Customer Reviews

Yoga Dance Fusion

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

 

 

People have different expectations from yoga DVDs.

If you are an experienced-beginner to intermediate level yoga practioner, looking for sweaty, endurance and strength building yoga try Rodney Yee's Power Yoga, Shiva Rea's Yoga Shakti, almost any DVD by Baron Baptiste or Bryan Kest or Ganga White's Total Body - Fire.

This is not relaxing or flexibility focused yoga either.

If you want to dance or want something similar to Shiva's Trance Dance or the Yoga Booty Ballet series, this is not for you. This is not very dancy nor a fusion with ballet conditioning although the title may suggest that it could be either of these.

I still love it.

It is gentle to moderate asanas in an ultra-flowing vinyasa. The movements are graceful.

There are two sessions on this DVD. The first is 60 minutes and the second is 30 minutes.

The camera-work and locations are astoundingly beautiful. The background yoginis/yogi who practise with Patricia are graceful and demonstrate great form. The excellent production values enhance the pleasure of doing yoga along with this DVD.

Music is so taste dependant. I absolutely loved the music and plan to buy the CD version of the music for my independant yoga practice as well as to gift to a friend who teaches yoga, to use for his classes. It sounded to me like a lovely fusion of Indian and African music with a great, slower-paced beat, to match the mood of constant movement. The music credits say the music is from Soul Food Music from the albums "Yoga Groove" and "Yoga Rhythym".

In each of the two workouts Patricia takes you through multiple vinyasa sequences. Each sequence is repeated a few times. I did not mind that, but I notice here and at other forums that some dislike repitition. For me, each successive repetition allows me to focus more on form and grace. My only peeve is that the grace/dance-like flow aspect does not come through as well as it could have, because of the instruction and pacing. For each intermediate pose in a flow, Patricia spends time instructing you on form and in setting up the pose. That is great the first time, but detracts from the flow on subsequent repeats. Perhaps, on the repitions of each sequence, Patricia could have provided minimal instructions and kept the flow moving without pauses. Or perhaps she should have had a "minimal instruction" option of each workout, as a DVD feature like some fitness DVDs provide of late.

I like my Yoga "pure" rather than cardio/martial arts/anything else infused. I appreciate the static pose style, power style or non-power vinyasa too. I find this DVD a keeper for days when I dont want my yoga to be an intense "workout", but am still looking for some movement, the joy of vinyasa and some stretching.

I love outdoor yoga workouts and I enjoy dvds by Patricia Moreno, so I was anxious to give this a try. I agree that it really isn't dance. it is more of a flowing yoga practice. I bought all the ones in this series (this one, kickbox fusion and cardio toning fusion) and I like them all. They are a fresh change of pace.
In my opinion, the music alone makes this dvd worth the purchase. I think music on an exercise dvd is very important and this is different...not the same old thing.
Enjoy!

This workout has gradually become my favorite. I have to force myself to do others to maintain some variety. The production is outstanding, the music is perfect, the cueing is great and Patricia Moreno is just cool. Her energy is very positive and you finish the workout feeling good. I've done many other yoga and fusion workouts but this one is unique in a very creative way. Others have complained that it is repetitive. This is true but there is reason why: the moves are repeated and they build on the previous ones so that at the end of the workout, it is combined into a single graceful yoga flow. Because of the repetition, you can complete the whole thing competently and gracefully. Buy this DVD - you won't be sorry.

Menu: 56 min workout, 33 min express workout, 10 min. Bonus yoga stretch & Spanish option.
The lovely landscape background is inspiring, the different songs in each workout (in 5.1 surround sound which sounds awesome) that are different mostly Engima style music is wonderful. Enigma to me is sparse vocals that hold notes, a strong beat/percussion (grounding) & relaxing harmony/melody w/different instruments that is also interesting to keep you awake, a new age style Jazz w/almost a rock & roll emphasis on drums. I find Enya style lovely, but w/o a strong beat, it can bore me or be too sweet w/o the earthy strong beat. Having real songs & such great ones is a great improvement over most workouts.

