Dance ReMix

I’m reviewing this workout after doing it a few times.

General workout breakdown: This DVD contains one 60-min. dance aerobics workout. Patrick says he remixes aerobic choreography with dance (drawing from disco, jazz, hip hop, Latin, and cheerleading / dance teams). Erin has already described this workout well; I’m just going to add some details in case you possibly want more info after reading her review.

The warm-up (8.5 min.) teaches a basic combo; after some dynamic and static stretches for the upper and lower body, you repeat the combo one more time.

In the main workout (19 min. for the first part, 27 min. for the second) Patrick teaches 4 assymetrical combos (meaning they’re not repeated on the other side), which are built into one big routine. Patrick teaches each 8-count separately (and each combo has 3-4 8-counts), first at half speed, then at tempo. You run through each new 8-count 2-3x slow, 2-3x at tempo, 2-3x with the previous combo, 2-3x with the whole combo (if you’ve learned enough of it), and 2x from the very beginning (TIFT, or taking it from the top). For the most part Patrick teaches the combos as they appear in the final, although he waits until after you learn all of combos 1 and 2 to add the turns to the first 8-count of combo 1. I appreciate that Patrick picks up the previous combo when TIFTing, as that helps smooth the transitions between moves, keeps combos fresh in your mind, and keeps you from getting as sick of the earlier combos. Step touches, crosses, chasses, brushes, hip shakes or pops, box steps, cha chas, mambos, body rolls, runs, lunges, and other common steps are combined creatively into moves like Disco Down, the Paula (Abdul) Move, a new Laker Girl move, African Tribal Dance, Las Vegas, and Latino. There are moments when you’re marching in place waiting for Patrick to finish explaining things or get back onto the beat, so this workout isn’t non-stop movement.

The cool-down (4.5 min.) has a few simple moves to break your heartrate down, then ends with some stretches, mostly for the lower body, including a few yoga-inspired moves (like revolved lunge and triangle).

Level: I’d recommend this to experienced exercisers, perhaps around the intermediate to intermediate plus level, who are comfortable with complex choreography. This isn’t an intense workout, but it’s not supposed to be, as shown by the perceived exertion chart which recommends working around a moderate level; it’s more about making exercise fun than burning the maximum amount of calories. The workout has a few hops and a pretty good number of pivots and full turns.

I consider myself an intermediate + to intermediate / advanced in cardio, and I have little trouble with all but the most complex (or poorly cued) choreography. It took me several times through to get some of the choreography, especially since, this being a Patrick workout, there are numerous directional changes (I took some of the spins out) and some moves done with your back to the TV. Plus I’m not as used to this style of dance and instruction.

Class: 2 women join Patrick, who instructs live.

Production: the picture and sound are both clear, although Patrick doesn’t seem to have needed the microphone (as he says, once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader) – someone probably should have turned it down a bit. The camera angles overall are helpful, with only a few that cut off feet or upper body, although they only come later or in between combos. One quibble: the main view is just a hair far away for details to be clear in the split screen moments when viewed on a smaller TV.

The split screen appears during the first run through of each 8-count. In the upper right the video continues, with Patrick and the two background exercisers facing you, while in the lower left Patrick appears alone with his back to you. I agree with Erin that the insert of Patrick with his back to me was a little confusing, although if you’re used to learning dance in live classes I think you’ll find this more helpful than someone who’s more used to workout videos.

Equipment: sneakers that can turn on your workout surface. If you have carpet like me, you may find dance sneakers / dansneakers (like those sold by Bloch or Capezio) helpful; the cheap alternative is to put a piece of slick tape over the toebox of an old pair of crosstrainers.

Space Requirements: you should be able to take a few steps in each direction. It’s possible to reduce the footprint in spots by not traveling as much, but the more room you have the better.

DVD Notes: After the series intro plays, the main menu offers you the options of Play Workout and Customize Workout (warmup; workout 1 = first 2 combos; workout 2 = second 2 combos; cool down; break it down, repeated 3x; learn it with music, repeated 3x). It’s too bad the combos aren’t chaptered separately. Note that as with all Patrick videos you first get a montage of clips from the workout before Patrick introduces the workout and presents safety tips, and then the workout itself starts. After the warm-up, you have the options of previewing the entire routine at tempo or the routine slow with counts; you can also choose to continue with the workout or go to the bonus learning section.

