Marie Forleo
Very reminiscent of Fat-Burning
Dance Party, Dance off the
Inches, etc. etc. Not very intense,
but fun and gets you warmed up.
It does involve a like of
hip-shaking and coordinated
arm movements. I am neither a
choreo klutz (anymore!) nor a
born dancer, so I would say that
I got the moves 80% of the time.
The other 10% I just improvised
and/or didn't do the arm
movements. You have to totally
lose self-consciousness to do
all the shaking and shimmying.
This is a beginner/intermediate
workout in terms of intensity, but
the choreography, though done
in very short chunks, can be
somewhat complex. You really
have to let go and "shake it" or
else you won't get much out of it.
I'm neither a total choreo klutz
nor a dancing diva, so for me it
was kinda fun, and occasionally
painful, to learn all the moves.
Very reminiscent of Fat-Burning
Dance Party, Dance Off the
Inches and others in terms of
bright set, gaggle of stylish girls
(to their credit, they have some
variety in terms of shapes and
sizes, though the majority are
still 'It' girls with sleek bodies
that they surely didn't get from
only doing these workouts!).
Each of the four dance
segments is composed of about
3 different moves that Marie
teaches one by one, then puts
together. You do each move
twice, then at the end do each of
them once, non-stop. Typical
moves include the cha-cha; two
quick squats right, then left; a
"popeye" move where you
side-step forward with swinging
arms; a samba where you tap
forward right, then left, shaking
your torso the whole time; and a
strut where you walk forward
swaying your hips then lunge
from side to side. One of the
trickiest moves was a fast-time
lunge-side-to-side-kneeup
immediately followed by a
grapevine. Tricky in execution if
not concept.
This is Crunch, so as always the
background exercisers in
general are what I call "painfully
hip." I almost never give a
thought to fashion, and certainly
usually don't care what people
wear in workout videos, but I just
had to comment on this video.
One woman wears a pair of
fatigue army pants cut so that
one pants leg flaps around and
shows the leg, while the other
has a big slash across the
thigh. I guess it's supposed to
be urban hip-hop-cum-military
chic, but to me it just looks like a
bunch of cats went at it on a
perfectly good pair of fatigues.
:p Maybe I'm just getting too old!
:)
Instructor comments:
A very competent cuer with a
nice sense of humor. "Watch
out, Beyonce!" She seems
warm, friendly and
down-to-earth even when
uttering such contrived
utterances like, "Shake it, girl!"
and doing the occasional whoop
that is echoed back by the gang.
I would love to see her lead a
more intense workout.
acey
11/2/05
The is a 39 minute "VERY FUN" dance workout.
The set is typical Crunch. Bright, airy. The music was very appropriate and really went well with the dances. Very motivating.
Marie was very into the workout and was having alot of fun. As were the other exercisers. Marie's voice was pleasant and she cued really well throughout the workout. Her attire was appropriate to workout in.
It didn't bother me or distract me from the workout. But others have mentioned the outrageous clothing that some of these exercisers wore. And yes some wore clothing not appropriate for working out in. If that is an issue with you this is not your workout. This I must say is the only workout where I saw such clothing. But again it didn't bother me or distract me in any way from getting a good cardio workout.
The workout for me was easy to follow and very, very fun. I thought this choreography was very well put together. Marie did a great job. It got the job done without making me feel like I was actually working out. The time flew by no dread factor. Just plain fun.
In comparison to other Crunch workouts such as: "Fat Burning Dance Party" and "Cardio Salsa". I thought the cueing and the choreography was much better in this one. I totally didn't like either of those workouts and got rid of them fast.
In comparison to "Dance Off The Inches:Cardio Blasting Party" I thought this workout had less down time of learning the steps. However I do like Julz and think that workout was fun also.
Conclusion: I think if you are a true beginner or are choreography challenged this might not be the workout for you. It does have some tricky moves in it. It has lots of variety to keep you interested and great music to move with. You will get your heartrate up.
Instructor comments:
Marie is fun, energetic and cues well. Her voice is pleasant. All the exercisers look as if they are into the workout. Their clothes however are a different story.
Sundari
October 2, 2006