Dance for Weight Loss - DVD

Ok. I was skeptical about buying this dvd. I was the one who trashed her first video because of horrible music. I threw that dvd in the garbage. This dvd is actually good, music included.

Setting: The same studio and same dancers as in the Dancers workout video. The dancers wear sneakers or jazz shoes. I did it barefoot. Works best on hard wood floors

Music: Smooth jazz with a definite beat. You can actually groove to the music, sort of. Mind you it's not hip shaking music but it's better than that generic Kenny G stuff she used in her last dvd.

Choreography: There is a 60 minute and 30 minute workout. The longer of the two goes over each step over and over again. The shorter workout goes over the steps quickly and ends with 1 run through of all the steps.

The movement is jazzy, no ballet here. Some leaps, turns, chasses, large leg movements. She goes over each step many many times. She does the routine 2x at the end. My only minor complaint is so what happens after you learn the routine. You have to go through the whole class again learning the steps. She should have added a performance section where you can go through the routines as many times as you want until you break a sweat. One solution I found is that if you are watching this dvd on your computer, the full routine is chapter 21 (60 minute) chapter 25 (30 minute), on media player, and you can just repeat the chapters as many times as you want. On the Broadway dance dvds, they have performance, step by step and work it sections. That way once you learn the routine, you can just go to the other sections and do it x times.

Also, there is no warm-up, stretching or cool down. The moves are fast but doable. I got 95% of it at the tempo, the first time around. As you learn the steps, you can make the movement bigger.

Overall: Will I do this again? Yes but I don't know for how long. I have been doing Soul Sweat for 3 months and I am still not tired of it. That is because it's a workout instead of learning a routine and the real workout at the end. I can see myself getting bored with the learning part after I already know the steps. I could use another dvd to warm-up and just go to the performance chapters and to do the routine xtimes, but that could get boring too.

YogaGirl wrote a great review. I agree on almost every part.

The only thing I can add is there is no warm-up, but there is a short, walking w/arms raised breathing cool down for like 2-3 min.

There is a bonus standing 12 min abs workout w/some arms stretches since you use your ams as well for isomentric contraction & mostly working your obliques more then your abs, it actually is a decent workout for those who have don't have killer abs yet.

The bonus interview with Patricia looks like the same as her Dancer's body one which was nice.

There is still the bonus learn the moves step by step that she will spend several minutes on each simple move that is for people who are perfectionists or like to learn very slowly knowing evey nuance of a step which is a nice bonus though for morst, the 60 min is more instruction then almost any dance fitness video.

As yogagirl said, once you do it, you have to listen to the detailed instructions again which can be overkill after then 5th time. She is great with it, but... the 30 min will probably be the favorite part once you get it down. I only did the 60 min & I could follow easily & with mistakes that I could correct after 2 or 3 more viewings.

The moves are more hip rolls, hip bumps, cute stripper move, jump, mambo kinda to 4 corners, chasse kick step cross, hands side, side, up/down while knees swivel in/out, same thing on the other side, shimmy knees, ankle swivel walk, a kinda hip hop move, broadway leap... I may have only missed 2-4 moves in there.

It is a bit more high impact & not overly simple like Dancer's Body, but still very easy for even the most out of shape beginner. The music is better

i'm really impressed with this video. i'm a horrible dancer, and every video to teach dancing that i've tried has made me cry with shame. in the extras, there's a section where she breaks down every single move in the dance routine. she breaks down every single movement and goes pretty slowly (plus, there's rewind). i haven't worked up to incorporating everything into the 30 and 60 minute dance routines yet, but i'm just excited i can actually learn a move at a time! that's more than i've ever accomplished before. also, she's fun to learn from. she has a contagious smile/mood and encourages you to enjoy yourself instead of worrying about getting everything exactly right. that's nice :)

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