Customer Reviews

Darrin's Dance Grooves

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

Darrin's Dance Grooves is pretty darn bad. Offensive, even.

There is very little dance instruction. Most of the DVD is taken up with what amounts to infomercial material. Britney loves Darrin, N'Snyc loves Darrin, etc.

The actual workout includes a warm up, followed by a break down of small portions of four MTV video dance routines. The warm up is horrible. Darrin doesn't count on the eight. Unwatchable, or at least - unlistenable. You have to hope they dubbed the music in afterwards, otherwise, Darrin doesn't have much of an ear.

The "dance instruction" consists of running through the routine twice - with Darrin counting left when he's showing right (i.e., not allowing for the mirror image), and not giving much in the way of description other than "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, ok, we're moving on". The camera work frequently fails to show the movement. He then jumps to the actual video, with his class spliced in. Then he informs the viewer that if we wish to perfect our groove thing, we can always rewind. The routines include turns and floor moves, i.e., fairly complex movements that aren't broken down.

It concerns me that this DVD is being marketed to a pre-teen and teen audience that could be permenantly convinced they "can't dance" because they've been victimized by Darrin's non-existent cueing and teaching syle.

If you're looking to learn beginner jazz/funk/hip hop I would suggest Madonna Grimes, Culture Shock Hip Hop, Hip Hop Body Shop, Calvin Wiley, even the MTV Grind tapes over this. They all have their problems, but they're light years ahead of Darrin Grove. He's got zero "street cred" with me.

This is a good video. It teaches a lot of cool hip hop moves, but I thought it could've been a little slower to make it easier to follow. For other people who thought that too, there's another hip hop video which makes the learning part more clear called Hip Hop Shop, it's made for younger kids but adults can follow it too and it's really fun . Both videos are awsome!

Unless you have a DVD player with the 'A/B repeate' feature and slow motion/frame-by-frame playback capabilities, I wouldn't even consider this video. But even if you have such equipment, I think I would still give this video a pass. I have a DVD player with the capabilities I just mentioned but even with that, the video is still frustrating and difficult to learn from, for reasons I am about to go into. I gave the video 2 stars, but it should really be 1 and a half.
The worst complaint I have about this video is the shoddy camera work. They tried to give it a flashy, 'MTV'-style presentation, but it really doesn't work here. Darrin could be showing you a move that requires you to do something with your feet, but the camera is pointed at his upper body and you can't even see his feet!!! I mean, how do they expect you to learn this way? Sometimes when the camera isn't where it is supposed to be, you can sometimes see what the background dancer's feet are doing, which is even worse because they're not always doing the same thing as Darrin!!! To its credit, Darrin will usually go over the moves more than once and the spots that had ... camera angles are usually fixed the second time around, but on the second go-around, there are all new...camera angles. This means that you are constantly going back and forth, because neither time does the camera stay steady enough so that you can watch it all the way through.
Second complaint is what so many others have mentioned - since Darrin is facing you, you have to do the exact opposite of whatever he does. I originally didn't think this would be a big deal when reading the negative comments, but it really is confusing and un-nerving. A much better approach would have been to implement multiple camera angles, so you could watch from whatever angle you needed to.
Third complaint - when Darrin is showing you the moves, he does it slower than what you normally would do it in real time. At the end, he shows you how to do the dance moves to the actual speed of the music. Only problem with that is that instead of keeping the camera focused the whole time on Darrin and his background dancers, the camera cuts between Darrin and his dancers, to the artists of the music (Britney, N'Stink, etc), to both Darrin and the artists split screen (with one on top and one on bottom). Besides this being confusing as heck, sometimes when the camera cuts in on the artists, they're not even doing the dance moves in question, so you completely miss parts of it!!!
Fourth complaint - the only thing this video shows you is how to dance to the chorus of certain songs (Bye Bye Bye, Crazy, Digital Getdown, etc). So, if you're looking for some basic dance steps, this is definitely not for you.
Overall, the whole presentation of this dance video is sloppy and unacceptable and should be avoided. I must point out that it IS possible to learn what this video has to teach, but it's not fun!! My advice to anyone who is considering making an instructional dance video is to KEEP THE DAMN CAMERA STILL!!!
The only thing I have to compare this to on DVD is Hip Hop Shop, which much better than this, but also suffers from some of the same problems (mainly the wandering camera) as this one does.

