Ballroom Dancing

Rating:
Summary: Best Beginner and Intermediate DVD
Review: I have purchased and viewed several dance CDs focusing on the Waltz, Rumba and Cha Cha. This is the best by far. Most others are focused on flair and professional looking dancers. This tape is produced more for the "common" dancer. It is easy to follow, the music is perfect for the beginner and intermediate and the dance instructors are easy to watch and follow.
Negative: too much filming of a dance party before and after the lessons. It would also be nice for all of these instructional CD to have a "Scene Selection" capability to allow the viewer to stop and return to the lesson of interest.


Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: I have purchased books and DVD's based on customer reviews and based on the failure of the products do not respect the opinions of some. I think the worst was a "highly recommended" that was nothing but professional dancers showing themselves off. (Do You Want to Dance?) How about Darrin's Dance Groves that states "Move to the right" which Darrin does literally, so that the teacher and student are going "right" in the opposite directions? (Darrin is a professional by today's standards which is nothing short of shocking) Do you want to try this DVD after discovering all these mentioned horrors yourself? Did it include even the "Idiots Guide to Ballroom Dancing?" (Mine was tossed out the very afternoon I got it and had a look.) So one asks is this DVD worthy? Yes. They appear as "normal" people, the steps are clear, and especially to be noted are the obvious changes of shoes by Susan Webb. (Ladies you must see that shoe change. You're not going to switch all about doing different dances in a night. You can see through Susan that your choices of dances are dependent on your shoes.) I respect Kyle and Susan Webb as teachers. Here is the nasty news. It is for 40 year olds and upwards. After ordering this you're going to order Darrin's Dance Groves, he goes to the right and you're going to change that to the left, you're going to do this in the privacy of your home, never dance any of it in public because you must GET RID OF THAT 1960's INSTINCTIVE FREELANCE SWAYING. It's gone. GONE. You'll find yourself by accident trying to add a little swaying into ballroom dance. Do you understand what I am saying? Even if you never went to a prom or a dance like me I swear you're going to fight that indocrinated swaying. So go learn Darrin's Digital Get Down which is robtic/puppet moves and break that old fashioned and bad sway out of yourself. Actively fight that 1960's swaying. You can only do that by "modernizing" with a vengence until "word" association on "dance" changes in your mind.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth
Review: I have purchased books and DVD's based on customer reviews and based on the failure of the products do not respect the opinions of some. I think the worst was a "highly recommended" that was nothing but professional dancers showing themselves off. (Do You Want to Dance?) How about Darrin's Dance Groves that states "Move to the right" which Darrin does literally, so that the teacher and student are going "right" in the opposite directions? (Darrin is a professional by today's standards which is nothing short of shocking) Do you want to try this DVD after discovering all these mentioned horrors yourself? Did it include even the "Idiots Guide to Ballroom Dancing?" (Mine was tossed out the very afternoon I got it and had a look.) So one asks is this DVD worthy? Yes. They appear as "normal" people, the steps are clear, and especially to be noted are the obvious changes of shoes by Susan Webb. (Ladies you must see that shoe change. You're not going to switch all about doing different dances in a night. You can see through Susan that your choices of dances are dependent on your shoes.) I respect Kyle and Susan Webb as teachers. Here is the nasty news. It is for 40 year olds and upwards. After ordering this you're going to order Darrin's Dance Groves, he goes to the right and you're going to change that to the left, you're going to do this in the privacy of your home, never dance any of it in public because you must GET RID OF THAT 1960's INSTINCTIVE FREELANCE SWAYING. It's gone. GONE. You'll find yourself by accident trying to add a little swaying into ballroom dance. Do you understand what I am saying? Even if you never went to a prom or a dance like me I swear you're going to fight that indocrinated swaying. So go learn Darrin's Digital Get Down which is robtic/puppet moves and break that old fashioned and bad sway out of yourself. Actively fight that 1960's swaying. You can only do that by "modernizing" with a vengence until "word" association on "dance" changes in your mind.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent !!!
Review: This is a DVD edition of popular video instructions. It contains instruction DVD for Waltz, Rumba, Cha cha plus Audio CD for practice. Excellent set!

Rating:
Summary: Learn to Dance
Review: Well done!
Clear concise breakdown and explanation of three dances from beginning to intermediate levels. The Webbs' instructional method is flawless. The dance interludes are a great touch, giving you time to practice technique and style without having to switch from DVD player to CD player. The addition of a CD with appropriate dance music completes the party.

I especially appreciated the age of the dancers. Kyle and Susan Webb are specifically instructing everyday folks in the art of social dancing not flashy competitive dancing. If you want to learn flashy competitive dancing, you need much more than a video.

I was a little disappointed that this ballroom dance video did not contain the foxtrot, which is a lovely and necessary style for social dancing. However, Kyle and Susan Webb did not try to jam too much instruction into too little disk space.