beat. You can actually groove to the music, sort of. Mind you it's not hip shaking music but it's better than that generic Kenny G stuff she used in her last dvd.

Choreography: There is a 60 minute and 30 minute workout. The longer of the two goes over each step over and over again. The shorter workout goes over the steps quickly and ends with 1 run through of all the steps.

The movement is jazzy, no ballet here. Some leaps, turns, chasses, large leg movements. She goes over each step many many times. She does the routine 2x at the end. My only minor complaint is so what happens after you learn the routine. You have to go through the whole class again learning the steps. She should have added a performance section where you can go through the routines as many times as you want until you break a sweat. One solution I found is that if you are watching this dvd on your computer, the full routine is chapter 21 (60 minute) chapter 25 (30 minute), on media player, and you can just repeat the chapters as many times as you want. On the Broadway dance dvds, they have performance, step by step and work it sections. That way once you learn the routine, you can just go to the other sections and do it x times.

Also, there is no warm-up, stretching or cool down. The moves are fast but doable. I got 95% of it at the tempo, the first time around. As you learn the steps, you can make the movement bigger.

Overall: Will I do this again? Yes but I don't know for how long. I have been doing Soul Sweat for 3 months and I am still not tired of it. That is because it's a workout instead of learning a routine and the real workout at the end. I can see myself getting bored with the learning part after I already know the steps. I could use another dvd to warm-up and just go to the performance chapters and to do the routine xtimes, but that could get boring too.

YogaGirl wrote a great review. I agree on almost every part.
The only thing I can add is there is no warm-up, but there is a short, walking w/arms raised breathing cool down for like 2-3 min.
There is a bonus standing 12 min abs workout w/some arms stretches since you use your ams as well for isomentric contraction & mostly working your obliques more then your abs, it actually is a decent workout for those who have don't have killer abs yet.
The bonus interview with Patricia looks like the same as her Dancer's body one which was nice.
There is still the bonus learn the moves step by step that she will spend several minutes on each simple move that is for people who are perfectionists or like to learn very slowly knowing evey nuance of a step which is a nice bonus though for morst, the 60 min is more instruction then almost any dance fitness video.
As yogagirl said, once you do it, you have to listen to the detailed instructions again which can be overkill after then 5th time. She is great with it, but... the 30 min will probably be the favorite part once you get it down. I only did the 60 min & I could follow easily & with mistakes that I could correct after 2 or 3 more viewings.
The moves are more hip rolls, hip bumps, cute stripper move, jump, mambo kinda to 4 corners, chasse kick step cross, hands side, side, up/down while knees swivel in/out, same thing on the other side, shimmy knees, ankle swivel walk, a kinda hip hop move, broadway leap... I may have only missed 2-4 moves in there.
It is a bit more high impact & not overly simple like Dancer's Body, but still very easy for even the most out of shape beginner. The music is better

i'm really impressed with this video. i'm a horrible dancer, and every video to teach dancing that i've tried has made me cry with shame. in the extras, there's a section where she breaks down every single move in the dance routine. she breaks down every single movement and goes pretty slowly (plus, there's rewind). i haven't worked up to incorporating everything into the 30 and 60 minute dance routines yet, but i'm just excited i can actually learn a move at a time! that's more than i've ever accomplished before. also, she's fun to learn from. she has a contagious smile/mood and encourages you to enjoy yourself instead of worrying about getting everything exactly right. that's nice :)

This is a lot of fun, it's all dancing so you better like dancing. It's fun and energetic. Great ab workout included on dvd and there are two options for the dance workout, 30 min and 60 min. It goes by quickly and you get a great workout.

I'm a pretty athletic person and I bought this when looking for a way to ease back into working out after having a baby. I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, but I found I had to keep rewinding to get some of the moves. Also, there is not really a fitness aspect to this as my heart never even really started pumping. Mind you, I've never watched it all the way through as I found it boring and not really my thing at all. This has been retired to the back of the pile of Dvds.

I love this dvd. I've learn a lot of moves that apply for having fun as well as to loose weight. Excellent!

I became a fan of Patricia Moreno after I bought her first dvd, Dancer's Body Workout, and after doing this workout, I am an adamant fan and follower. The combinations are not for the uncoordinated, but are not difficult to follow, and there's always the rewind button if you need it. The steps are fun and she's an excellent instructor, and there are both 60 minute and 30 minute versions of the routine. It is an excellent video, and I highly recommend any video Patricia Moreno puts out!

If you love dancing and/or music, and if you are looking for a good workout, this is NOT the dvd to buy. The music is canned, extremely repetitive pseudo-jazz and it quickly becomes tedious to listen to; it certainly doesn't inspire the "light-hearted" dancing Moreno mentions. The moves are uninspired and have little to do with dance today. The choreography reminded me of the worst kind of jazz/Broadway routines that you might see on a cruise ship "80's Night". I did break a very light sweat while doing this workout, but only because I used the many boring, repetitive marching sections and teaching sections to do my own thing or continue at the slightly higher intensity of the actual dancing. If anyone reading this could recommend a fun, modern and upbeat dance dvd to work out with, please tell me what it's called!

I tried the half hour version of this video and did not even break a sweat, then I tried the full hour and could not finish it because I was falling asleep from boredom. The music is flat without any inflection. Ms. Moreno has zero personality, she takes forever to show the simplest of steps in the slowest way imaginable and then the actual dancing part is over in the blink of an eye. I don't know what kind of shape the other reviewers are in but this tape is clearly not for somebody who actually wants to bring their heart beat up, break a serious sweat or have a bit of fun in their exercise routine. Unfortunately I lost my receipt or else I would have returned it the next day.

The routines on this video were so slow and lackluster; thanks to the many, many pauses to learn the dance steps, my heart rate never rose, and I never broke a sweat. Moreover, the music was awful: canned elevator music with no beat, and Patricia Moreno's demeanor was very irritating and condescending.

I am certainly not a dance expert, but there must be a way to incorporate dance moves into a lively, upbeat aerobics routine that keeps you constantly moving and thus gives you a good workout! If high-impact exercise is what you are looking for, leave Patricia Moreno and her simpering smirks on the shelf.