The Next Step

Step Step

I have Gay Gasper's "The Next Step: Intermediate/Advanced." I bought it at Blockbuster, thinking, "What a steal! Only $9.99 for two tapes!"

The tape is incredibly short (maybe 15 minutes of working out) w/ the remaining 10 minutes devoted to warm-up and cool-down. Gay Gasper is an incredibly good instructor -- refreshing arm movements (finally! All the others seem to have abandoned that) which work in conjunction with interesting lower body movements. It definitely has a dancy flair. Some combos include: turn step, diagonal across the step, straddle, two knees back, [you're on the other side of the step now], turn step again, diagonal across the step to get to the other side, and then do this funky dance called "party." (use a little imagination!). That's my favorite sequence.

By no means would I rate this workout advanced. It's much too short for that. I'd rate it along the beginner continuum, simply because your heart rate doesn't get the chance to build up. I think maybe that Gay got stuck in a bad marketing situation with this one. She's a good teacher, with a Kari-Anderson-esque type dancy style with a winning personality. I hear that her "The Next Step" video is incredibly better.

Collage refused initially to sell this one, because it didn't meet their minimal standards for workout length. I think they caved in. I advise that only step instructors buy this one -- it has a number of good combos that just don't get developed.