Ballet Boot Camp 2

Rating:
Summary: Great DVD!!!
Review: This is a wonderful workout DVD, it is not your typical high quality production, but the workout delivers!. Jessica Sherwood is an excellent instructor, during the workout, she makes sure you do the movements correctly by showing you a quick demo just before each exercise. Her students all have different body types and levels of flexibility, so you get so see how they all do the same movements according to their own body type.

The workout is for your whole body (warm-ups, stretches from neck all the way to your toes, exercises for the arms, back, torso, hips, core strength, inner thighs, buttocks, legs), the first time I did it I was exhausted and thinking "how long is this thing?", but it is worth it and you'll see the difference in your body if you stick to the workout, leaner and more flexibility.

Towards the very end, there's a nice choreography, the instructor repeats the movements a lot, and they are divided in sections, so that you don't feel lost and you do them correctly. The only thing is that you need a large space for this, for example, I had to move my furniture around a bit. It's a great choreography to make you feel graceful just like a ballerina

If you are a ballet lover, want a good ballet workout and don't mind the plain studio background, then this DVD is excellent. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: "Boot Camp" for Ballerina Wannabes
Review: Workout Description: 16 minute warm-up / stretch, 52 minutes of ballet moves used for toning (37 minutes of floorwork & 15 minutes of standing ballet work, focusing primarily on the lower body, with some ab and minimal upper body work), & 13 minutes of aerobic ballet routines for a total of 81 minutes. This is not a true "boot camp" workout, except for the fact that everything is counted out in 8s. However, it is, more or less, a real ballet workout.
Workout Level: mid-intermediate to low advanced; aerobics contain high impact and fairly challenging choreography
Instructor: Jessica Sherwood (Has a degree in ballet performance; certified ballet instructor who has worked with Crunch Gyms). Jessica is clear in her instruction, particularly in the one-on-one tutorials previewing upcoming moves. There's not much instruction for the standing ballet moves, though; she uses ballet terms liberally without much explanation. She works both sides evenly and intends for you to mirror her movements. She sometimes gets distracted by her students or the camera, but it's nice to see an instructor smile genuinely. Her flexibility can be a little intimidating, but overall her technique is good.
Class: some instructional segments with Jessica & 1 student only; other segments vary from 3-20 students of various ages and sizes; mostly women but some men figure prominently
Music / Set: The video uses classical music. (Some selections also appear on the NYC Ballet Workouts.) It appears to be set in a large gym with monochromatic walls and floor. (Apparently the producers decided this video would not be labeled "too artsy" in any way, since that was a common complaint about the first Ballet Boot Camp.)
Equipment Needed: optional mat for floorwork; can be done barefoot or with ballet slippers
Caveats: Although the cover states that this exercise is intended for all fitness levels, true beginners should not attempt this program because of its length and the difficulty of many of the moves. Familiarity with ballet and Pilates is highly recommended, but you do not have to be a dancer. There is no cool-down, so you may want to skip or repeat the warm-up / stretching segments from the beginning after you finish.
Additional Comments: This program is comparable to the NYC Ballet Workouts, particularly #2 with its dance routine at the end. I personally like the NYC Ballets a tad better, mainly because of their superb production and shorter running time. That said, all are in my rotation (for my "ballet week") and are used almost equally.
There is a strange "infomercial" at the end for a piece of strength-training equipment. Unfortunately, it seems to have taken the place of the cool-down. Besides that, my biggest problem with this program is the timing. Jessica takes time to demonstrate floorwork moves before doing them in full, which is great if you're just starting out but annoying if you've been doing the program for a while-although I've found I needed this time to stretch muscles used in previous segments and/or set up for the next move. The transitions between sides are very quick, and you may find yourself still setting up when the class has already begun the next exercise. There are a few pauses while Jessica waits for someone to push play for the music, which can be amusing or annoying, depending on your mood.
Most people probably won't have time to complete this program in its entirety. A natural breaking point is right before the "Paquita Waltz" ballet routines, which gives you just over an hour of ballet work. I reluctantly stop there; as much as I've tried, I'm too tall (5'8") to comfortably fit all of the waltz movements into my space (approximately 8' by 6'). The rest of the workout fits, though.
The DVD doesn't have a great menu, so if you want to skip forward or back you'll have to just use the buttons on your remote. There are no extras.