The style of this workout is that it has a dance workout routine. Learn one move, practice a few times, learn second, practice a few times, repeat move 1 & link 2. Learn move 3, practice, repeat move 1, 2 & link 3, etc.

Main 56 min yoga workout:
Patricia w/3 women & 1 guy. Music changes w/each section.
Warm up - 7 min -
standing side torso stretches to each side several times, add basic 1 bent leg slightly back & fwd leg straight stretch, bowing the head more to the knee w/each repetition, add 1 back leg crossed behind for curtsy w/raised straight arm side stretch which turns to full single windmill stretch like Lester Horton move which does feel good.
2nd Warm-up - 9 min -
Seated breathing, child's pose, cat/cow, baby cobra, then baby cobra/child's pose back/forth several times, then use all moves w/kneeling to one routine several times. Music here is mostly held & slow notes, the kind to put you to sleep which is really relaxing, too relaxing the point you want to sleep instead.
1st Main workout - 14 min -
Plank, down dog, down dog w/raised leg (3 leg down dog), lunge, twisted lunge, revolved/reverse triangle, then twisted lunge/revolved triangle several times, down dog, twisted lunge/revolved triangle several times again, down dog, child's, cat, baby cobra, child's, kneel, repeat all the poses already done & end in child's pose.
2nd Main Workout - 19 min -
Plank, down dog, 3 leg down dog, build up to & do warrior 3, build & do warrior 3 again 3x more, stand & breathe w/arm circles, stand w/knee raised a couple of times, stand w/arm circle, stand w/knee bent to figure 4 over other knee a couple of times, stand & bend at the waist over figure 4 balanced legs, standing fwd bend, down dog, child's, full cobra, child's, kneel w/arms circled up, child's, plank, down dog, 3 leg down dog, lunge, twisted lunge, revolved triangle, transition w/warrior 2 to lunge, warrior 3, stand & breath w/arm circle, stand w/figure 4 & bend at waist, standing fwd bend, down dog, plank, child's, transition w/cat to baby cobra to child's w/one fluid motion to kneel in one fluid motion. Repeat same poses from main workout 1 & 2 doing them all slowly in one fluid motion.
Cool down - 4 min -
Standing, standing fwd bend, seated spinal twist, seated 1 bend leg fwd, 1 bent back/side & learn torso down to opposite side for stretch, other side for both seated stretches, sit cross legged for a few seconds for end.

Express 33 min workout
Patrica w/two women
Stand, standing fwd bend & repeat for 2 min, lunge, standing fwd bend, lunge, repeat for 2 min. Add lunge w/bringing torso up & arms raised then arms lowered & raised several times, standing fwd bend & repeat lunge w/raised & lowered arms again several times for 4 min. Down dog, side plank, plank w/1 raised leg, 3 leg down dog, lunge w/raised arms, down dog, repeat on other side, repeat again for both sides, lunge, standing split, lunge, down dog, repeat on other side. Do all the other moves again adding the new ones 2x on each side. Now add chair w/o arms raised, then lowered arms to floor, then repeat a couple of times, stand, standing fwd bend, chair, stand. Balance section, stand w/1 knee up, repeat w/other knee up, stand, then bent knee up, straightened leg, bent knee in one motion, stand & repeat. Repeat 1x on each side. Now it's bent knee, straight leg, tree, bent knee, stand several times. Now add chair to the standing balance leg poses. Now add all the poses from the entire workout several times. Stand, standing fwd bend, lunge, sit cross legged, end.

Bonus 10 min yoga stretch:
Patricia alone
First standing w/opening & crossing arms over chest several times. Adding wide step to one side, center, other side, several times. Then add low bent knee raise for balance, then making it straight several times. This then goes to standing & then step back leg down to low twisted lunge w/resting on back knee, repeat. Then add full seated spinal twist (she also twists for a second to the other side without changing leg position which feels good) & then seated wide angle stretch over one leg, then repeat all the previous moves to so the other side seated spinal twist & seated wide angle stretch over the other leg. I did not feel any workout nor enough stretch w/all the repetition.

