Paula's enthusiasm and fun-sprited personality shines
through in this video [Get Up and Dance]. I immediately
feel like I am in the studio dancing with the 20+ people
in the video. Paula's cues were great. She encourages you
through the video, not like an instructor, but like a
good friend. She really challenges you.
Della Stein
Paula is very energetic and cues very well. She goes
through the dance steps for each combination slowly a few
times, then puts them together to tempo.
Joni O
Paula made her mark on MTV during the 80's
choreographing music videos for Janet Jackson and ZZ Top,
among others, before starting her own singing career. I
see many qualities of a good teacher in her: clear
instruction, simple breakdowns of complex steps,
friendliness, enthusiasm, and an encouraging word or two
served up with a smile!
Melissa Cooper
Paula is obviously accustomed to communicating
choreography to others. I think she does a pretty good
job for a celebrity instructor.
Wendy Niemi
Kremer
Paula is the main instructor in her video, although 2
of her co-choreographers assist her. The package also
lists Karen Voight as exercise consultant, but she does
not appear in the video. Paula's cueing is some of the
best I've seen so far; however, my exercise video library
is very small. When Paula teaches the steps, she starts
at a slower pace and then speeds up to tempo. She also
calls the steps much like a dance instructor would in a
dance class. Each step has a name to identify it, and she
has the class call out some of the steps as they do them
(i.e. "Which side?" "Left!", etc.).
Lynne Lounsbury
GET UP AND DANCE IS ONE OF THE BEST, NO THE BEST VIDEOS I'VE EVER WORKED OUT TO! ITS CUED MY MISS ABDUL SO WELL, AND HER ENCOURAGING WORDS WILL KEEP YOU ON YOUR FEET. (HER LOOKS TOO!!!) IF YOU LIKE THIS VIDEO, BE SURE TO GO OUT AND BUY "CARDIO DANCE", PAULA'S BRAND NEW EXERCISE VIDEO. YOU CAN FIND IT AT BLOCKBUSTER! ACTUALLY, IT MAY EVEN BE BETTER THAN GET UP AND DANCE. IT'S MORE OF AN INTERMEDIATE VIDEO THOUGH. YOU NEED TO KNOW SOME STEPS BEFORE TRYING CARDIO DANCE. I'M TELLIN YA THOUGH, IF YOU WANNA LOSE THE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF, STICK WITH PAULA ABDUL! SHE KNOWS WHAT ITS LIKE! TRUST ME, IF SHE CAN'T GET YA IN SHAPE, NOBODY CAN!
Instructor comments: GOD, I LOVE THIS WOMAN. THE IS *THE BEST* INSTRUCTOR ALIVE. ITS OBVIOUS THAT SHE'S HAD EXPERIENCE CHOREOGRAPHING BEFORE. WELL, OFCOURSE SHE HAS.........SHE'S PAULA JULIE ABDUL!!!! YOU GUYS HAVE TO GO OUT AND BUY THIS VIDEO. I PROMISE YOU, PAULA WILL ENCOURAGE YOU AND KEEP YOU GOING! HER SKILLS SHINE BRIGHT IN GET UP AND DANCE!
Casey Smith
3/9/99
I am not an aerobics instructor nor am I a dancer, so her videos are somewhat complicated for me. They are a fun workout, and I definitely work up a sweat every time I use these videos, but it takes me a while to catch on to the moves. I am also afraid of twisting my knees, and many of the moves involve pivoting. As I said before, these tapes are great for people who already know how to dance or are exceptionally fit. Unfortunately, these are not the people who will be utilizing these tapes.
Instructor comments: Paula is a fun instructor, but I think she forgets that the majority of the people who will be using her videos are not dancers. She is a lot of fun and keeps one interested, but goes through the moves too fast, even though she does start off slowly at first. I also feel that her warmups are too short, and she absolutely needs to say something and/or demonstrate safe ways of executing the dance movements, particularly for those involving the knees.
Apiyo Osanya-Nyyneque
Twiga314@aol.com
4/3/99
