The Method: Afro-Brazilian Cardio

Rating:
Summary: Fun!
Review: I found this exercise video to be a fun one. I bought it when it came out on VHS so I have owned it for a while now. I think it is a great workout and altough you don't really break a sweat unless you push yourself harder than the video it is still fun to do on easy days! I feel goofey doing some of the moves but once you do it a few times you get over that feeling. The instructor is also one that will not annoy you as many do. If you like dancing and you like a change from the norm then I would recommend this video to you!

Rating:
Summary: good workout, a little bit steep on the learning curve
Review: This DVD does not pretend to try to make you an expert at Afro-Brazilian dance, and that's a good thing, because it won't. But it is definitely inspired by that dance style, and takes moves directly from Afro-Brazilian dance and weaves them into a dance that you can do with a smile on your face.

Each of the three segments on this workout are short, which is good if you don't have a lot of time, and can be strung together, which is good if you do have a lot of time. I'm a fan of short, sweet workouts, and this has three good ones. Even in 15 minutes, it gets your heart going, but is gentle enough for a beginner.

The thing I love the most about this DVD is how it encourages you to use your whole body, to loosen up and feel the rhythm. There are moments, however, where a complicated move is not demonstrated very well (such as "The Watussi"), and so you might get a little frustrated until you've practiced it a bit. There are also places that have some jumping, which is a little high-impact for those of us with knee problems (or who live on the second floor of apartment complexes with hardwood floors), and there's no modification given for these. I get around this by doing my own modifications to the moves, and have just as much fun.

If you don't mind not being "perfect" at the moves and want to have a lot of fun with a good, generally easy (but still invigorating) aerobic workout, this is the DVD for you.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging, but not stimulating
Review: This video I would say is fair. It has its good points, but at the same time, it really has its bad points. What I really liked about it was that it is vert engaging. It has always been hard for me to find a workout video that will motivate me and entertain me. I get bored and fed up with the people of excercise videos easily. However, this is one that keeps you focussed and motivated, and the genuine charm of the afro-brazilian style of dance is enchantingly motivating too. It hooks you in right from the start with the first workout. However, the first workout is the only decent workout of the three. I was left excited to see the 2nd and 3rd workouts take off and get harder, but they didn't get harder at all; they got annoyingly easier. To add to the confusion, Beth Lane gave two differnt dance moves the same name in differnt workouts. That's quite confusing and annoying. In addition, there is a specific scene where Beth totally messes up, and they keep it in. She's doing the move wrong, and you can see the background dancers confused, messing up, and trying to match her. She messes instructions up later in the video too, and confuses the dancers again. This video isn't even live! All in all, I'd say that it's a poorly put together production. It's confusing, and it isn't challenging. However, it's still reasonably fun to do, and you're more likely to stick with becuase of the charm of afro-brazillian dance. So I would reccomend this if it's more important that you move for a long period of time instead of getting a good workout. Otherwise, this would not be a great choice.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging, but now stimulating
Review: This video I would say is fair. It has it's good points, but at the same time, it really has it's bad points. What I really liked about it was that it's engaging. It's always been hard for me to find a workout video that will motivate me and entertain me. I get bored and fed up with the people of excercise videos easily. However, this is one that keeps you focussed and motivated, and the genuine charm of the afro-brazilian style of dance is always motivating too. It hooks you in right from the start with the first workout. However, the first workout is the only decent workout of the three. I was left excited to see the 2nd and 3rd workouts take off and get harder, but they didn't get harder at all; they got annoyingly easier. To add to the confusion, Beth Lane gave two differnt dance moves the same name in differnt workouts. That's quite confusing and annoying. In addition, there is a specific scene where Beth totally messes up, and they keep it in. She's doing the move wrong, and you can see the background dancers confused, messing up, and trying to match her. She messes instructions up later in the video too, and confuses the dancers again. This video isn't even live! All in all, I'd say that it's a poorly put together production. It's confusing, but it isn't challenging. However, it's still reasonably fun to do, and you're more likely to stick with becuase of the charm of afro-brazillian dance. So I would reccomend this if it's more important that you move for a long period of time instead of getting a good workout. Otherwise, this would not be a great choice.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging, but not stimulating
Review: This video I would say is fair. It has its good points, but at the same time, it really has its bad points. What I really liked about it was that it is vert engaging. It has always been hard for me to find a workout video that will motivate me and entertain me. I get bored and fed up with the people of excercise videos easily. However, this is one that keeps you focussed and motivated, and the genuine charm of the afro-brazilian style of dance is enchantingly motivating too. It hooks you in right from the start with the first workout. However, the first workout is the only decent workout of the three. I was left excited to see the 2nd and 3rd workouts take off and get harder, but they didn't get harder at all; they got annoyingly easier. To add to the confusion, Beth Lane gave two differnt dance moves the same name in differnt workouts. That's quite confusing and annoying. In addition, there is a specific scene where Beth totally messes up, and they keep it in. She's doing the move wrong, and you can see the background dancers confused, messing up, and trying to match her. She messes instructions up later in the video too, and confuses the dancers again. This video isn't even live! All in all, I'd say that it's a poorly put together production. It's confusing, and it isn't challenging. However, it's still reasonably fun to do, and you're more likely to stick with becuase of the charm of afro-brazillian dance. So I would reccomend this if it's more important that you move for a long period of time instead of getting a good workout. Otherwise, this would not be a great choice.