Review-- Attitude: Ballet & Pilates Fusion

 I know this isn't with this month's theme, but screw the theme! Those are just guidelines ;) Now this DVD is actually marketed for those fifty and up, so the exercise is much slower and has less impact. Also, donations are made to find a cure for breast cancer for each DVD you purchase. Attitude is part of a series, and there is a second DVD for this Attitude series. I'll only be reviewing the first one. So since I didn't have time to fit this into last month, here is the review for Attitude: Ballet & Pilates Fusion.

Now as you can see,  there are several parts to this workout. First here is the introduction where the instructor speaks a bit about the exercise. Then there are the form pointers and then the two workouts. The form pointers will go over the correct posture for the ballet moves. She'll also demonstrate each of the positions so you can become familiar with them if you're not already. This section is rather lengthy, but highly recommended if you've never taken ballet before.

Going over the proper form

The workout is broken into two and each is about thirty-seven minutes each. The first is meant to be completed for the first couple weeks and then you move onto the second one for the rest of the time you use the video. I found the first workout way to easy and didn't even break a sweat. The second workout was a little better, but still rather easy and barely different. I would definitely recommend this if you've been out of shape for a long time and want to work your way back slowly.

She'll also go over positioning for the abdominal work.

 This workout workouts out abs, arms and legs. For the arm exercises you'll need some sort of weight. They use a ball filled with sand for this video but a hand weight works as well. I think the abs are the highlight of the video. I seem to get the most burn from them. The ballet exercise portions are fine, but I prefer the routines from other videos better. I still feel a slight burn  but some of the exercises are rushed over.
The warm-up is simply not good enough. It doesn't warm up all the muscles, just the sides of the abs since all you're doing is circling your arms and the hips from pliés. I highly suggest you stretch yourself ahead of time before participating in this exercise so you don't injure yourself. 

The instructor does a good job. She speaks in a hushed voice and tries to be more relaxing than energetic. She'll also occassionally remind you to keep your form, and she times her reminders well, like when you're really starting to tire or if you're concentrating hard on a different area of the body other than your core.

I did notice her form was off during fourth position. Her knees went over her heels. That can be really dangerous. I only really noticed because this is something I struggle with while dancing. During the form section, she mentioned that fourth position was going to be "one of the harder positions," and I think that's a fair statement. Still, if you're watching this and trying to model yourself after her, she will only occasionally have the correct form. Since this is for women over 50, it might be dangerous to not have the correct posture, especially on your knees, so be sure to know what you're doing and watch the form video. Trust yourself. The backup instructors tend to mess up a lot. I would focus more on her than anyone else.

TIMMMBEEERRRRRRR! (Or at least that's how I felt, hahaha)

The music is horrible! I hate, hate, hate the music! Music is like Chinese traditional music mixed with a bit of Enya--only know where near as good and relaxing. Then there's this really bad trumpet sounding music that sounds like those old midi files you heard on websites when the internet was still a scary new place... it's bad. I can't stand it.

Sometimes you would catch sides of the camera during zoom out, but other than that, the editing was really good. The camera did a great job of zooming in on the main instructor. I never really had any trouble with it so I thought it did a good job.

They shot the location in studio, but they tried to spruce it up a bit so it's not too boring. They put some barres in the back but never used them for the exercise. It wasn't bad at all. I enjoyed the colors, and it seemed appropriate for the exercise. Still, in comparison to other DVDs, this isn't my favorite studio. I like Balocity or Element's settings much better.

Workout: 7/10

Instructor: 9/10

Setting: 8/10

Camera: 9/10

Level: Beginner

Is it actually ballet? Yes

Overall: 8/10

 

I didn't really enjoy this exercise as much as the others since it felt too simple. Though the exercise definitely had ballet and Pilate influences, it just didn't work well with my body. I would recommend this for someone who's not used to exercise, but not to someone starting ballet for the first time since the instructors are not ballet dancers or teachers. 

Long time, Little blogging

I know, I haven't posted for a long time. I've just been so busy! I did try and complete my "before" videos to mark my progress, but I was so tired and hot, that it looks exceptionally worse than usual. Also, at some points, you can see right up my shorts. Yeeeeah... I don't want publicity that way.

So, anyway, despite all the camera issues and the fact that I was croaking in that room, here's a video of me BEFORE on chaîné turns and piqué turns. I later totally mess up a routine I made up to combine the two. 

 

It looks worse than I imagined :( I have a loooooooong way to go.

The day I took this was an interesting day. The snow had just fallen in the Chicagoland area. We got well over two feet. I received no word from the studio about class being canceled, so I attended anyway. When I got there, the regular studio doors were locked. There was no one inside, so I knew that it had been canceled. I still wanted to practice a bit; I walked over to another studio doors, tried the handle, and... Voila! It opened.

I slipped inside, changed into my uniform, and started practicing at one of the barres there. It wasn't long before I heard people walking around in the hallway outside. The door to the studio opened, and a man stuck his head in the room. I froze because I knew I wasn't supposed to be there. He completely missed me, even with the mirrors completely revealing me.

