Dance Off the Inches: Calorie Burning Party

This is a 50 minute workout with a 5 minute bonus dance workout.

The 5 minute bonus dance does not have any tempo changes. It includes some routines from the main workout with a few changes. It is very fun and flows really smooth. The 50 minute dance routine has 3 tempo changes which are very noticeable.

The first tempo is for you to learn the move. The second tempo is to get familiar doing the move. The third tempo is to really get into the dance.

At first I didn't like that the tempo changed so drastically from very slow in the first tempo to the beats really fast in the third tempo. But after doing the workout several times it didn't bother me so much. But you can definitely feel the change in the music. The dance routines are very fun and easy to learn because of the first slow tempo giving you enough time to get the moves.

The exercisers all look like they are enjoying themselves and having fun. And Julz is very friendly and motivating throughout the workout. One of the exercisers is Katz from a Leslie workout.

The set is a bright and airy retro living room. The music is very motivating and appropriate for the dances.

Conclusion:

I would have liked the chaptering on this DVD to have been better. I would have preferred that right after the main workout instead of it going straight to the cooldown that it would have returned to the menu screen to allow me to click to the bonus segment or cooldown if I preferred. There are days when you have time or maybe just want the extra 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes are really fun and flow really well.

I also would probably have preferred that there be no first tempo because it is slow. I would have preferred just tempo 2 and 3. But if I was a beginner I would have needed tempo 1 to learn.

All in all I liked this workout alot because of the variety of dance moves. Nothing boring in the workout the time goes by quickly. Julz is extremely fun and motivating.

Calorie Blasting Party is a fun, 42-minute dance workout which is made up of the following segments: a 4-minute warm up, four choreographed dance sequences (each consisting of about 4-5 individual dance patterns), and a 3-minute cool down. Instructor Julianne "Julz" Arney teaches the dances using a unique, 3-tempo format. First, she will introduce the steps at the slowest tempo, Tempo 1. Then, once you have the basic idea, she will speed it up a little to Tempo 2, giving you some additional time to practice. Finally, you'll perform the dance at full tempo, Tempo 3.

As mentioned above, the dance sequences (about 8 minutes each) consist of 4-5 individual dance patterns which Julz teaches one-by-one. I have trouble with complex choreography, but I generally found the steps here to be simple, easy-to-learn, and fun as well; there were a few times during the workout that I struggled to follow along, but that didn't seem to matter much as long as I was moving. I do think that doing the steps at the slowest tempo sometimes made them actually HARDER to replicate; I would have preferred moving more quickly Tempo 2. Furthermore, it would have been great to have a Tempo 3 only option on the DVD for once you are already familiar with the workout.

The DVD is well-chaptered, which is nice because you could easily do only a couple of the dances if you're looking for a shorter workout. In addition, a t-minute bonus "Dance Off" combines some of the moves previously learned in an all Tempo 3 segment; it would have been great if this were longer, but it's still nice to have. The first time I tried this workout, I had trouble keeping my heart rate in my target zone, but the second time (which was following a weights workout), my HR definitely stayed elevated; I expect that it will be even easier to keep my HR up once I become more familiar with the moves.

Overall, I am happy with this workout and believe that I will get a lot of use out of it.

A very pleasant intermediate 35 minutes of dancing. I like the 3-tempo format--it works great for getting you used to the basic routine, then speeding it up for more of a workout. I could see, however, where that could get old if you kept redoing the workout. Too bad they don't have a "Tempo 3 Only" chapter!

The set is that of someone's (seemingly Juliane's, as she says "I'm so glad you all came over today!") really fashionable living room, complete with post-modernistic colorful chairs, comfortable looking divan and staircase. The music is actually kinda bland, instrumental takes on real salsa, hiphop or dance music.

Juliane works out with several women (real-looking women of all shapes and sizes, which is always nice to see!) for whom she ostensibly names the various routines. Each routine is pretty simple--i.e. double-stomp on each foot plus grapevine. One routine includes small hops with both feet, but that's as high-impact as it gets. There's a fun step-touch with go-go arms, mambo-cha-cha-cha and mambo front-back-sides. She encourages you to enhance the basic footwork with your own style of free-form dancing in the hips and arms.

Nothing is TIFTTed very long, so you never feel bogged down. It's a very pleasant 35-minute low-intermediate workout.

This dvd is made up of a warm-up, 4 different dances (with 4 segments to each dance), and a cool-down. The segments are taught at Tempo 1, then you step it up to Tempo 2 and really get moving at Tempo 3. The moves are fairly basic, yet varied enough so that I was not bored. I was able to pick up most of the moves fairly well, and got a little better each time I used it. (I have used it 3 times so far). You learn each segment in each dance, then put it all together at the end, before you go on to the next dance. Once you do a dance, you are finished with it.

I really enjoyed this workout, it was a lot of fun and my heart rate got up in my fat-burning zone. It was kind of like an interval workout since you slow down on Tempo 1, and then really pick it up on the other 2 Tempos. The music is instrumental, nothing I recognized but it goes well with the workout. I debated before I got this workout because I didn't care for Juliane's QF Hip Hop workout, but I am very glad I decided to get this one.

Both of these (this and Cardio Dance Party) are set up the same way, and use the same set. the only difference is the length, the instructor and the moves used in each. each workout is chaptered by routine and each has a short blast workout that takes moves from the previous routines and makes a new sequence done at tempo 3. these are very fun workouts that are probably best suited for intermediates or high beginners who want to try something dancey but think they have 2 left feet. The routines are done on carpet, unlike many dance workouts. You learn several different routines in each workout, learning a combo at a slower tempo, then take it up to tempo 2 and finally up to tempo 3. As you lean more steps, the new combo is added to what you've already learned at tempo 3. Within each routine, there is some TFTTing, but once you finish the routine and move onto a new the previous one doesn't come back. the cueing is good and there is a nice variety of moves and fun music. An ambitious beginner, tired of program with few steps, might find these doable. Jules and Lydia are lots of fun- and I've had a good time trying to get back to exercise after surgery with these. While they're not intense, they are fun workouts that make dance accessible to people who thought dance workouts would be too complicated.