Customer Reviews

Wyoma: African Healing Dance

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a Master level workout of beginners to advanced Afro &
Afro-Caribbean steps. This is very similar to the way I was trained. I have been training in these dances for over 45 years as a performer & instructor.
The instructor has missed all the boring steps & has given you the most enjoyable movements. The instructor is one of the best at explaining this form of dancing I have seen. She is also one of the best dancers I have seen.
This is a must for all Afro, Conga, Guaguanco, Arara, Gaga, Bodu, Tajona, Yoruba dancers.
This will not be an easy video for most of you to follow but any of you who want to become Master level Salsa dancers should at least understand the beginners steps from the Afro dances. You can just use the first basic step Wyoma teaches you until you get the feeling for the other more advanced steps.

This is an outstanding video. The teacher, Wyoma, has a warm and inspiring personality. The video starts with some connection exercises, designed to get your spirit into the dance forms and connecting with the elements and animals. Then, there is a warm up section with isolations which uses the movements from the connections section. What follows are instructions for five traditional dances from various Afric nations. What I liked most is how Wyoma explains what each movement means. This really gets you into the spirit of the dance. The video ends with an improvisational dance.

All is accompanied by live drumming on Djembe, Conga and other instruments. Highly recommended.

This video is excellent for those who want to get in better shape, but hate the monotony of the average aerobics tape. If you love to dance--really set your body free, not concerning yourself with whether you're supposed to spin or dip--then this is for you. You'll be sweating after a half hour, but you'll be doing it with a smile on your face. There's plenty for beginners as well as more advanced steps. The rhythms are intoxicating and invigorating.

The thing I really liked about this video was the whole first segment, which is a workout in itself especially for beginners. In that segment, Wyoma encourages you to discover your body and make it into an art. By devoting your spirit to trying to emulate an elephant or different kinds of fire, you are willing to devote more time and energy to working out. There is a spiritual door you can pass through as well and this dance can help you find peace with yourself and your body and your ancestors and the outside world, too.

Just when I thought it was all over, I realized that was just the beginning. The peace kind of dissipated in the *actual* dances. I'm not the most coordinated person out there, and I spent a lot of time tripping over my feet and cussing at the screen. With a lot more effort I might learn the steps and learn how to move my body in ways it's never moved before. And I would like to, but it will probably take a long time.

I will warn everyone that this is workout is not typical aerobic-style workouts, where there is a strict structure and pattern of dance. Wyoma imparts the spontaneity of African dance into the class, and while she guides you on the dances, she does not give you counts or very many transitions. Wyoma is a dancer, and is not approaching this from an aerobic exercise perspective. This workout is going to be different from your Crunch or Tae-Bo workouts.

If you flip out if you miss a transition step or if the instructor doesn't let you know a new move is coming up, this might not be for you. But if you like the feeling of not being told what to do, or how you *must* do it, this is great!

Another few criticsms: Wyoma (like Billy Blanks in Tae Bo) fails to realize that after the 25th time of watching the tape, what's appropriate chatter in a live class can be annoying and distracting. Also, some of the steps practiced during the instructional part never come into play during the African and African-Carribean dances later on. It's a bit unclear how the two fully go together in my mind.

And, like so many workouts, there's often a useless shot of a dancer's head and torso when I really need to see legs and feet.

Another, with the DVD menu: You have to figure out when the African dances start and the instructional sections end, rather than having a clear sections on the menu.

Despite these criticsms, the truth is, I'm getting a great and fun workout. I really love the encouragement to try out your own thing, and since you're doing that, you challenge your mind, creativity, and even spirit in a new way every time.

I gave up my african dance classes when I became a mother and a wife, and totally lost the connection when I relocated to another state. Finding this tape is a prayer answered. I've long to dance to the drums and now I can in the privacy of my own home any time I want.

I hope this is not the last of these tapes. Lamba is one of my favorites dances types and anything to an Ibo rhythm works for me too. Just some suggestions from someone who has found a reconnection to the spiritual power of African dance.

I bought this tape to inspire me to get a little more exercise. Traditional aerobics bore me, and I've always secretly wanted to be a dancer despite the fact that I'm a complete klutz.

This tape is a lot of fun. The dances are beautiful, and even when I couldn't figure out where to put my feet, I was having fun trying. I loved the opening sequence (the aforementioned wind, fire, elephant moves), and was sad to find out that there was an actual "traditional" warmup. The only warning I have about the dances is that they typically require you to be able to isolate certain body parts (i.e. moving your rib cage, but not your shoulders or hips). If you haven't studied a similar dance style (or bellydancing, which is notorious for that), you'll probably find that a bit challenging at first. It's pretty rewarding if you stick it out.

The tape lost a star for three reasons:
1) there were a few occasions where she was teaching new steps and the camera never went to her feet (and I'm completely uncoordinated in that realm!)
2) I thought the dances could have been ordered (even within geographic regions) so that the more difficult dances came first. The second and third dances have fast foot, arm, and hip movements, while the fourth dance is much more simple. It would be nice to be able to master the easier dances before getting frustrated by the harder ones.
3) I desperately want it on DVD! (This would alleviate problem #2)

This video delivered exactly what I was looking for -- a way to incorporate the physical and the spiritual. So long, aerobics. Try this video for 1/2 hour and you're guaranteed to be sweating and centered. Lots of different dances and easy to follow insructions at beginning of tape. A fun, let-yourself-go way to exercise. Beautiful people, locations and movements. A winner!

I own quite a lot of dance videos, and I have to say, after i got this one, i had to can all my other videos. This is by far the BEST video you can own on dance. It is simply beautiful. Wyoma is a REAL dancer. A real dance comes from the heart and is a deep expression of the inner self- and it is beautiful to watch. Wyoma makes anyone feel like they can dance this way, and if they are really letting go of pretentions and conciousness, they'll be able to achieve healing by expressing themselves in a beautiful and true way. at first i didnt really buy the idea of this dance video as being healing- but i have been proven wrong. I come out of it feeling whole, empowered and capable.
The warmup is great- it really gets the heart pumping and is great fun (as all dance should be). I use the warmup for other exercise routines.
There is so much information and instruction packed into this video that its worth at least 5 times the price.
Even if youve never danced before- you'll feel like a pro after trying this out.
The only downpoint: The backgound dancers could have been left out- especially the lady who seemed a bit amateurish.
although this one informative video can suffice- I really would like to see another video released with wyoma- expanding on this video.

I am a VERY white girl, and was concerned that I wouldn't be able to do this video. NOT at all the case. I absolutely loved the first section, and had probably the best time I've ever had exercising (stomping around as an elephant? Being fire? Water?)

The instructional part was harder for me to grasp, but I did come up with some reasonable approximations of the dances, and I'm steadily getting better. It was generally clear and well demonstrated, and some of the costumes (especially the simple white dresses) were gorgeous!

I'm learning to belly dance, and I find it hard to improvise and dance freely. This video not only gives me a good workout and makes me feel happy and relaxed, it's also helping me to improvise better!