Customer Reviews

Energetic Fun in Dance - By: Alejandra Vernon, 22 Oct 2007
This excellent dance instruction DVD starts with a terrific warm-up, that centers on isolations & stretches. In order to do all the stretches full-out, you'd have to be quite limber, but you can do them at your own level, & still get a lot out of it. This warm-up section is good even if you don't want to continue on to the dance routines, as it makes a great morning "wake-up" as well as a relaxing way to get the tension out of your body after a hard day. Loose pants & a soft stretchy top, with sneakers, is what Laya Barak, & her 2 assistants, Jonathan Lee & Eleonora Barbacini are wearing, & the presentation is well done, with simple lighting & camera angles enabling you to see what is being demonstrated clearly. Music is by Jay T. Jenkins & Mervyn Theodopolis Jr. (Warmup), Daryl "D. Roe" Monroe (Beginner & Advanced), & Ray Johnson (Intermediate).

The Beginner routine is easy but fairly long; the choreography flows well though, & the movements are broken down & explained enough to be able to assimilate it & make memorization easier. When performed up to tempo with the music you should be able to dance & enjoy it, & though some dance background would help a lot, enough passion for dance & desire to learn (and enough practice!) will get you through the routine if you are a beginner. The Intermediate picks up the pace a lot, as well as the length of the routine, & the Advanced is jammin'! It's a joy to watch Laya perform this invigorating & innovative dance form. She is a marvelous dancer, who completes every movement to its maximum point with precision & speed, as well as having musicality & that indefinable thingin dance called "line." Bravo Laya!