I’m just going to do a short review because I only had this for a brief period some months ago.

This workout has approximately 10 minutes of standing yoga, 20 minutes of standing Pilates and ballet, and 10 minutes of dancy movement / dynamic stretching for a total of 40 minutes. Denise leads two young women in a darkish interior set meant to look like a courtyard. (It’s a nice set; it just needs a little more light for my tastes.) The Spanish guitar-type music was pleasant and suited the workout well, from what I remember.

I’d recommend this to an experienced beginner (i.e. someone with some yoga, Pilates, and maybe a little dance experience) to low intermediate. I didn’t find this one challenging—definitely a light day workout. At the time I considered myself crossing over from the beginner to intermediate level of Pilates and yoga, and I was at least a solidly intermediate with respect to cardiovascular activity.

I love Lisa Wheeler (who did the choreography); I love yoga, Pilates, and ballet; but I don’t love this video, so it went back on the exchange. It’s not a bad video. I think it’s more that it just wasn’t for me.

Similar videos are Liz Gillies’ Progressive Pilates for Weight Loss, which also has dance and standing Pilates sections; Jennifer Kries Pilates Method and The Method: Dance to Fitness videos, which combine dance, Pilates, and yoga; and Breakthru Pilates Plus, which also has separate ballet, Pilates, and yoga segments. Another video with standing Pilates and ballet-type moves is The Method: Standing Pilates, which I haven’t personally tried.

Instructor Comments:
Denise is very encouraging, reminding you how great you’ll look, and cues decently (but prior experiences in the disciplines very, very helpful as there is minimal form instruction). She has a breathy voice, for what it’s worth. This was my first experience with Denise as an instructor, and I didn’t love her but didn’t hate her. She is a bit enthusiastic for my tastes, such as when she gets really into the “seaweed” dance step. (“And seaweed! And seaweed!”)

KathAL79