World Dance Workout

The World Dance Workout is a light to moderate cardio workout using basic steps from Bellydance, Samba, Bollywood, Flamenco and Salsa dance styles. The movements are all dance movements and the workout is led in a follow along style with no complicated choreographies.

Before I share my opinion I should share a little about my background. I consider myself to be of intermediate to low advanced aerobic fitness and I love to dance. I have taken classes in all of these styles ranging from taking basic beginner level classes for just a few months to studying at an intermediate-to-advanced level for years.

The workout is structured with a short dance warm-up that consists of a series of body isolations. After the warm-up there is a section of light-to-moderate cardio using movements from each style. The instructor has you do a movement 4 or 8 times on one side then on the other rather than learning sequences. People who hate "TIFTing" will be pleased there is little or none (TIFTing is when the instructor says "Take it from the top" and repeats the sequence of movements done earlier).

I found this workout to be very mild as an aerobic workout and my heart rate did not reach my aerobic range. A beginner who likes to dance may get an effective low impact workout from this dvd. I need to modify and add additional movements and traveling steps to get an effective aerobic workout but I have taken classes in all these dance styles so that may not be an option for everyone. This dvd would be nice for someone who wants to sample a variety of dance styles and the music is suitable to the style but simple.

What I liked:

*There is separate tutorial section to learn the steps so the workout is not interrupted by instruction.

*There are short performances by instructor of each dance style to give a flavor of the dances.

*The workout flowed well for the most part and the movement was continuous.

*The workout is made up entirely of dance movements.

*The dvd is very well chaptered so the user can do specific sections of the workout or tutorial or watch the individual performances.

*The dvd is good value for money with the tutorial section, performances and hour long workout.

*The camera work is good and there is always a clear view of the instructor or the background dancers throughout the workout.

A few minor criticisms:

*The warm-up consisted of dance isolations like head circles, chest circles, etc. I would prefer a short aerobic warm-up before this section. Also this section was a little abrupt and didn't flow as smooth as I would prefer.

*I felt the instructor was better at some of the dance styles than others and was not always the best example of the dances. However, she is competent and teaches safe movements and there are other dvds if a user finds they like one or more of the dance styles.

In conclusion this workout would be great for someone who is looking for a gentle, low impact workout to ease into fitness and who enjoys dancing and international music.