Flex Appeal is a bellydance lesson, followed by a bellydance cardio and then an extended stretch. The DVD also has a performance by Ansuya (who helps Kathy in the workout) and an instructional session with Ansuya, as well as some other stuff. It isn't bad, its just that Kathy is not a very good dancer. She is thoroughly okay- this will either bother you as a commercial effort to cash in on the popularity of bellydance or will appeal to you because you can relate to Kathy since she's still working on her skills, but having fun, like you. I would have liked to have seen Ansuya take a more active role in teaching the class, or at least have been right next to Kathy (like Clara is in the Latin workout) rather than behind kathy so her dancing was more prominent. I also would have preferred that the dance she leads have an instruction option. The main market for this workout is bellydance beginners, so it seems odd that they would expect beginners could follow along with a professional dancer with no cues. Yeah, after a while you'll catch on, but it would have been nice to have some instruction. I'm no fan of voice over, but maybe voice over instruction with a music only option to facilitate learning the dance? Ahh, well. Ansuya's dance has some terrible camera work- the fast cuts, strange angles and close ups prevent me from watching and enjoying the dance since I could never really see her clearly. During the workout, one of the background dancers is wearing a hideous and distracting bright pink lame outfit that is so garish... she is seldom in frame thankfully. (Oddly enough, its Louchia, a very talented dancer herself.)

Despite the problems, this is probably the best of the recent spate of bellydance workouts that tries to put bellydance into a cardio session. the warm up introduces a series of moves that are then used in the cardio segment. Neither Rania's nor the Twin's workouts really teach the moves they use in the workout and Suhaila's have very little cardio work. Its pretty mellow cardio- someopne doing a lot of aerobics will probably not get a great cardio workout with this, but for a light day, if you want to try something different, you can still get an easy workout in. The stretch is quite nice, I thought. It was relaxing and I felt kinda graceful while doing it. This workout won't teach you bellydance, and if you take lessons, it isn't your best pick as a do along practice to work on your moves. It will however, teach a few bellydance moves and put them into a light cardio session. Kathy's rough dancing will either appeal to you, since you can relate to her still having fun and trying despite not being a natural dancer, or will irrate you, since you want someone teaching moves to do them well, with grace and skill. For people who want a light cardio workout, or to learn some bellydance moves or want some bellydance in their light cardio, this is a good choice.

Instructor Comments:
I've always liked Kathy Smith, though I never really think of her when I think of my favorites. Her cueing is fine here, but she is not very believable as a dancer. The stretch she leads at the end of the workout is very relaxing.

linda