Comments: It’s been a while since I’ve done the two other Patrick dance aerobics videos I had: Aerobic Dance Workout and Dance Moves. This isn’t as much of a space hog (I remember having trouble fitting the previous two into my workout space at the time). I agree with the VFers who say this is the easiest of Patrick’s dance aerobics routines to learn, although all but the absolute queens and kings of complex dance choreo shouldn’t expect to be able to pop this in and do it perfectly the first time through. (Even after several times through I still wouldn’t want Patrick to see me butchering his routine.) For me, the relative ease in learning is due to in part to the fact that the choreography seems a little simpler (it’s still complex, though) with fewer turns (and more obvious ways to leave out the turns), plus Patrick’s instruction methods, complemented by the camera angles and breakdown extras on the DVD. Except for Patrick’s shouting into the microphone, some of the other production issues seen in the other two videos (such as the glaring lights on Aerobic Dance) have been improved. Also, I agree with Erin that the amount of TIFTing is just about right, maybe a bit on the high side but still within my realm of tolerance (unlike Dance Moves, which seemed to spend the last 10 min. doing nothing but repeating the entire routine over and over and over).

If you like Patrick's other dance workouts, you'll like this one too. It's chock full of Patrick's fun, complex choreography. He has a fabulous rapport with his background exercisers and genuinely seems to be having fun. I did not get everything the 1st time through, but I actually like the fact that it's an ongoing process. I was so thrilled when I FINALLY could do all of Dance Moves. I'm ready to take Patrick's next challenge! I had a blast!! It's not much of a space hog side to side, maybe 2 grapevines worth. Front to back felt like I needed more space, but that may have been because there are some moves where I'm moving backwards. When I objectively think over the actual choreography, I don't think it was more than 2 grapevines front to back either, maybe less. There are mambos, chasays, twists, and turns, everything we've come to expect from our Patrick. It's not very high impact at all. I'm actually considering doing this barefoot all the time, since I work out on carpet, and my bare feet made the turns easier. Because I was having such a great time, I really worked up a sweat. I wasn't wearing my HRM since it wasn't an official workout, but I would estimate that I was easily in my low to mid aerobic range, even without catching all of the choreography this time through. I think it will be amazing once I can do everything! It's because it's so much fun that you really put your all into it. The amount of TIFT felt about right to me. When we got farther into the workout, he didn't go back to the very beginning every time. Usually it was back to the beginning of the combo you're building, or maybe the combo that came before that one. At the end you go thought the WHOLE thing 3 times! YEAH!! The warmup is very dancy, while the cooldown gives your brain a break while retaining a dancy feel.

If you didn't like his dance workouts, you won't like this one either, because it's very similar in format. Moves are taught in complete 8 counts, a couple of times slow and then full speed. They did seem much easier for me to catch onto than some of the combos in Dance Moves. As you get farther into the workout Patrick sometimes neglects to cue, just as he did in Dance Moves. This is NOT for the choreography impaired!

There are a couple of bonus learning sections, one where you see them from behind doing the WHOLE routine at tempo ( no cues or anything, just the music and watching them from behind ), and one slower with Patrick counting out the moves as he goes through, but again, there aren't cues to go with the moves. In addition there is an inset on the bottom left of the screen each time he introduces a new sequence, showing it from the rear view. I found it confusing to switch my viewpoint back and forth, so I stuck with the front view.

The music was all instrumental, with a really good beat in the background. I didn't recognize any of it, and none of it is anything that I will be humming all day, but I enjoyed it during the wokrout. It fit very well.

The same set is used for all 3 workouts in this series. I found the set to be very tasteful and relaxing took at. There are no glaring lights or strange camera angles that we saw in BEST Step or the ABC Workout. There is a TV screen in the middle rear with Patrick's name on it. Curtains hang ceiling to floor in the back which are lit from behind in a soothing blue. Then there are a couple of large columns, lit in a soft white light. A couple of screen with white panels and cutouts that let the blue curtains show through arc around the sides. It has a geometric feel.

This one is a winner in my book! Patrick really knows how to bring out my inner dancer!