Customer Reviews

Hot Salsa Lessons, Vol. 1

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before I start, let me admit that I am not a beginning dancer, nor am I an absolute beginner at Salsa. I've taken private ballroom dance lessons (mucho $$) and group Salsa lessons (much cheaper). I have a small collection of Salsa instruction DVDs: the Salsa Crazy beginners series, the first "Quick & Dirty Guide to Salsa," et al. I rate Ken Baldwin's Hot Salsa Lessons Vol 1 among the best of the lot, for several reasons.

First, it really does start from the beginning: how to count the beats. It doesn't actually explain how to identify which beat is "1" but you can figure it out from the music. My wife has real trouble "feeling" the rhythm of the music and this DVD really helped her with this aspect, without which further progress would be difficult.

Second, Ken gives much attention to leading. This is in stark contrast to a DVD series like "Quick & Dirty Guide...", which gives no instructions for leading at all (and which, by the way, teaches an entirely different style). Without confident leading, Salsa dancing (heck, ANY couples dancing) goes nowhere mighty fast.

Third, the price is right. Many dance instruction DVDs are, IMHO, overpriced. Sure, the Salsa Crazy series is good (if a little slow to progress) but with prices of $30, $36 & $36 here on Amazon for beginner's Vol 1, 2 & 3 respectively, they're pretty expensive. Ken's DVDs (Volumes 1 and 2) are a bargain in comparison.

I've rated this DVD five stars but that's not to say it's perfect. First, as a previous review here already noted, when the moves and "patterns" are demonstrated fluidly the details are sometimes not EXACTLY what Ken teaches when he breaks the moves down. For instance, during pattern #3 near the end of the DVD, he teaches a quick hand change to be completed on the count of 1 after a cross-body lead. However, when he demonstrates the entire pattern in real time, he completes the hand change on the previous 8 (the pause) or sometimes as early as the 7. However, it works out fine each way and shows that details like this are not cast in stone.

Second, although the DVD does cover the essential cross-body lead and gives three different - and very useful - patterns that begin with it, I was surprised that there are no turns for the man. Other beginner's DVDs and the classes I have attended include these. However, this may be attributable to the LA style or they might be covered on Volume 2 (which I do not yet own).

Also perhaps attributable to the differences between LA and other "linear" styles (like New York), is that some of the moves are different than the way I was taught them, e.g., the man's and lady's footwork for the lady's turn and cross-body lead. However, the lady's turn as Ken teaches it is actually a bit easier for the lady to execute and the footwork shown for the cross-body lead does require somewhat less overall space on the dance floor, an advantage when it's crowded.

As a final nod of approval for this DVD, I'm ordering Volume 2 today!

The DVD does what it promises: It will get you started with salsa. Starting from the very bottom you're guided through timing and rhythm (counting), the basic footwork and then LA style basics. Having this in place you'll learn three different moves (patterns) and that's it.

It's generally well taught, repeating the moves and spelling out the details, or at least most of them. Some are left out. For example, they'll change between closed and open position without mentioning a word about it. You'll likely find that intuitive and not a problem, but a worse example: You'll learn a cross body lead, but not what the signal is - how does the lady know it's coming? You'll have to watch and figure out on your own. You'll also find the typical inconsistencies - when they do the moves fluently, they won't stick exactly to those details they have just spelled out. The beginner will watch the footwork and handwork closely and go: "That wasn't quite what he said?" This is both good and bad. Such inconsistencies are confusing to the beginner, but they're part of salsa. You can and will vary the same move somewhat once you become comfortable with it. Salsa is not for robots.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this DVD will only get you started. You'll learn basics and 3 moves and be asked to buy the next volume (which hasn't been released as of now). So if you already know the basics and want to learn some moves, this is not what you're looking for. I had hoped it contained more, and after watching it I immediately ordered two other DVDs that should cover much more.

Seems like a great buy for the very beginner. Just be aware that it won't take you far.

I've taken salsa lessons from instructors and gone to the clubs, but wanted to learn some more and get some more practice. These lessons are very good for something that you can do in your home. I checked out the Quick and Dirty guide to Salsa first. That was garbage. Get this instead, for sure. One thing, i would have liked the instructor to use the spanish names for the moves that i'm familiar with from the actual salsa classes. But overall, great stuff, and he points out moves to ACTUALLY lead, which most ppl won't show you.