The positive reviews must be shills for the video company, because no way can a teenage girl pop this into the video and start dancing. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad video. It's just very difficult for a beginning dancer. I have been taking hip-hop classes for over a year, and I had a hard time following this tape. There are two major problems. First, Darrin is shot facing us, so to follow his moves, your brain has to transpose his actions to the opposite side. I kept having to rewind to figure out whether he was using his left or right arm or leg. If he was shot facing away from us, then we could follow his moves more easily. The second problem is that some of the camera angles cut off the legs. That makes it hard when you're trying to determine what leg he's stepping out on. That being said, you can learn the steps as long as you are patient and keep rewinding and doing the steps over and over and over again. Darrin goes through each move twice and says "Got that? Let's move on." But the reality is you need to run the steps ten, twenty, thirty times before you get the hang of it, especially with the quick pace of the music. The Britney Spears "Crazy" dance steps are the easiest. I actually was able to do the routine in an evening. NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" is another matter. It will probably take me weeks to get through it. So don't expect miracles. But with a lot of work and patience, you will get something out of the video.

I first saw this DVD advertised on TV and was misled into thinking it was an aerobic dance-type video. This DVD does provide a lot of information on Darrin Henson, his workshops and his talent for choreography . However, I was expecting to learn the entire routine of each of the videos and get a good workout in the process. If that's what you're looking for, do not bother with this. Darrin only demonstrates a tiny portion of moves for each song. You do not learn the entire routine. I was very disappointed with this DVD.

I have taken a few modern dance classes but I am not experienced at all, so I wanted to get this hip hop dance DVD to learn some moves and maybe even use it as a exercise DVD. I read about 20 reviews and most of the reviews were negative toned but still their was a glimpse of hope that it would be okey. Then I recieved the DVD and I was very DISSAPPOINTED. As the other reviewers warned me about how the entire DVD only show cased how great Darrin was and name drop the whole DVD, it wasn't that bad ...but it is true. You never really see the whole movement and the camera angles are always half body shots so you never really see what they are doing.

Then when he does fo a new dance routine he does it quickly once. Then he proceeds to say what the moves are again but only speaks about them without any body movement so you are totally lost. Then he does it again in regular dance speed with his annoying 1234567..8! counts that dosn't even follow the movements. Truely you are better off getting the Music video to Britney or whoever Darrin choreographed for and try to imitate those moves on the music video.

This DVD is terrible and I would't reccommend even a friend to borrow it. It is a waste of time. I am sure Darrin is a great Dancer but who ever helped him to make this DVD should of been fired. He should of got counseling in making this DVD from a aerobics director then I am sure it would of been great. Sorry guys, but you should pass on this DVD, unless you like to waste money.

I think I have figured out why there are such contradictory reviews regarding the speed with which Darrin shows the movements. Darrin has only two speeds. Very slow (which unfortunately seems to get a little faster with each routine), and full speed to the music, which is VERY, VERY FAST. His slow speed is easy enough to follow, but I found it impossbile to jump from slow-motion right to hyper-speed. And I have never had a dance teacher that expected me to either! So Darrin starts out going slow enough, but after that he goes way too fast. He needs to go over the routine a few more times in-between while gradually bringing up the tempo each time. But infuriatingly, after taking our money, he acts as if he doesn't have the time or the inclination to give us a proper and thorough lesson. Instead, he directs us to use the rewind button and work it out on our own.

The majority of the moves are fairly simple by themselves and easy enough to pick up by watching him. The challenge lies in the speed with which they must be performed and put together. However, there were some advanced movements that really needed to be broken down very slowly and explained. But again, we are infringing on his time and he doesn't bother. I suspect he spent a lot more time teaching the routines to his crew of professionals than he did with us.

I agree with everyone else's criticisms. The camera angles are bad, cutting off the feet at inopportune times. He should have taught one routine all the way through, rather than bits and pieces from several. He faces you and calls out his own right and left. I knew this going in, but it proved to be harder to compensate than I thought it would be. Darrin doesn't call out the direction of his turns at all, and I found it really difficult to figure it out with him facing me. I actually enjoyed Darrin's interviews. However, it seems this material was not included to be an extra feature, but to fill in and make up for the too-brief instruction time. With the DVD, is it possible to skip these sections and go right to the dancing. But unlike every other DVD I have ever watched, the "menu" button on my remote doesn't work on this one making it difficult to navigate even though there is a menu.

I suspect this DVD was never designed to be a real teaching tool, but a teaser to get us to attend Darrin's dance seminar. This DVD has the potential to needlessly crush your confidence in your dance abilities, or at least give you a good beating. I don't think it is a complete waste of time, I like the moves. Just don't expect to be able to follow him easily unless you are a very experienced dancer or have a natural gift for learning choreography. Not because the moves are too hard for you, but because he doesn't use good teaching techniques.

