Product Details

• Actors: Barbara Kaufer, Steve Garrett, Denise Paulino
• Directors: Barbara Kaufer, Marcus Koch
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: May 1, 2002
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006785G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #483,739 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

About the Actor

Steve & Denise won all major Balboa Championships in the US among them the National Balboa Championship 2001. They appeared in many movies and were headline instructors for one year at the famous Derby.

Marcus & Bärbl are originally from Munich, Germany. They have been teaching classes and workshops in 15 countries all over the world. Their unique character, their happiness, and their enormous energy made them so popular all over the World. They were given the prestigious Feather Award in 1996 and 1997, and the International Dance Teacher Award of 2002. Through competitions, teaching, and their worldwide available instructional videotapes they were responsible for bringing Swing in many corners of the globe. Among their many competition titles are: six times German Champions, Austrian Champions, World Champions, three times World Vice Champions, and two third places in the World Lindy Hop Championships. But besides all of these merits their teaching is a guarantee for a lot of fun and laughing that reflects the soul of Swing dancing.

Both instructors achieved their excellent knowledge of many different Swing styles by long hours studying the original dance scenes frame by frame and by working personally with the best dance masters from the original Hollywood movies, like Gil Bradey ("Don’t Knock The Rock"), Jean Veloz ("Swing Fever", "Groovie Movie"), Frankie Manning ("Hellzapoppin’"), etc..

"We hope you will enjoy the video and fall in love with swing as we did."

The World of Swing video series comprises 12 different videos with Marcus & Bärbl so far. Other videos will follow soon.

WOS #01 – 40s Hollywood Style
WOS #02 – Boogie Woogie/Advanced East Coast
WOS #03 – Footwork Fast & Fancy
WOS #04 – Advanced Hollywood Style
WOS #05 – How To Jitterbug
WOS #06 – From Partner Charleston To Lindy Charleston
WOS #07 – Master Trick Steps: Part 1 – Guys
WOS #08 – Master Trick Steps: Part 2 – Dolls
WOS #09 – Secrets Of Improvisation/Dancing To The Music
WOS #10 - Balboa/Bal-Swing 1
WOS #11 - Balboa/Bal-Swing 2
WOS #12 - Balboa/Bal-Swing 3

Product Description

Balboa was very popular among the College Kids in the mid 30’s and it is very popular again. Originally Balboa was a closed position swing form with intricate footwork predominantly based on 8-count patterns. But when the hot Swing music really hit the scene some of the younger dancers like Maxie Dorf and Lolly Wise added break-aways and swing turns to the Balboa, which nowadays is often referred to as Bal-Swing.

Balboa can be danced to any speed of music, from slow songs at 120 beats/min. till very fast ones at 300 beats/min. Pure Balboa is probably the easiest way to dance to fast swing music and enjoy it.

With Marcus & Bärbl and Steve & Denise you can learn from the best international renowned instructors.

Content:

-Section 1-
One-Step
Basic
Crab Walks
Crabs on 3 & 7
Paddles

-Section 2-
Transition
Cross Breaks
(He/She Crosses)
Come Around Swing Step
Swing in a Circle

-Section 3-
Inside Turn
Reverse Turn
Adlibs
Double Time
Shuffle

-Extra-

Interview With Original Dancers And Jams

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, November 5, 2002

By 

Tony Barlow (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World of Swing #10 - Balboa/Bal-Swing 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The M&B Bal tapes are outstanding introduction to Bal & Bal Swing. Together with the intermediate and advanced tapes, this collection is the best group of Bal tapes you can buy. The instruction is very clear, recording quality of tapes is strong, lots of socially useful moves, sweet jam sessions at end of tapes. If you like Bal, you need these tapes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, October 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: World of Swing #10 - Balboa/Bal-Swing 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've had the pleasure of watching dance champions Marcus and Baerbl as well as Steve and Denise in action during many Balboa/Bal-Swing competitions and never cease to be amazed with their perfomances. If you want to learn to dance like them, this video is as good as taking private lessons, as they reveal the secrets of their awesome footwork! They are some of the finest dance instructors today, as these videos will prove. They will inspire you and break down the moves well enough to give you confidence to try them out on the social dance floor. I recommend the entire series because once you get a taste of this dance you will surely want more!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can learn to BAL -- and have a great time in the process, October 27, 2002

By 

Richard and Liora (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World of Swing #10 - Balboa/Bal-Swing 1 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

We love this video series. This may be one of the best one's yet from Marcus and Baerbl's dance videos. Not only are M&B two of the greatest dancers around, they are also two of the best teachers out there today. Here's why we highly recommend this video:

1) Marcus and Baerbl, along with Balboa dance champions Steve and Denise, break down the moves and show them from multiple angles for both leads and follows. Their instruction is easy to understand. You can actually learn to dance from this video.

2) The video is technically well done. After showing 3-4 moves, they put them together with music showing how the pieces are part of the whole and giving you the opportunity to DANCE!

3) Interspersed inbetween dance instruction segments are interviews with several "old-timers" who danced balboa in the 30s and 40s. These interviews and dance demonstrations are invaluable resources preserving the history of swing.

4) Not only are Marcus and Baerbl great dancers and great teachers, they have a quirky sense of humor that makes watching these videos over and over FUN.