This DVD has quickly become one of my favorites, however I do have to call it out on having false advertising. On the front it clearly says "perfect for beginners," and as other reviewers have said, that's not exactly true. With that being said, this is still an intense workout that will definitely give you weight loss and a whole lot more.
There's about a seven-minute warm up to start things off. It may be what the producers thought was perfect for beginners, because it breaks down key steps of each dance style. Mark Ballas and Kym Johnson, the instructors, really teach fundamentals of the first few steps they'll actually show you in the dance routine to come. Was it a warm up? Not really. There's no stretching or anything that will particularly get you loose and ready to go. After viewing this the first time, I now skip it and warm up with the beginning of one of the routines.
SAMBA - 17 minutes - Kym leads Samba, and I think she does it very well. This section is very bouncy and probably what I would call the intermediate part of the DVD. If you're familiar with the Samba section from the older
Dancing With the Stars - Cardio Dance DVD, then you'll recognize some of them here. If you're completely new to Samba, Kym begins by teaching some very basic steps and kind of breaking them down for you. Each move gets progressively more difficult with some of the final moves being a bit complicated and fast. This (and every other) section is broken down into three parts: combo 1 (5 minutes), combo 2 (5 minutes), and combo 3/put it all together (5-7 minutes). This format keeps viewers from getting bored and taking it from the top all the time.
SALSA - 16 minutes - Mark joins Kym to teach the Salsa section, although they don't dance together; like the box says, no partner is needed. For the most part, this is a very beginner=friendly section since the moves are relatively simple and compact. I use this section as my warm up since I don't find that it spikes my heart rate that much. Near the end, some VERY fast advanced steps are introduced, but before that time, each move is basic salsa that many people may have seen before if they've ever done Latin dancing. Mark and Kym have good chemistry together and act cheesy but fun. Kym is better as explaining each move while Mark is excellent at cuing. It's also nice to see both the feminine approach to dance moves as opposed to the more masculine approach.
SWING/JIVE - 15 minutes - Once again, the DVD case has a bit of false advertising; this segment is called Swing, but apart from the first five minutes, it's definitely Jive. For those who don't know the difference, Jive is about 2x as fast as Swing. While this means that this is an intense workout, it's again not very good for beginners. In fact, I'd almost call this routine advanced. Mark leads viewers through complicated, fast, and high impact choreography. Get ready to kick, jump, and hop almost constantly for fifteen minutes. If you've seen the Swing/Jive section on
Dancing with the Stars: Dance Off the Pounds, then this segment is very similar; the music is actually the same from that DVD, too. If you've never done Swing or Jive before, then I can almost guarantee you will get lost and feel frustrated most of this segment. It's a fantastic challenge; I'm in great shape and have difficulty finishing it. It really makes the DVD a worthy purchase for advanced exercisers.
There is no Cool Down, and that really disappointed me. In any workout, a cool down is necessary to stretch muscles, prevent soreness/injure, and feel good. I usually add a cool down from another DVD, but I really wish the producers had at least tacked on some stretching on the end. Why does it seem so hard for the makers of this series to put both a warm up AND cool down on the same DVD?
Overall, this DVD has a little something for everyone. Salsa is (mostly) good for beginners, Samba is an excellent workout for intermediates, and Swing/Jive is a cardio challenge for advanced. True, it's not 100% for beginners, but I like that each section is so diverse. All of the moves are REAL dance moves and a blast to do; I never find myself getting bored with this DVD. I recommend this DVD to mostly anyone with a word of caution to beginners: you may struggle with this DVD a bit at first. However, if you're a fan of the show or ballroom dancing, this is a fun workout purchase for you to try.
A preview clip from this DVD can be found at collagevideo(.)com. Simply search the DVD title, and you should be able to easily find it.