Review-- Trudie Styler's Scult & Tone Ballet

 

Last but not least for my exercise reviews is the Trudie Styler's Scult & Tone Ballet. Trudie Styler isn't an exercise guru or a professional dancer and probably isn't qualified for this type of exercise, but luckily, she is joined with a man who is. Let's take a look into this to see how I found this particular exercise DVD.

This DVD has several parts. First there are the exercises, a footwork tutorial, and then some bonus material. The two exercises are 25 minutes each and, though they can be completed all at once, are really meant to be completely separately at different times. In fact, both exercises are identical; they just swap out the barre with a chair. So if you think you're getting two exercises in one, think again. It's the exact same thing.

The footwork tutorial doesn't really go over proper ballet form as much as it just slows down the exercise. This is nice, but if you have ballet training, it shouldn't be too hard to be able to keep up with the exercises. Also, since you are doing pliés, it's probably best if you get some ballet training before completing this video. If you've never learned proper form, you could damage your knees. (Trust me, it will hurt after awhile if you don't get a professional to help you.)

Despite the slight rip-off with the identical exercises, I really liked the choreography for the exercise. I felt really stretched out and was sweating by the end of the workout. This exercise is heavily based on ballet, so there are no periods of crunches, push-ups (well, adapted push-ups where you use the barre), or other similar exercises that you'd find in a bootcamp video. Though this video has strong ballet influences, there are no jumps, so if you're worried about too heavy impact on your legs or knees, you'll be fine with this exercise. You almost never let go of the barre and will always have it there for your support in all the exercises.

I actually have few qualms with this exercise DVD, but one of the major issues is the instructors. James d'Silva, the man joining Trudie, seems to know what he's doing, but Trudie sometimes messes up her form. I also get the strong impression that this woman is a rich, bored housewife who decided one day to release a couple exercise videos. James attempts to connect with Trudie as they dance at the barre, yet she seems to be concentrating too hard to return the connection. Also, Trudie only joins James during the barre exercise. James is alone for the chair version of the exercise and the instructional video. If you're going to put your own name in the title, you should be the main expert AND be doing most of the exercises in my opinion.

Also, the setting is nice, but is it appropriate for a ballet video? The setting is in a Buddhist chapel, and it makes me feel like I'm invading a sacred place... Granted, it's not like I'm tap-dancing on Mecca's sacred pillar, but it still feels a bit awkward at times.

The narrator's voice is what I would consider the stereotypical British accent--you know, the one that American actors use to sound "posh" or "stuck up." It's not a problem, but I couldn't shake the idea of "Family Guy" from my head. Still, he does an excellent job of keeping up with the instructors and isn't confusing in his commands. One of the best, actually, in all of the exercises I've reviewed on here.

The camera is also great. The quality of the picture is clear. It's evident that there was great thought behind the zooms, cuts, and sweeps of the instructors as they perform their moves, and it leaves a seamless transition between moves. 

The music is also really, really nice. The DVD says it was composed and performed by a member of Sting, which makes sense because Trudie, here, has some major connections. The music was perfect. It was contemporary while being reminiscent of classical pieces. I loved how calming it was, and it was quite beautiful.

The bonus features are...weird. Like why would I give a crap about having a tour of Trudie's home? Or see behind-the-scenes footage of Sting's new musical video? Oh that's right, I don't give a crap. And I don't want to make eco-friendly wine, either. Completely pointless, but there is a bonus 10-minute meditation section if you are into that sort of thing. I looked a bit at it, and it seemed fine to me even though I don't really meditate.

Workout: 9/10

Instructor: 7/10

Setting: 8/10

Camera: 9/10

Level: Advanced-Expert
Is it actually ballet? Yes

Overall: 8/10

Overall, not a bad DVD at all. I was pleasantly surprised at how ballet the exercise actually was. Though Trudie is lackluster and pretty much just flaunting her wealth throughout the whole DVD,  I still feel like I had a decent workout at the end, which makes me give it a high score of 8.

Review-- Ballet Bootcamp

Another ballet based exercise I'm reviewing for this month! This is the Ballet Boot Camp video. It is available on Amazon for about $18. This is a slightly longer exercise. It lasts for about 60 minutes.

Like the beginning of the New York Ballet Workout II, this workout begins with a definition of the correct stance. It's just bullet points though, but really, I'm fine with that. The instructor will often narrate over the exercise routine with important, accurate information about correct form.


The instructor is okay. She stumbles a couple times with her instructions, but it didn't matter too much. Still, she does a decent job describing what's going on with your body as you stretch. This makes it really handy when you're looking at the ground for a stretch or if it's hard to turn your head to the television.

Every once in awhile, the instructor will narrator over the audio. Sometimes she'll start narrating as she's talking in the regular video. It makes it hard to hear her sometimes, even when what she has to say is pretty important to the exercise.That or she'll talk rapidly like an informercial. Other times, she's very helpful at pointing out advice and mistakes to avoid.

