Customer Reviews

Intro to Ballroom Dancing / Margot Scholz

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

 

 

Margot Scholz is truely one of the great ballroom teachers. Everybody should take a lesson with Margot just to see how expertly she spots problems and how fast she can fix them. Anybody who takes a lesson with Margot is in for a real treat...and now you can have her on video.

If you're a beginner just starting out, this DVD is a great tool. Even if you're not a beginner, the way Margot explains this material can fill in some gaps your beginner teacher perhaps forgot to mention. It covers a lot of begninner material but don't let this fool you that it is not good. Margot precisely mentions EXACTLY what you are to do. In contrast a lot of other videos of teachers leave the student guessing as nothing is explained well...or the footwork is sloppy.

One of the mistakes of beginners is not getting the right foundation before moving on to the more complicated material. If you were dancing solo, this would be tolerable....but ballroom/latin dancing takes two people and if you're not grounded in the basics, its a real problem of "the blind leading the blind". So its best to go slowly and pick up the basics to as much completion as possible. In this manner this video will help. You can rewind and fast forward and you'll find the material expertly and preceisely presented.

Happy dancing!!

A real no-brainer using Margot's examples. I learned the Cha-Cha in 10 minutes flat using this DVD, and the other dance steps are just as easy to learn. I wish Ms. Scholz would produce an intermediate and advanced series!

This video really breaks down the steps and the instructor is very talented and graceful. The problem is: she teaches the male steps and tells the female do just do the reverse which is not as easy as it may seem. Plus, it looks like someone shot it with a handheld camera.

Most dance videos I've seen do not teach dancing accurately. This video on the other hand is correct according to every standard of dance I've learned. The only thing I have a problem with is that the teacher is not very clear about what count (in the music) that you should start on. Most dances you start on the one-count but in the Rumba and the Cha-cha you should start on the two-count and the teacher does not tell you this. The teacher is very clear about how to step and how many counts should be in each step. She teaches from the gentleman's perspective to start and then shows the ladies footwork. She allows sufficient time to practice the steps one by one and then at the end of each dance all the steps are put together. I highly recommend this for any beginner who wants a solid foundation in the basics of Ballroom dancing.

The video was just what I was looking for for my granddaughter.

The only problem was the rhumba. It was shown differently than how I was taught and I prefer the way I was taught when I took lessons at Arthur Murray Studios.

When she learns these dances, I will get her the next edition.

Ballrood Dancing is an instructional DVD on the traditional dances such as Swing, Rumba, Cha-Cha, Waltz, and Fox Trot. The program runs about 68 minutes. The instructor is Margot Scholz and she teaches both the mens' and womens' steps but starting with the mens' first.

The instruction is clear with which steps to take and the count also. The camera zooms to her feet periodically while she is performing her steps. Behind Margot, there is a small troop of older people dressed traditionally and ready to perform the particular dance after Margot does her initial instructions.

As a side note, I want to point out that this appears to be a pretty old program. The graphics and picture quality looks like a VHS copy from the late 80's. The music, style of clothing, and overall feel of this program is a bit unexciting.

But aside from that, the main point of this program is the dance instruction and this part delivers. Being on DVD, it's easier to skip ahead in case you want to try Waltz instead of Rumba, for example. Better with a partner to get the true feel of a dance.

My wife and I have started taking Ballroom Dancing lessons, and used this DVD as a refresher to the steps, as well as showing some new moves. Margot Scholz gives crisp concise instruction which is easy to follow, although brief. Very enjoyable.

There's not much more to say about this DVD. I read a few of the reviews of the product before I bought it, which all influenced my decision to buy.
The reviews were accurate and the DVD did what it set out to do. If the producers have more along this line for advanced classes I will also get them with a great deal of confidence that I am getting what I want.
The only negative aspect was that it took five weeks to get here in Perth Australia.

After checking out many educational videos on Ballroom dancing from public libraries and finding them all too simplistic and lacking depth, I decided to purchase some good DVDs on my own.

I bought "Introduction to Ballroom Dancing" based on Amazon.com customer recommendations. This DVD would be good for you if you did not know anything about Ballroom dancing, wanted to go out to dance with a partner who did not know much about Ballroom either so both of you could have a good time.

The DVD fell short of my expectations; simply too introductory for me and probably for you as well. Dance details such as "Contrary Body Movement (CBM)" and "Contrary Body Movement Position (CBMP) that play important roles in coordinating dancing partners and making the dance look nice and smooth were not given at all.

"Styling" instructions were extremely superficial too. You will see no discussion of the "Rise and fall," "Swing," and "Sway." Nowhere will you see your instructor show you how to use CBM, CBMP, or other styling techniques. Instead you'll see the stiff bodies of several dance couples mechanically emulating the simplistic steps of the dance instructor.

The point I'd like to make is if you dance with your partner, you'd soon be bored to death using these routines. And if you go to a Ballroom to meet new dance partners there, rest assured that people frequenting Ballrooms are more sophisticated in their expectation of you to dance more intelligently than the routines promoted on this DVD.

Don't waste your time and money purchasing this DVD; it's only slightly better than the rest of very low quality instructional dance DVDs that you can check out from your neighborhood public library for free.

So what Instructional DVD am I recommending to you if you happen to be a serious Ballroom Dancing enthusiast with discriminating taste and high expectation of your dance instructors?

I do have an answer for you but before giving it, let me emphasize that I have no financial interest in any shape or form in regards to my recommendation. I would like just to help people who, like me, are reading comments of previous customers in search of finding the best deal for what they're looking for.
Having said this let me recommend:

The Grand Ballroom, "Ballroom Dancing with Andy & Wendy Wong."
Phone:(604)273-3130
Here is their web site:[...]
Their DVDs come in different categories, Beginners, Bronze I & II, Silver I & II, and Gold I & II. If you know something about Ballroom dancing, I'd suggest that you start with their "Bronze I" series.

Their instructions methodically cover many subtleties of Ballroom and Latin dancing, such as musicality, rhythm, footwork, leg shape, Body Posture & Position, you name it; they've covered it well with multi-view demonstrations both for the man and the lady. Their Ballroom/Latin Dance Instruction DVDs are absolutely fantastic 5-Star productions. They indeed have earned my high recommendation. Following their instructions, you'll never dance on the beat but off the rhythm!