Customer Reviews

The Exotic Dance Workout

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm giving this DVD a 4 because it says it's a workout & I really didn't "feel the burn". Its divided into thirds (standing, floorwork, and chair), with a bonus performance at the end. No warm up or cool down, but I honestly didn't need either one. I worked through all three back to back and didn't get the least bit sweaty.
I did feel sexy, relaxed, and generally happy with my body. Its zero impact (unless you fall off your shoes) and the movements are surprisingly elegant.

My complaints are that Lady M narrates as though she is leading a class, not a video (you have to reverse left and right to mirror her) and that sometimes the positions you should be in make it difficult to watch her. Neither of these are a deal breaker, though.

As a dancer I continue to learn and keep an open mind to all types of fusion and dances around me. I love to experiment and I am glad I did so with this dvd. Floor work, chair dance, posing, sexy and feminine alluring moves, complement any dance. The leg show segments are awesome, as most of these moves are captivating. The posing segment I found to be a great lesson, it is so simple yet makes a bold statment about the person, or dancer as she presents herself to the audience. Overall, it appears that Lady M moves effortlessly, however, I was able to feel the work out in some areas, especially during the chair dance. If you are a beginner, you may want to warm up with yoga or stretches in flexability. Lady M. presented her program beautifully, as she is. A simple chair, the right music, and this dvd, beautifully transform you as you watch in amazment at what your body can do. Hopefully, I wont mistakenly break out some of these erotic moves during a belly dance performance, ha!I loved learning from this program and I am using these moves every chance I get, hopefully not just in front of a mirror!!!

As a practitioner of bellydance fusion for the last few years I thought this DVD would give me a few sexy moves to add to my ever-growing dance vocabulary and it did exactly that. Lady M has a nice personality and demonstrates the moves well; she shows you how to do exotic and sexy chair moves and slinky floorwork. There is a little choreography and at the end the performance is demonstared by Lady M, showing how you might put it all together. I really enjoyed this DVD. I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone with NO dance experience, but if you've done some dance and want to learn some eye-catching exotic moves, you should check out this DVD. I would call it "moderately challenging".

One thing to note though, is that I felt the format of this DVD was more like an instructional dance DVD rather than a workout, but dont get me wrong you will get exercise with this DVD... I was sweating at the end!

First of all, I actually bought two Madame M's, another instructional DVD called Strip To It, and one of the "Fawnia" striptease DVDs, all at one. I think the combination of all really worked to strengthen the impact of each one individually. If I'd had any ONE of these DVDs only, I wouldn't have gained enough movement vocabulary to put any kind of routine together. Okay, so that said, about this DVD in particular.

I'm 40 and have ballet, tap, jazz dance experience, but nothing in the way of social dancing, hip-hop, or exotic moves at all, and little confidence in this area. For me, this DVD as an instructional video was really tasteful, perfectly paced, unintimidating, and approachable. After instruction on certain moves, you do a short little combination to show you how you can link some of the moves together. I personally spent a lot of time rewinding and practicing each individual move over and over until it felt natural for my body, and then moved on to the next bit. I think that approach really helped me do the choreography part. Three sections - standing, floor and chair - I was particularly interested in the standing part, not so much the rest, so I personally wished the sections were longer. But in combination with the Strip to It DVD, it gave me great stuff to work with.

The demonstration routines at the end not entirely representative of the moves you learn throughout the DVD - they were faster, and included lots of new moves and combinations you don't see earlier. But you can't learn everything in one DVD. Besides, the demos are good for giving you ideas.

For the people who have or might criticize this DVD for it's music, or lack of work-out, or whatever - this is definitely not clubby, hip-hoppy, Christina Aguilara "do-me" type of stuff; and it's definitely not a dance-along work-out kind of thing. It's instructional. Learn it, practice it, find your own music, put your routine together, and pass the DVD onto someone else who wants to learn how to be a little more sensual with their bodies.

I'm pleased with the purchase and it's giving me exactly what I wanted.

This dvd is slow, slow, slow. The teacher gets a 5-star rating for being cute as a bug, compassionate, and adorable, but the snail's pace of it doesn't qualify it as a workout. Too repetitious. It's an instructional, for sure, but not a workout. And perfect for anyone starting out (really it IS perfect for beginners or shy people!) -- but it's just to slow for the average bear.

*The ending demo where she is silent and just dances to the beat of the slow song, is what makes buying the dvd actually worth while for me!*

It's a cute, cute routine I can do with no instruction at all from her because it's so slow and easy to catch on! Lady M., if you had an entire dvd of slow demo routines like the great one you did at the end of this dvd, I'd love to buy it! I just love how I can watch you and follow you and catch on to your demo with no previous instruction! Your moves and style are self-explanitory, because you're all about sensualism, not about break-neck, fast technique! Which I must say i just love about you, and is surprisingly, difficult to find in a dvd. Doing it 'slow' takes patience, you are a joy.

More routines from you like your demo, requested!

This movie is amazing! I wanted to know how to dance (as did my SO!) and this is a great beginner movie! It gives you basic moves that are sexy and smooth without looking like you're begging for tips-it's really focused on dancing for fun and for your partner rather than for money on a stage, which is nice! The moves I learned here gave me enough of a foundation I could start branching out and doing my own, and her dance at the end is great! HIGHLY recommended!

To call this DVD a 'workout' is a misnomer. It is more of an instructional video for learning a fairly short exotic-style dance routine. If you are new to exercising you might find it a little toning, but if you are already fit or regularly work out, you won't even break a sweat, just add a few sensual moves to your repetoire. Quite often the instructor has you turnng around and moving away from the TV; it's awfully hard to visually learn something when you have your back to it. There were some fun elements in doing this routine, but a workout it is not.

a little to advance for me. some dancing skill would probably make this tape a+..but i dance like a sloth..i found myself being clumsey and almost falling trying to follow the moves and i was barefoot the whole time!

Kind of slow and boring. Not at all what I expected. Not much of a workout either. I did it twice and am not at all interested in doing it again. A total waste of money.

I ordered this for my honeymoon. When I first watched the DVD, I was a little disappointed by the very slow pace. But then I realized it has to be slow so you can get the moves down. After that you can speed it up to match whatever music you are using. In fact, one of my favorite CDs has several songs that would work perfectly with the dance movements on this DVD. I also ordered the "Irrestistable Art" DVD and I can't wait to see that one when it arrives. The two DVDs together should make sure my fiance' never forgets our wedding anniversary!