Pros
* Patricia's earthy personality
* She cues so well, you almost never have to look up
* Her very detailed instruction on how to do the pose well, more then most instructors
* She even gives helpful hints to even rotate the arms to open the chest which many yoga instructors don't
* Where you should be feeling the stretch, where you're strengthening & where on your body to focus your attention
* She does all poses slowly & even builds some up for that might be hard for some to think they can do or too stiff at first (those who can can always do the pose while she builds)
* She does transitions slowly between poses, feeling as graceful & aware of your body more (also more difficult to hold & move slowly for those who want harder workout or also gives a better stretch)
* She reminds you to smile ("Next, lift the corners of your lips...") & encourages you to do your best & not concern that you can't do as well as you wish
* Diff lengths of workouts depending on how much time you have & bonus easy stretch
* The choice of real music & to break up the workout to go with the music.

Cons:
* She does say gratitude too many times, other inspiring words would be better if she is going for that, though how the pose/transition helps certain organs, body parts or emotional/mood is also inspiring.
* The repeating was a bit much. I'd rather she introduce 1 pose (in/out which whatever other pose stretches best only a couple times) then the next & next, THEN links them all together at the end a few times at most.

Every time I do this DVD I end up feeling totally uplifted and grateful with life!!! Totally a MUST HAVE!!!

I think Patricia Moreno is a great instructor. There's not much dance here actually, but particularly the 30 minute "express workout" is really quite good: works especially butt and hamstrings. I also really love the music.

I think the previous reviewer, C. Miller, is reviewing Patricia's Kickboxing DVD and not her Dance DVD listed here...

My Review on Patricia Moreno's Yoga Dance Fusion DVD:
This is one in a series of four new video that have been release from Gaiam. I love the two with Tanja Djelevic as they are a fun, fun, fun challenging fusion of yoga and cardio. I was hoping this one with Patricia Moreno would be like Tanja's, but I was disappointed as this routine is repetitive, drill like yoga sun salutations. (Also, the music is a bit too loud.) There are better power-yoga like DVD out there.

I've been practicing yoga for 2 years at a yoga studio. I've moved away and decided to try some videos. This was way too slow and boring for me - my mind wandered, I kept yawning. It was awful. I can see it being very good for an absolutely new beginner. Patricia Moreno explains every move in excruciating detail for someone with experience. And you can have a drinking game with the number of times she says "gratitude".

I love this video, work out with it regularly in the comfort and privacy of my own home. Patricia has a positive, uplifting spirit that shines through. I'd like it a little better if they had a routine for learning the routine, and then a second routine that flows quickly under the assumption that you've already watched the learning version several times. Even still, it's a great workout, challenging, strengthening, and inspiring!

Patricia Moreno's Yoga Dance Fusion serves as a reminder that my long term preference is for non-impact yoga fusion workouts ... not to forget where I came from in my journey with such forms ... even if it's been years of yoga practice!

I had gotten started with the ultimate in mind-body/dance fusion, the Rosases' NIA technique back in the day when it had just been called "Non-Impact Aerobics" ... But here is something major and new: Ms. Moreno's emphatic use of affirmations while working out, has been the precursor to her signature use of this empowering mind-body technique in her IntenSati programs and classes (which I have yet to try out; though I live in New York, I have too tight a schedule to make these classes at the moment).

The workout indeed fuses dance with yoga--mindful dance that is choreographed in moves, patterns and sequences. Many a beginners' yoga class at a vinyasa studio has moved towards embracing dynamic dance patterns, so indeed many reviewers might find it hard to detect any "dance" in the workout.

In her interview on the DVD, Ms. Moreno cites Anusara yogi John Friend as a major influence on her work. And, for their part, jazz dance forms could use all the heart-opening practices of an Anusara-inspired yogini to make them really shine.

In addition, as others have stated, the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful; and the soulful music creates the vibe that makes this workout, in a word ... transforming.