Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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90 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Relaxing and Therapeutic, April 14, 2005
Some points to take into consideration:
*This is a gentle, therapeutic workout. If you are looking for cardio, this is NOT it.
*Stephanie's background is that she was a principal dancer and worked with George Balanchine and Martha Graham (and others). Also she has a strong background in Pilates and has worked with Carola Trier, a disciple of Joseph Pilates.
* Although this is called "Ballet Workout", the majority of it is not classical ballet. It is Martha Graham meets Pilates with a sprinkling of classical ballet mixed in there.
*She has worked with all different kinds of people, of different ages and ability.
The Workout & Menu Background:
Alignment and Ballet Workout: 33 mins.
Ballet Barre: 6 mins.
Body Flow Stretch: 49 mins.
Meet Stephanie Herman: 6 mins.
The background is simple and quiet. It includes only Stephanie Herman herself and no backup people. The music is very, very quiet classical music. The background scenery is all blue- the floors, mats, walls, everything. This is kind of nice because it creates a serene, relaxing atmosphere as in what you may experience in a Yoga studio. I did the Body Flow Stretch (which is entirely mat-based; no standing positions) portion of the video the first time at 5:00 am and it was a nice, calm way to wake up and both wake up and strengthen my muscles.
The idea for this video is to make this workout possible for people who have never experienced ballet before to the most advanced dancers. Stephanie even recommends this video as a therapeutic tool for people with or have had injuries (post physical rehab). As far as I can tell it accomplishes a workout for all abilities. It was easy for me to follow and I haven't done ballet for 15 years.
The only glitch I found in this video is that in a moment in the Ballet Workout portion Stephanie doesn't explain the steps real well. At one point she seems to almost forget the camera is there and stops giving directions so I ended up lost.
Throughout the rest of the video, she is attentive, explains everything clearly and why it's important to do so. I do recommend "Ballet for Dummies" or some other ballet manual because there are some ballet steps in there that takes some foreknowledge of ballet steps and terminology.
Also what I liked about Stephanie is that she continuously reminded me to breathe. During many workouts I find myself holding my breath because I'm concentrating so hard. Didn't have a problem with that in this video. And after I did this one a couple of times I actually started breathing better during other exercises. Stephanie explained that breathing regularly gives the muscles oxygen.
By the way, if you want something that's ballet and cardio, may I suggest Balletone, found on Internet but not Amazon.com.
Overall, I've been enjoying this video. It is beneficial and enjoyable. Stephanie Herman is gentle and intelligent. Also I was totally excited to be exercising "with" some one who is so professional and have known such professionals as George Balanchine, Martha Graham, and a disciple of Pilates.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Ballet Workout Video, April 6, 2005
A great and highly energtic workout. If you're looking to stretch and work on your grace when you have some time alone, it's great. For flexibility, this is a good video. For a workout, it's even better. There are a few different programs on the one DVD, ranging from 10 to 35 minutes so you can choose your style and length of workout, tho.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dance and Stretch with Stephanie, September 2, 2006
Stephanie Herman's workouts are extensive sessions of body shaping excellence. Not only does she teach you how to move elegantly, she knows exactly how to turn a workout into poetry in motion.
The series of exercises in Dance With Me Ballet flow naturally and go beyond pure form and function. The perfect postures and fluid motions become a moving meditation where you can escape into an inner beauty expressed by the body in a sense of elation.
If you have been consistent with your Pilates and Yoga exercises, the Stephani Herman workouts are your reward. This is where all your repetitions turn into art, where the long hours of practicing precision turns into strong confident movements. While this is low impact, I'd recommend this to anyone who feels they are intermediate in Yoga and Pilates.
There are no detailed instructions (but excellent cueing) for postures and the exercises move fast from one posture or dance step to the next. You are almost expected to know the various Ballet positions, so having some experience with basic Ballet workout videos would be great before starting these exercises. I also think the balance needed to complete some of the exercises requires you to be at an intermediate level.
You are presented with three options and the first is an inspiring dance session set to beautiful music. The second is a Ballet Barre workout and you can complete the exercises using a very sturdy chair. The third "mat moment," for it truly is more than exercising, is a flowing sequence of superbly crafted movements designed to shape and tone the entire body.
I'm honestly not sure why anyone would not think this is an energetic workout, I can feel this all over (that tingly this is going to hurt tomorrow and already does feeling) and can currently hardly type, let alone think....lol. Not only do you move rapidly through a series of dance steps, you continue to workout at a fairly rapid pace throughout even when stretching. If you only did one workout at a time it might seem less energetic than if you did all three at once.
If you want something fun to do on a weekend (or a day where you can stay home the next day) and you enjoy challenging yourself artistically and physically, then this extended workout is perfect. A hot bath with lots of sea salts seems essential after this workout. I completely enjoyed this workout, but I will say sleep is calling me. I personally thought this was pretty intense if you do all three sections at once. If you think this was easy, you are probably at an advanced level.
~The Rebecca Review, intermediate
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