I am a beginner in the world of Salsa and bought 3 different DVDs to complement my weekly lessons in a local studio. After reviewing all, my favorite is this DVD. I found Ken's instructions easier to follow. Also, what separates this DVD from the rest is that he gives tips on how to use hands for leading/guiding. The quality of the recording and presentation is great. I am eagerly waiting for the vol2.

Ok, we decided to amuse ourselves by learning a little something new a bit later in life than the average dance fan. After running through a couple of other dance intructor's videos and still scratching our heads about exactly what they were doing, we came across Baldwin's Hot Salsa Lessons and we were able to follow his clear instructions and the smooth "how to" movements. I'm anxiously waiting for volumn 2.

Excellent DVD - truly the best instructional Salsa DVD/tape we have owned. Ken is a great instructor and there are plenty of close-ups and little details and tips that most instructional programs forget to mention. This a great program for the beginner and for anyone who has danced before. Ken and his beautiful assistant do a great job at demonstrating the steps.

I read a few reviews left by others and of course this program is to get you started. It is volume 1, and it should be expected to be followed by volume 2 and so on... Too much information or too many moves on a single DVD or program can be overwhelming, so my wife and I were very happy with what was offered in this volume. To learn is best to take it slow; practice and practice - learn the moves until they become second nature. Of course we want more - so we'll be waiting for Ken's second DVD and more if he plans to release other volumes. Excellent work Ken!

By far the best salsa DVD I've ever seen . It covers the basic, turns, cross body leads and 3 patterns. As simple as it sounds and as obvious as it can be that it is intended for begginers, I can bet most experts can learn a lot from this one. It has close ups on foot work, proper techniques in turns for both the leader and partner, examples on what to do, and what to avoid. Not only does he teach the lesson, but he has a detailed review at the end of each chapter on what he just explained. There isn't a chapter dedicated for variations of the basic and fancy footwork, but boy! you'll be amazed on how you can spice up your dance after watching his moves (your parter will love it). Begginers should stick to the simple basic before moving on forward with the hot stuff. The production of the DVD is superb, you can see it was produced by someone who has been in Hollywood, not by a dancer with a camcorder. Can't wait for the next volumes. Hurry up Ken!

As a middle aged man with little previous dancing experience,I have been finding my lessons tough going. I have difficulty leaning sufficient numbers of moves to get me confidently through a dance on a real dance floor. This video changed all that.The 3 patterns together with plenty of basics and a few add ons from my many lessons now allow me to dance confidently with my partner and other women of a similar standard to myself.
The video is enjoyable to watch and learn from and is put together with professionalism by a man who is clearly the master of his art. It has allowed me to make a quantum leap and I look forward with relish to Volume 2.

Hot salsa lessons vol 1 is a great salsa instructional dvd, if your a beginner its great and if your an intermidiate to advanced dancer its also great. The DVD takes you from the begining, not only how to do the foot work but getting the rhythm, feeling the music so when you dance you can feel the beats and eventually you dont need to count. It starts out counting the beats in the music which is directly incorporated into the steps, so you go from learning the basic steps for men and women parts to learning simple combinations, to eventually a whole routine that will make you look like you've been dancing salsa for years, I highly recommend this DVD to any person interested in learning how to dance salsa or anyone trying to learn more combinations and work on the basics of the salsa rhythm.

I have been dancing for 25 years and teach other partner dances. I've been learning Salsa recently and have been looking for good instructional videos. This one is excellent. The video really does start from the very beginning for new dancers by starting with the timing (rhythm pattern) of the dance and the basic foot work. It then progresses through the basic moves and culminates with a couple intermediate patterns. The instruction by the male teacher was very clear.

One thing that I really appreciated about their teaching style was that the instructors always danced with very good clean form. We model ourselves after our instructors, so it's important that they are dancing the moves similarly to how they would dance it for real. Many instructors "dumb down" the steps to make it easier to see what is going on, but the disadvantage is that you then have poor movement as your model. This is exactly the problem with the video "New York Salsa: Beginner: Vol. 1". Those teachers take large exaggerated steps so that you can see what they are doing, but it looks bad and provides poor modeling. These instructors do the steps beautifully and use different camera angles, close-ups of the footwork, and slow motion to help you see what is going on.

I also appreciated that the instructor mixed in technique pointers with each step. This is often left out of instructional videos.

There was only one problem for me with this as a beginning video. There is no instruction on how to create the proper hip movements in the dance and what NOT to do. Many beginners either don't have much hip movement or look over the top exaggerated.

Overall, I highly recommend this video. I just wish that they had an intermediate version. I'm already done with this one.