One of my favorite parts of the workout is actually the warmup. The warmup is a really good about stretching a lot of the stiff areas of the body and hits the major muscles needed for dance.  The rest of the exercise features floor combinations, an abdominal workout, some miscellaneous workouts (pushups, splits, etc.), butt exercises, and arm exercises. About half the exercise has a solid ballet theme. The pushups, not so much, but the rest has a strong, ballet influence. This is a tough exercise. I had to stop several times.

This DVD will have to be watched more than once. She puts together combinations and explains each of the steps separately before combining them, but it still might be a tad difficult if you are still unsure of how to transition from one to the next. I sure had some difficulty. Still, she repeats the combination enough for you to finally catch on in the end, making learning the combo worthwhile. One problem though, is that though she explains the moves, the camera doesn’t zoom to their feet. Instead, it’ll focus on a dancer’s face or some other body part. This doesn’t help teach the combo, no matter how many words she uses to explain the positions.

I definitely will give the camerawork some credit. The cinematography is unique. It'll change angles to above, in front, to the side, pretty much everywhere. It'll sometimes change to black and white, but it doesn't distract from the workout. What is distracting is the mass of people in the room. I really only need a couple other people to help me see what moves they are performing. With many people in the room, wearing similar colors, it got a tad distracting. Still, it's not too bad.

The setting is a nicely lit studio. I liked it. The background music is classical. Sometimes it was opera, and it made battements very awkward, hahahaha. Despite this, the music is very calming.

Final Thoughts

 Workout: 9/10

Instructor: 9/10

Setting: 9/10

Camera: 8/10

Level: Advanced-Expert

Is it actually ballet? Yes

Overall: 9/10

This is a really good ballet based exercise. You get a great cardio from the ballet floorwork and strength training through crunches and pushups. Though the camera can make it difficult to see how their body for particular moves, it's rather nice overall.

Review-- Pure Barre Original

This review is for the Pure Barre workout. Pure Barre is a specific type of workout designed by the instructor of the DVDs, Carrie Rezabek. She started a workout group and it became popular enough that they thought to release her program onto DVD.

The DVD is $20 on the Pure Barre website, and only $15 on Amazon. Let's see if it's worth the money!



I pop the DVD in and... is this menu screen for real? I am actually concerned that perhaps I have a ripped DVD or some sort of bootleg disc. Luckily I got this from the library so I don't have to worry about getting my money back.

The production has only one camera and will change occasionally so you can see what she's doing. But... the camera! I could do better. They often cut off important parts of her body. Instead of cutting and adjusting the camera for the shot, they'll just zoom in or move the camera... while still shooting. It looks like a bad home video. It doesn't help that when they change angles, the focus is off and does the infamous "shaky cam." There were some shots where they got her back and you could see where her mike was hooked up. Just unpolished and unprofessional.

The camera will cut off her feet, hands, or both.

 Speaking about her mike, The instructor's voice is muddled, but audible. This is probably because she has an attached microphone instead of a boom mike.

Also in regards to sound, the music is extremely repetitive. It wouldn't be too bad if it changed up a little more. One music segment has what sounds like children screaming. I had to stop the video to look out the window and see if kids were outside playing until I realized it was supposed to be part of the music.

I actually really like the setting they picked. I like how they tried to spice up a grey, dreary room with colored lighting. I just wish they did a better job hiding the cords. Seriously, black duct tape will do the job. The only big problem with the setting is that the instuctor is wearing all black, which is hard to see at times against the dark floor, but it's not too bad. Her pants cover her feet, which sucks for a exercise video. Several times I had trouble seeing if she was turning her feet out or not during exercises.

The camera goes out of focus sometimes, especially during close-up shots like this.

Still, she's not a bad instructor at all. She's not ridiculously happy, and it sounds like she knows what she's talking about. She's great at giving cues, too, which helps since I could sometimes not see how her body was angled. She also had some great similes for how to hold your body, but some of them she used and abused multiple times. She mentioned "like you're zipping up your tightest pair of jeans" three times, but I don't even know what that means. All my jeans are super lose. Still, at times, she could be very boring.

As for the workout, the most important part, I loved the mini-barre they had for her to work on. Where did she find that? I sort of want one. But during the barre work, the camera cuts off her feet. Those are sort of kind of important. It's also not really ballet except for the presence of a barre. There are some relevés, splits, and pliés, but that's about it. I don't think this is really a ballet workout, even though the name may imply that.

The workout is also disorganized. After doing some work at the barre, you go to your mat. You're there for at most five minutes before she cuts away and tells you to go back to your barre again. There was hardly anytime for a decent stretch on the ground before you have to get up, put your mat away, pull out your chair or whatever you're using in place of a barre, and then get into position. It was awkward and I didn't like it one bit. Plus, the workout could have used a lot more floor work. I don't like going into splits almost immediately after a couple short stretches.