I received the video yesterday and I am very unhappy with it. Where do I begin? Okay, the only place I've seen this video advertised is on Nickelodeon, which, for anyone who doesn't know is a kids station. It is marketted in such a way that one would think you wouldn't already have to know how to dance to get started with this video. It says easy, slow and step by step. I did not find it to be true. The video is loaded with junk that has nothing to do with the dance steps, it is mostly clips of music videos, a biography on Darrin (who cares!) and other people blabbing, unnecessary, long, drawn out, boring, seems like they do it just to waste time. Rip off! Then you get to the dance moves. It is NOT slow enough for a beginner! It moves very fast and I found it very hard to follow. I bought this video for two 11 year olds, and while their not ready to give up, we all were under the impression that we would be able to follow some simple steps to get the idea, it just isn't so. If your thinking about buying this video for a child, you might want to reconsider!

I bought this tape so I could add more variety to my excersize routine. I have the Latin Fat Blaster from the Crunch series and enjoy doing dance for cardio and thought this would be more of the same. I was very wrong, I wish I had read the reviews here before I bought it.
I expected there to be about 50 minutes of dancing and about 5 minutes of information about Darrin but it seems like it's the other way around. You get to hear Darrin talk about himself in between each routine which equals more time on him than doing any dancing. It is obvious that he loves himself because the camera is always on him and almost always on his upper body and face which is frustrating when your trying to guesse what the heck to do with your feet. He does go through the moves very slowly but you only go through the routine twice before you are ready to go at full speed. I think it would have been very helpful for him and the dancers to go through the routine once before having you do it along with him.
Of course you can always re-wind the tape and do it over but since I dont like the instructor or the instructions its very hard to want to do it more than once.
Im not a clutz and catch on very quickly, I was just dissapointed in the quality of this tape and had hoped for more. If your buying this at all for any kind of excersize just dont. Its not worth your money.

Hi! I am 14 years old and a girl from Washington State. I DID not know how to dance, I totally sucked and I bought it because all my friends could dance good and I couldnt. I wanted to show off and impress my friends. Belive me, this video WILL impress my friends.I got the video a couple days ago and when I tryed it out it was very very hard for me. So I just watched the video and steped in whenever I felt I should. At the end, the locking and popping dance I felt was very very fun and easy. I picked that up in less then 1 hour. I still need to perfect it and lock and pop better but I have the dance down and it is very fun to do. Its really easy too. The Britney, Nsync, and Jordan Knight dances are hard but with practice I know I or anyone else could learn those dances. This is a VERY VERY good dancing video to buy. Dont get frusturated with it just keep rewinding and take your time. Believe me it will take a lot of practice to be able to do this video. Dont just expect to pop the video in and be able to whip out some amazing moves. It will take you weeks if not months to learn the dances. But the lock and pop dance will only take you a day or two to learn and a couple weeks to perfect. So my advice would be just to watch the whole video through without dancing then going back to the lock and pop dance and doing that first. Its very very easy to learn and you will kind of get a jest of whats in the other dances. Oh and with people saying you cant see his feet and whatever it wasnt a problem for me. I did fine and I never noticed that you couldnt see his feet, its really just common sense where to put your feet. People also said that it went to fast. I dont really think so. The moves are cut down for you very very slow and he goes over them. But when you go to the music yes, it is very fast. You will just have to keep practicing the dances so you dont get confused. Darrin can teach to all ages and levels of dancing. Im a begininer and had NO dancing expierence before this video and I did fine and thought it was fun. Darrin doesnt really explain some of the moves too well, but once you keep doing the dance and watching them do it you find out how and its easy. Darrin does talk about himself kinda a lot in the video, which I didnt mind that much because then I learned about him. Yes, it was very confusing though with him saying saying punch with your right and it looks like hes punching left then you having to do the opposite of what you see. To me it doesnt really matter if I learn the dance exactly what direction so I just mixed it up a little bit with directions and it didnt make a difference. But if you are concerned with directions you may struggle for a while. So dont worry with all the bad reviews this video was very fun. It will take a lot of practice though so remember that. I would definitely reccomend Darrin's Dance Grooves to anyone who wants to learn how to dance, or perfect some of their moves. Basically anyone who wants to have fun, or just dance with their friends should BUY THIS VIDEO!!!