This video came with the Reebok step my husband gave me for my 40th birthday--at my request, of course :) Gin Miller is a wonderful instructor, worthy of the IDEA Instructor award. When the cameras aren't doing goofy things, both the TV Gins and Sign-Language Gins, as our editor Wendy calls them, do a superb job cuing. I've never seen a live band in an exercise tape before, period--much less an African percussion-based ensemble. I may even order the cassette with the music only just to "jam" to! The choreography is blessedly low-impact and not too complicated , which you want when you're new to step aerobics like I am. The aerobics are approximately 30 minutes long--just enough to leave a new stepper pleasantly sore. Step is definitely a different skill from floor work, isn't it?

But the problems I have with this tape are just insumountable right now. For starters, the illustrative booklet promised on the packaging wasn't anywhere to be found. When you pay $70 or $80 for something, then it needs to include everything you pay for, doggone it! The real stumbling block to my working out with this tape, however, is the presentation. Perhaps this type of video is an acquired taste, like drinking beer. In my case, yuck to both.

"Strong and Smooth Moves" has the same MTV-industrial-1984ish type of background, but Karen Voight's pleasant demeanor, the jazzy music, and the occasional smiles and soft laughter from the cast far outshine the depressing milieu. This one has an excellent instructor and a great band as its redeeming features, but to be honest, the musicians and the exercisers don't seem to be working in the same tape, if you pay attention to body language.(Being a counselor by profession, I DO) Something's really amiss if the only people who look like they're having fun in an exercise tape are the folks who aren't doing the routine! I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd stumbled onto the set of "Terminator 2" and found a room where they trained the cyborg killing machines. The first night I did this tape I had to shut it off after 15 minutes and go exercise to "Donna-Mite" just so I wouldn't have bad dreams when I finally got to bed.

The routine is a solid, relatively safe one for new steppers. The tutorial at the end is excellent. Gin is, too. But the people at Reebok need some serious lessons in how to have fun!

Grade: A--routine, Gin Miller, music, safety
F--fails the "fun factor"

Melissa Cooper