CIA 7004: All Star, All Step

This is my all-time favorite video. Why? Because it taught me that I really can do "complex" choreography and have a great time. Shannon's segment is fun and dancy, but her cuing is so good that I had no trouble following along. As someone else had said, I'd have been happy with the whole tape being Shannon.

Even still, Paul McKean's segment is my favorite. There is a particular two-knee repeater then kick-ball-change move that I think is just a blast.

Beverly Todd's segment has some fun moves and though you have to put your step sideways (which I don't really have the room for), I've been able to modify and join in. v The bottom line is, all of the segments are fun and the time just flies by. The intensity gets me into my HR zone but not so much that I burn out after the first segment. This is the tape I do whenever I don't feel like working out to get my enthusiasm back. Grade: A++

At last....a step video with three routines which are ALL good, at least in my opinion. I've had this tape for about a year at this point; at first, the only one routine I really liked was Shannon's. It's still one of my favorites, but ultimately, I've come to enjoy Paul's segment the best. His moves are somewhat more athletic than the other instructors, and he teaches them MUCH more rapidly, but I find his segment the most fun to do and most rewarding, workout-wise. Beverly's segment is also good, but I got bored with it very quickly. On the whole, for anyone who likes Step, I'd say this one's an A+.

It's too bad this video isn't at least 60 minutes of Shannon Anderson; I would like it a lot more. As it is, she does a warm-up and about 30 minutes of step. I like her personality a lot, and her choreography and cueing is pretty good, too. I think this routine is more challenging than her section on 5005.

Paul McKeon just doesn't do anything for me. I could picture a man, or someone who prefers more athletic, straightforward moves liking him, but it's not my style.

When I first saw Beverly Todd, I kind of winced and thought, "She looks like David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust days!" Although perhaps someone with an e-mail address of Redhead1 shouldn't make such snide comments. Anyhow, I did her routine for about five minutes. Her voice was kind of grating in a nasally sort of way, and the choreography was not very exciting.

In the future, I will do Shannon's part of the tape and then pop in something else to make this a complete workout.

I love the choreography in this video; there are lots of moves I haven't seen before which makes it a lot of fun to do. I like Beverly's segment the best, even though Shannon has the best personality. Beverly's just flows so well and I love her swing leg L step and kick, charleston straddle kick. Her 30 minutes just flies by. (BTW, she uses a vertical step and I don't have a lot of front/back room either but I turn the step diagonally and it works fine.) I can't say the same for Paul, who starts out so slow that his initial combo may as well be warm-up. The routine picks up, but if you've been working in from the first segment, your heartrate just plummets. Shannon is tons of fun and her routine is right up there with Beverly's, but better because she adds more power once her routine gets going. Unfortunately, as much as I love the moves on this tape, it doesn't get a lot of use because it's just not very intense. A little more power could take this tape a long way. I like it so much, though, that I use a segment after MIS or TT; with a tough strength lead-in, the segments are tough enough to get me into target range but not kill me. Intermediate choreography lovers should love this tape.

It's a keeper! This 2-hour step workout starts off with a warmup and 30-minute routine by Shannon Anderson Bohn. This is my favorite part of the whole tape. Shannon's choreography is a lot of fun, and her personality is, too.

Next is Paul McKean. I also like this routine. I have another tape that he is on, and I didn't like his routine on it, so I was expecting not to like this one either. But it's very good, and I'll keep doing it. I particularly like the little kick-ball-change on the floor part. It adds a little "flavor."

Then it's Beverly Todd's turn. She is also good, but this is my least favorite part. She does vertical step, so your step is pointed long-ways toward the TV. The trouble is, she uses each end of the bench as well as the sides, so you have to have a fair amount of room going from front to back. I don't have quite as much room front-to-back as I'd like with this routine. The steps can be modified, but it's not as much fun that way.

Overall, it's a nice long higher-intermediate level workout. Perfect for those days when you want to put in extra time at a more moderate pace. This one earns an A.

The warm-up and 1 section are with Shannon. I like this WO even more than 5005. She always seems to come up with some fun moves, like the shuffle turn step, 2 stomp repeater (she loves to play with rhythym), reverse turns and the hopstotch. It's all easy enough to catch on the first time around, and fun, fun, fun. Next comes Paul. He has a routine that is amazingly similar to his 5005 segment. All pretty simple to follow. Last is Beverly. Not much enthusiasm and none really needed. This is the closest CIA segment that you come to beginner level. She breaks down every move, even the simple moves. Needless to say, the more advanced exerciser would be bored. I will keep my copy 'cuz I really like Shannon's segment; I give it an A- (needed a little more intensity to get an A) and Paul gets a C.

Three step segments. First instructor is Shannon who does a fun warm-up followed by 27 minutes of beginner-intermediate stepping. I enjoyed Shannon better on this tape than on 5005. She does the "infamous" reverse turn step, and she has lots of fun moves, but it is relatively simple and my heartrate didn't go up sufficiently. Paul McKean followed with 30 minutes of another simple workout with some plyometric and tricky moves, but nothing to rave about. I find Paul to be very wooden and stiff, the same as in 5005, but this workout is a smidgen better than 5005. He is cute, as someone mentioned. The music was good at the end of his routine. A six inch step is used on most CIA tapes and this is no exception. I did both segments after Jump and Jab, so I welcomed the simplicity and low intensity. Beverly Todd used the step in the vertical position. Another easy to follow workout, with some jumps and leaps towards the end. Nothing to write home about, and the sculpting segment didn't leave any lasting impression on me. All in all, this is a simple, mediocre workout that I probably will not do for a long time.

This starts with an hour of high/low by Greg Twombly. A class participant, Kirsten ___, teaches a portion of the class as well. This is fun and the time goes by fast. Greg is the "star," but Kirsten is pretty good, too. I think her cueing is slightly late sometimes, but I didn't get frustrated trying to learn the routine or anything.

Next Ann Marie Saldi and Louise Boland co-teach "high/low with step." I like these ladies! They're friendly, fun, and excellent at cueing and teaching. This class is a combination of floor and step. They start off by telling you you'll use the step only 25% of the time, and the other 75% is high/low. While I enjoy this workout, I found the step to be almost a nuisance. It seemed to be in the way a lot when doing the floor routines. I probably won't do this routine much in the future, but I would be delighted to see the two instructors again on another video.

Grade B+.