This happened several more times, this time with me at the barre. It was while I was trying to film my before video that he finally noticed me. I actually have it on camera: me trying to explain that the door was open. He really didn't seem to care though. He ended up being a janitor at the place trying to fix the heating in the room. He was really nice about it, and let me stay there. He even offered to help me with the music, but since the CD player at that studio is so complicated, I told him I was okay with silence.

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, I guess!

Anyway, he allowed me to practice in that studio for about an hour. I was so happy! That was really nice of him, but it was just too hot in there to take additional footage for my before video. I figure what I have right now is a pretty good indicator since it uses the whole body.

Also, I haven't even started watching the videos I have planned for this month. I've just been way too busy. I'll get started soon and post some pictures up right away!

Review-- Balocity

Today is a review for the exercise video, Balocity. This is a fifty-minute video featuring an ex-New York City ballet dancer. The back says that she developed this video to stay in shape between her times on stage. Let's see if it's good for that. 

I really liked the instructor. She does a great job of being optimistic, but not summer rainbow sunshine sparkle happy. She speaks very clearly and very eloquently, which helps during the exercises. She has her moments of quiet, but when she does offer tips on form, they are really helpful, though I did notice that she didn’t explain the proper form for the pliés.

No butts should stick out!

 They have some really good stretches. There's a section for the inner thighs that really helps. Usually the inner thighs are ignored in workouts, so I liked how they put extra emphasis on this region of the body. The instructors are really flexible, but sometimes I swear they performed the ballet moves wrong during the exercise. They let their butt stick out in the pliés. It's hard to tell, but I think they are just slightly.

I did feel as if we could have used more time on some of the exercises. We sort of seemed to fly through them without taking an extra couple of seconds to feel the muscles fully lengthen. I can just pause, though, if I want to continue an exercise and then play the video again once I'm ready. 

One of the great exercises they do to reach the inner thigh.

 The fast pace of the exercise does make it interesting. I don't lose interest as quickly as I do in other exercise videos. The floor barre is only about nine minutes and the standing workout makes up the rest of the video. I would recommend stretching every once in awhile to avoid pulling muscles. Also, don’t try to go full out since they move so fast during the standing exercises that you could pull something during the kicks.

They do make an effort to offer variations. They have low-impact variations, too, for the cardio sections. This is great if you're tired, have bad knees/legs/whatever, and need a less jarring motion.

During floorwork, she doesn't tell you which foot goes forward. One the second side she reminds you, but I had already started switching sides the first time. It would have been nice for clarification, though I can sort of see how she probably thought we'd infer this through the nature of the pattern itself. She remembers to do this later during the cool-down stretches, so I forgave her for the slight lapse.

 

The final part of the exercise is the abdominal work. Usually exercise videos start with ab work right after the warm-ups, but this video saves them for near the very end. They are pretty easy--nowhere near as hard as previous exercises, but it was a relief after a long workout to not worry too much about the abs. 

The exercise, overall, was easier than most. It is more for beginners or people looking for a lower impact exercise. The floorwork is definitely higher impact, but you can lower your legs on the kicks. The ballet is also there, but this video is not for people looking for ballet form corrections. This is a ballet-inspired workout, more than anything.

The location is actually really nice. I liked how they changed the color scheme every once in awhile for a nice change. It looked polished and professional.

The camera would only occasionally miss important areas of their body, but overall, it rarely failed.  Whoever directed the video had a good sense of proportion and what viewers need to see as they worked out along with the video.

The tips section will go over the proper form for the moves.

The video when you first pop it in will go over the tips section. This is where she gives you information on the proper forms. Though this is nice, I often forget some of the advice they offer. Luckily, the instructor often reminds us to correct our posture, tucking our abs, or whatever is needed to fix our form.

Another portion of the video is the behind the scenes and shots of them shooting the workout video. It's rather interesting if you're interested in film and how movies are shot, but that's about it.

Final Thoughts:

 Workout: 8/10

Instructor: 9/10

Setting: 10/10

Camera: 9/10

Level: Beginner-Advanced

Is it actually ballet? Yes

Overall: 8/10

This may be revised because I haven't had time to review this video and workout along with it for a second time. I usually like to use a video at least twice before finalizing my review, but since I've just been exhausted lately, I'm throwing this review up here early. 

Ballet class again!

Ballet classes for me are going to become regular since the holiday is passing. I'm going to finish up my ballet exercise reviews sometime soon. I made a lot of reviews for those since it's the New Year, people make resolutions, I don't have class and need to stay fit, and so on.

Anyway, here is a picture of my studio!!

 Yeah, my camera takes crappy pictures...

Today we worked our usual exercises. I'm still completely floundering when it comes to getting them right. I'm terrible. Maybe I should get off my high horse and drop down to the beginner level. Only problem is I heard today that it was canceled since they couldn't get enough students. I guess that means I'm going to stay in intermediate. Once I get a hold on the exercises, I'm going to do a beginning video to mark where I am as I progress over the years.

WEEE!!!

It's snowing like... I was about to say hell but then I realized it couldn't possibly snow in hell... but it's snowing like a person with dandruff who shook out their hair... yeah. We can make that work. It's snowing a lot outside. It always seems to snow when I'm trying to sneak out of the house to go to these ballet classes. :/

So, based on what I messed up this time, I need to improve on:

• Posture
• Arms
• Balance
• Everything

Wow. How's that for little list of little things to tackle. Wish me luck!