3-2-1 Dance

Note: It's a bit hard to transcribe the title, which on the DVD cover has dots in between the 3, 2, and 1 (but not quite 3.2.1), so to be consistent with Collage and TotalFitnessDVDs I'll use 3-2-1. You may also see this written as 321 Dance or 3, 2, 1 Dance.

I'm reviewing this workout after doing it once.

General workout breakdown: This almost 52-min. dance aerobics workout is an approachable, fun routine for those who want to dance but aren't sure if they have those dancing genes.

The warm-up (6 min.) takes you through some basic cardio steps and some dynamic stretches for the lower and upper body.

The main workout (31.5 min.) consists of three sections (each of which is about 10.5 min.), during each of which you learn 2 separate combinations, for a total of 6 combinations. Petra builds up the combinations from basic moves, adding layers during subsequent run-throughs. All combos are symmetrical (meaning you do them on both the right and left leads), and Petra spends pretty much the same amount of time on each side as she's building things up. Although Petra repeats the blocks and full combos multiple times before moving on, she never combines any of the combinations here.

The take it from the top segment (just over 7 min.) is in a separate chapter, so if you don't like TIFTing, you can skip this. Petra first runs through each combo on both sides individually, with marches in between, and then you'll do two full TIFTs without breaks between the combos. (Personally I wouldn't have minded seeing Petra weaving the combos for two more run-throughs to extend this out closer to a full hour, but that's by no means a deal breaker for me.)

The cool-down (6.5 min.) leads you through a short cardio combo to bring your heartrate down and repeats many of the stretches from the warm-up, only this time holding some of them, and adding in a few more ones for the lower body and torso. Petra takes her time here, and it's really a nice little cool-down, IMHO.

On the cover and in the warm-up Petra says you only need to learn 3 easy moves to dance, but she doesn't really continue the theme in the workout. So this isn't like Leslie Sansone's 4 basic steps that get repeated over and over. I can see why some would be very frustrated if they thought everything was built up off of just 3 steps, because the choreography is more complicated than that, and Petra moves rather quickly through it for those who aren't as comfortable with learning choreography. (Conversely, if you love the current "advanced" instructor trend of throwing out whole blocks at once this will be built up too slowly and have too much repetition for you.)

Petra's style is more dance aerobics than pure dance, as she incorporates all sorts of different elements from different styles of dance: mambos and cha chas from Latin, box steps and rock steps from jazz, grapevines and v-steps from hi/lo or floor aerobics, throw downs from disco, and "Oh no she di'n't" from, well, Petra's take on street. (Petra's too sweet to pull that last move off convincingly!) There's quite a bit of hip shaking, including a sassy hips move, but I wouldn't consider this too provocative, especially since Petra never once mentions being sexy or anything like.

There is minimal impact here, and if the few little jumps aren't for you they're easy enough to leave out. There are some pivots, although the quicker full turns are optional.

Level: I'd recommend this to beginner / intermediate to intermediate exercisers who preferably have a little bit of dance and/or aerobics experience under their belt, although you don't have to be a good dancer at all. Petra says if you can do three simple steps (march, step touch, tap out) you can do this workout, but I think it might be a bit of a jump for pairs of left feet, so I'd recommend trying out something like Petra's Cardio for Beginners first before making the leap from pure walking workouts to this. The overall intensity isn't particularly high, so intermediate exercisers might need to put a little oomph into their moves to get this up to a moderate workout for them.

I consider myself an int./adv. exerciser. This workout is on the easy side for me; it's just a hair more intense than many of my walking workouts. But I don't mind that at all, because I like having workouts like this on my shelf for all of those times I want an interesting little routine that gets me moving without threatening to wipe me out. For me Petra's dance workouts are great for lighter cardio days, active recovery days, and sick or otherwise off days.

I happen to like and consider myself pretty good at picking up choreography. I found this workout doable this first time through, although I have to admit that Petra's choreography will have a few moments where things don't flow smoothly or intuitively to me, but fortunately in this one most of those moments were just during the optional extra turns.

Class: 2 women join Petra, who instructs live. (I like that the background exercisers look more like happy, healthy, normal women who are fitness enthusiasts rather than professional size 0 fitness models.) Petra is actually the one who leaves out the turns.

Music: upbeat mix of instrumentals and vocals. The back cover claims this has "a chart topping sound track [sic]," but curiously little sounded familiar, either from pop culture (although I'm the first to admit I'm not on top of pop music) or from other videos. I found the music better than average, but it's not exactly something I'd want a copy of to play whenever I felt inspired to dance.

Set: bright, neutral-colored interior space with a doorway framed by gauzy curtains and potted plants along the back.

Production: clear picture and sound, with Petra's voice audible over the music, which is still audible without having to crank the volume up too high. There are quite a few close-ups, and although the editor tried to get back to the full shots or feet-only shots during the introduction of new moves or the start of another run-through, there were more than a few times when I wish they had cut back two seconds sooner.

Equipment: shoes that can pivot on your workout room's flooring, although if you have thick carpet and don't have dance sneakers / don't want to put tape over the toebox of your sneakers you can leave out the turns.

Space Requirements: You should be able to take 2-3 good-sized steps to each side and take at least 4 steps from the back to the front of your space. I had little trouble in my workout space (8"wide by 6"deep), but because I'm taller (and not always the most coordinated) I wouldn't want to try to squeeze it in a significantly smaller space.

DVD Notes: Your chapter options are Intro, Play All, Warm Up, Dance Party 1, Dance Party 2, Dance Party 3, From the Top, and Cool Down.

Comments: I can NOT believe there are no reviews of this one. This doesn't have a rabid, vocal following, but it sure has its fans. Once one person recommends Petra's dance workouts on a thread quite a few more jump in to second and third that recommendation, almost always citing this one as the one to get. I had this on my wish list for several years, during which time I managed to trade for many of Petra's other workouts, but I never could get anyone even to think about parting with their copy of this one. I finally had to buy it for myself, and I'm so glad I did.

How does this compare to Petra's other dance workouts, PK Grooves: Doable Dance (or is it PK Doable Dance Grooves?) and Just Dance? Just Dance is actually quite a bit like 3-2-1; they are very close in terms of intensity, complexity, length, and fun level. (They even seem to use the same set, although the accessories are different, and at least one of the same background exercisers.) If you love one, like me, you're probably going to love the other, again like me. Personally I prefer the cool-down and stretch in 3-2-1, as Just Dance launches into a yoga-inspired stretch immediately after the last TIFT (still, not a dealbreaker for me). While I'm learning the routine I appreciate that Petra goes through each block separately in the final TIFT in 3-2-1, but I suspect once I know the routine well I'll prefer Just Dance's launching right into all of them together. I found PK Grooves slightly less intense but slightly more complex than either 3-2-1 or Just Dance, and for some reason - the set? the soundtrack? the choreography? something else? - it just lacks the sparkle that the other two have.

It's worth noting that Petra has another dance workout of about the same length, 10 Minute Solution Blast off Belly Fat, which has 5 10-min. segments. If you are struggling with the choreography in 3-2-1 Dance, it might be worth picking up that, because I think it's a good bridge to what Petra does here. If you're really struggling with the choreography, pick up Petra's Cardio for Beginners, where she breaks down many of the same basic moves she includes here more carefully and with less stuff in each combo.