The exercise is also repetitive and a bit boring. There's nothing to spice it up. You don't even switch legs; you keep working the same leg over and over and then finally switch to the other side. Though it's a great strength-building workout, it doesn't do much to keep my attention. I found myself analyzing the cat hairs on my yoga mat instead. That's forty-three minutes of dullness. But a tough dullness, which makes me say that this is probably not good for beginners. Also, it's mostly strength building. So if you want to build flexibility or have a cardio workout, this is not for you.

The workout really works your thighs and butt mostly. There are some stretches for back, abs, and arms, but it's mostly the butt and thigh area you workout. For a similar, more ballet-oriented workout, just use the Element DVD instead. Still, no to little ballet in this DVD. Just because there's a barre, doesn't mean I'm going to call it a ballet fusion exercise. Still, a decent workout, but something I would recommended passing up. I heard later sequels from the same instructor improve and maybe these have more ballet in them, but this one doesn't.

Workout: 7/10

Instructor: 8/10

Setting: 7/10

Camera: 3/10

Level: Advanced-Expert
Is it actually ballet? No

Overall: 6/10

I deducted points for the boring, repetitive workout, but it saved itself with it's challenging moves. The instructor was decent, but got boring later in the DVD and also wore the wrong type of clothing for an exercise video. The setting was okay, and I gave it credit for effort. The camera was terrible and zoomed in and out slowly to make corrections instead of just re-shooting the scene. But most importantly, there was little to no ballet incorporated into this DVD. From a DVD that said it was a pilates/dance fusion, I expected more. I recommend trying another video from this series.

Review-- Element: Ballet Conditioning

Phew! I've been posting so much lately since I started this blog after I actually started making records of my progress. Well, I decided I should probably stop being so self-absorbed in my blogs and write a couple reviews!

So my first review is on a exercise DVD called Element: Ballet Conditioning. Element is a group that puts out various exercise DVDs for pilates and yoga. One of their more popular DVDs is the one that incorporates ballet exercises into the routine.

Menu screen

 The setting is what almost looks like a country club or an outdoor wedding plaza. It's next to a pool with pillars, landscaped with flowers, and located conveniently next to the ocean. I actually really like the location they picked for the exercise. It beats a studio lit by florescent lighting. Everything has a contemporary feel that makes it relaxing and fresh.


The workout itself is a toughie. Just because it says ballet on it doesn't mean this is gonna be all fun and tutus. The length of the workout is fifty minutes. I feel that it is just right considering most ballet classes I know of go for at least an hour. What I also like about the exercises is that it also warms you up. You don't have to worry about doing it yourself before popping it into the DVD player.

Warming up for some ballet exercises!

My legs kill during the pliés, and that burn feels oh so good! I want to say over half the DVD features barre work, or in this case, chair work. The chair is nice and does the job, but I really need to place something heavy on the seat part so it doesn't tip on me. There is a lot of exercise and heat building in the legs and butt during exercises with the chair. Trust me. It kills.

Another barre exercise working on attitude. Feel the burn!

The camera changes often so you're not bored of looking at the same old thing all the time. It also zooms in and shows a majority of her body so you can compare your movements to hers.  The instructor gives great cues about which move she's going to move to next. She doesn't stress the knees going over the feet as much during first position pliés, which I find a lot of beginners like me doing, but she does do so during second position pliés. I also wish she would remind us to breathe more since I often find myself holding my breath instead of relaxing and letting go, but overall, she does an excellent job and has a great narration voice.

Cardio workout using jumps and kicks

Floor work has some kicks and jumps. This acts as the cardio portion of the exercise. I wish they added a bit more for this part, but I can sort of see why they stopped. As a beginner, I have a lot of trouble balancing during the kicks. As for jumps, I can't seem to get well enough off the ground for the changements. The creators of this DVD correctly assumed that more than just seasoned dancers would purchase it. Thus, simple steps, leaps, and jumps, though the cardio could be extended slighty longer.

The ab workout is challenging, but it'll be worth it!

Finally it's the tough ab workout. UGH. This is hard stuff! Which basically means that it's really good for me and everyone else interested in dance. I've never done pilates before, but I'm fairly sure she uses a lot of pilates moves for the ab portion. There are no curl-ups with bent knees and hands behind the head for this DVD! And quite honestly, I really like it for that. Not only do these ab workouts benefit your core, but they will also help you stretch your legs for kicks and splits. Despite all my ab classes at school, I still cannot make it through without stopping a couple times. Hopefully that will improve!


Last but not least is the warm-down. This is mostly stretching the legs and abs after a long workout. It must do the job because I'm never too sore after working out with this DVD.

  

Workout: 9/10

Instructor: 9/10

Setting: 9/10

Camera: 10/10

Level: Advanced-Expert
Is it actually ballet? Yes

Overall: 9/10

This is an excellent workout. It does exactly what it says it will do and does so very nicely. The camera made it easy for me to mimic her moves. The instructor does a nice job and can clearly accomplish the moves she asks of us. She's happy but not sickeningly so. By the end of the day, I feel properly worked out, and for only $10 at Amazon.com, it's also a great deal for fifty minutes of exercise.