Dance Step 3
Reviews from VideoFitness
I’m reviewing this workout after previewing it once and doing it twice.
General workout breakdown: This approximately 50-minute workout teaches four blocks of choreography drawn from aerobics and various dance disciplines, with moves like Evita, Fosse, and Dirty Dancing. Although Marc starts off with basic moves, he quickly adds on layers, but his overall pattern never wavers from right - left - right - left, etc. (No odd off-balance last minute weight shifts here.) Blocks are taught on one side; there’s no “We’ve done this on the right, so let’s now do it on the left.” Marc TIFTS (takes it from the very top) a decent amount, but he has a nice variation on the theme: after you’ve finished the new block, he’ll review the previous one, do that previous block with the new one, go back and pick up the block before that, and so on, until you’re doing the whole thing from the beginning. I like this method of TIFTing a lot; you focus on the transition between the blocks better and don’t get as sick of the first block. The amount of TIFTing felt just about right: not too much, not too little.
There is no separate warm-up or cool-down. Since the first block starts gradually, I don’t miss the warm-up so much, but you’ll need to allow yourself a few minutes to cool down and stretch on your own.
Level: I’d recommend this to an intermediate through intermediate / advanced exerciser who has experience with complex choreography. It’s not an intense workout, although you can certainly modify it up some. But it’s so much fun that you may just find yourself getting so into it that you sweat in spite of yourself! I consider myself an intermediate through intermediate / advanced exerciser when it comes to hi/lo, and I love complex choreo. I’d say by the second time through I had this one down, more or less, although I kind of cheated by learning the second block on the Move It compilation first. Yeah, my heartrate gets up there decently enough, but I don’t really care about that so much when People in Motion are in the house, baby!
There isn’t a lot of impact here (a couple small jumps, etc.), but there are a number of pivots. My dance sneakers come in handy here…
Class: Marc’s wife, Petra, and their friend and fellow instructor Bianca join Marc. Marc is aware not only of the viewer (he has a great way of talking to you through the camera like you’re there) but also of his two “back-up babes,” who react to his silliness, laugh at their and his goof-ups, and sometimes have their own little conversation of gestures and facial expressions. They’re not hamming it up for attention like some background exercisers I’ve seen; rather, they’re having fun and being silly because Marc is, too.
Music: mostly instrumental with a definite beat, although there are a couple of vocal songs. The music suits the workout well and is fine, but a lot of it can be found on other Evolution titles.
Set: the “black abyss” Evolution set, which is an all black studio with monitors along the back featuring a revolving E (the Evolution logo).
Production: Decent picture, quiet sound with music that can definitely be heard over the instructor. There are a few funky camera angles, but I don’t remember the camera cutting to the upper body when I needed the feet, etc.
Equipment: sneakers (make sure you can pivot!)
Space Requirements: You’ll need space for 2-3 big steps to each side and 2 medium steps to the front and back.
DVD Notes: The DVD is chaptered by blocks, more or less. The DVD also has previews of Evolution’s other 2004/2005 releases.
Comments: This is a definitely keeper for me, in case you can’t tell! Love it, love it, love it! It’s not for everyone, but if you like fun, dancey hi/lo and complex choreo, don’t miss this one. Honestly, this is what I was expecting when I turned to Patrick Goudeau looking for dancey hi/lo aerobics. I was disappointed in Patrick not due to anything he does but rather because I wanted him to teach dancified hi/lo. Now that I’ve found Marc, well, I’m happy. (And maybe I’ll give Patrick another try now that I can let him be himself. Oh, but I’m having so much fun with Marc that maybe I’ll just stay with him…)
Evolution videos have usually been geared towards instructors, but this one accommodates the home exerciser and doesn’t many comments about how to teach movement to your class.
Marc is now one of my favorite hi/lo instructors ever, up there with Christi Taylor and Marcus Irwin. I love his fun, goofy personality, although he may be too much for some people. (But how can you not smile at a funny, cute guy who when he catches his wife twirling out of the corner of his eye just has to pause to pay her a compliment. And then there’s that part where he pulls up the corner of his shirt… Excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard!)
Anyway, Marc may not be the most effusive cuer, but he does mirror cue and provides sufficient instruction and warning of upcoming moves. Even though Marc is from Germany, he cues almost entirely in English, although a little Spanish, French, and, yes, even German gets in there, too. (And now my friends are saying, “Now we see why YOU like this workout so much!”) Even if you’re not a language nut you should still be able to follow along, since those are mostly silly side comments. As I said, I find his method of TIFTing particularly effective, and his choreography makes sense and is fun as well as just different enough from what I normally do.
This is a good introduction to circuit training for beginner exercisers. CB Yelverton leads an all female group consisting of Kathie Lee Gifford, her sister and some friends. The group exchanges some light hearted banter throughout the routine.
There are progressively harder aerobic segments alternating with toning segments. The aerobics are low impact and easy to follow. The moves are very basic and repetitive. The upper body segments use 3 pound weights and include: lateral raises, bicep curls, overhead presses and tricep work. For the lower body there are several variations of squats and lunges. Following a brief cooldown, there is ab work and a stretch.
Novices can opt to follow a designated beginner. CB also encourages you to "make the program work for you" i.e. by not using weights or prancing in place if the aerobics become too difficult. There are no pulse checks, but you are reminded to use the talk test.
The last segment is Kathie Lee giving tips for incorporating exercise throughout your day. This is taped in Kathie's home with members of her family. I would say the target audience is women in their 30's and 40's, new or returning to exercise. If you are in this category, a fan of Kathie Lee's and want to try circuit training, this would be a good choice for you!
CB is a very calm, clear instructor. She gives a lot of attention to correct form and safety. When this was taped, she was 46 years old and about to become a grandmother. She looks great!!
This is one of the new offerings from Marcus Irwin's Evolution company. I'm a complex choreography lover and this one did not disappoint.
The set is the same as Marcus Irwin's latest - Aerodynamics/Step Fusion - the one with the revolving E. Marc and the girls wear funky dance pants with some flowing fringe (for lack of a better word)and T-shirts.
There's over an hour's worth of material on this DVD. Section 1 is Symmetrical Step. Some of the combos are "Fame", step kick over, 6 point mambo, step knee over "eight", L Jazz square, and cha cha reverse. He adds lots of layers. I thought when I previewed this there looked like an excessive amount of TIFT'ing, but when I actually did it, I decided the amount of TIFT'ing was about right for the complexity of the material. A the end of the first section he combines it all, then splits it.
Section 2 is Asymmetrical Step. This starts off with mambo cha cha pivot, then stomp and turn, cha cha over, then mambo straddle with "Sunrise". He again combines these and then splits them. The stomp and turn was tough for me to get. He does all these moves with a definite dance flair.
I liked everything about this workout except some of the music. It's the same soundtrack that Marcus has used with most of his latest offerings. I didn't like it a whole lot to begin with, and it's not growing on me. It's repeated over and over.
I got this DVD from newideafitness. I am so glad Annie is carrying some of these hard-to-find workouts.
Marc is funny and charming. He does a fair job cueing. He sings along with the music quite a bit. He's definitely a dancer! He has two backups, Petra Kluike and Bianca Swartout.