Customer Reviews

Learn To Swing Dance

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Of the nearly 200 tapes in my dance training collection, this is among the worse. Although it appears to be a good value in terms of the large number of moves shown for the cost, as well as the fact that it teaches moves suitable for single-step basic (suitable for Rock n Roll music) and triple-step basic (suitable for slower tempos of swing) it includes virtually no explanation. This package demonstrates rather than teaches the dance figures. Virtually the only narration is "step, step, rockstep" throughout. Critically important explanation of how to lead and follow dance moves are altogether absent. An especially poor selection for a beginning dancer who needs to learn the basics in order to actually be able to dance, and not likely useful for a more advanced dancer, who would probably already know the moves shown in this package. The best choice for a beginner wishing to learn swing dancing is to search the web for tapes by Paul Overton and Sharon Ashe -- these are the finest swing dance tapes I've ever seen (I own most of the swing dance tapes which are available). Also a good choice are those by Chris Yee and Julee Mertz, which are sold by Amazon. If you wish to learn the more difficult 1930s style of swing dancing, called the Lindy Hop, Yee and Mertz' tapes are also a good choice for the absoluate beginner, though I would recommend working through their "6 count swing" tapes, first. A word of advice to absolute beginners: it isn't the nuber of moves that you know that will make you a good dancer -- it's how well you are able to lead (or follow, for the woman) dance moves, so it is particularly important to purchase tapes which teach you good technique and actually explain how to dance, rather than showing you a gazillion moves.

This two tape set, is jam packed with 32 moves, including everything from basic Turns to Swivels, Kicks and syncopated steps. You learn steps from the Single and Triple Swing.The instructors demonstrate each step to music followed by the "guy's gig" and "gal's gig" in which clear shots of footwork and body movement show the leader's and follower's patterns. Follow up demos of each move are done to both show and fast music and a review sequence is shown after every five steps. High production value and higly recommended! Additionally with the DVD comes the Zoot Swing CD music of the band featured in the DVD for fun and practice!

EDITOR -BETTE LEE FOX

I took an intermediate ballroom dancing class and learned some swing steps. I then bought this DVD and added a lot of moves to our swing dance. The instructions are very clear and simple and easy to learn. This DVD is excellent, starting with the very basic moves on through advanced level. I didn't much care for the CD that came with it but the DVD instruction is well worth the price.

I remember Ginger of Paris from her tap tapes and her swing DVD is every bit as good. The instructions are clear as a bell; the music is dazzling; and even if you've got two left feet (which I do), I guarantee you'll get in the swing of things by the time you're finished. It gives new meaning to that old song, "Swing on a Star."

Lucy

I started dancing about 6 months ago. I was really excited about the dance. It is fun and energetic! Well, I had to move and could no longer take the local swing classes I was attending. So, I bought this tape. Just comparing them to the professional swing dancers at a swing camp I went to in California, their knowledge was minimal and sloppy. Overall, I was disappointed with the video. I did though find videos later that the professional at that camps made. They were wonderful. Overall, if your looking for a tape that teaches you a style that is good for dancing to very RETRO music and you are NOT expecting to make swing dancing a long-term hobby, I recommend this video. But, if you want to dance to the good ole big band music and lindy like they did in the 40's, I recommend a different video than this.

I have had the video a couple of days and have practiced an hour a day. My husband came home from a weekend trip and coulnd't believe how fast I'd picked up the steps. He said I needed to slow down so I wouldn't be frustrated dancing with him! The dvd has a cool dance session at the end, the things that these people are doing are NOT taught on the dvd, but are really neat to watch.

I liked the that this showed both beginner and more advanced swing. I felt it was good on teaching steps, but not much at all on technique. You could learn the technique by watching over and over(like where should your arms be-how do you place your feet, where should you be looking)but if you had a problem doing a step, you weren't shown how exactly to do the steps. Overall it was a good DVD on swing and you got your money's worth on learning steps.

You can take lessons in just about any dance form nowadays except swing, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered this DVD which will turn you into a pro in a matter of hours. What's best is they carefully show both the man's and the woman's parts because contrary to what most people would have us believe nowadays--in dance, at least, there STILL is a difference.

Barb M.

I wanted to buy some kind of swing tape and decided to check out a couple of offerings on the Internet before I put my money where my mouth is--or should I say, mouse is! I was a little confused by some of the comments on this one, however--one person said to be a good dancer, you shouldn't concentrate on learning the moves but on how to lead and follow, which struck me as kind of a contradiction of terms. What are you leading if you don't have any moves to try to get someone to follow? And what are you following if someone isn't leading any steps that you're supposed to copy? Very confusing. I guess it's like what comes first: the chicken or the egg. Or should I lead--whoops, I mean, Lindy--or follow? In any event, I decided to put all ideology aside and simply check out the DVD myself, and, my God, was I in for a surprise--it was actually good. In some ways, in fact, it was like a trip down memory lane. I did some of those steps when I was a kid and would have '50s dances at school. In other ways, it was a whole new experience, however--stuff you could show off whether you were doing hip-hop or the hula--and, boy, could I have impressed a couple of the guys in the class if I had only known then what I do now!

Every year I go to the dance festival at Lincoln Center in New York, where you can get lessons (for a fancy price), then dance outside free to an orchestra. I've always wished I could do the swing dancing because everyone looked like they were having such a good time, but doubted a couple of (really expensive!) lessons were going to make me proficient enough to join in. So, you can imagine how delighted I wa to find out that for a pittance of the price I could get this DVD and learn to do swing on my own. And I did! The lessons are really, really easy to follow, and they repeat them a lot for slow starters like me who take a while to catch on. I've even gotten my boyfriend hooked on them all and we're going to take on Lincoln Center together this summer. What's that old expression? How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Well, the same thing holds true for Lincoln Center. Just practice, practice, practice.

Abby N.