I’m reviewing this workout after doing the warm-up, cardio dance workout, and express workout once each and the stretch about a dozen times.

General workout breakdown: Beth’s done such a great job describing the workout segments there’s little more to say, but I’ll add a few thoughts anyway.
- The warm-up: This is very gentle. Actually, this pairs better with the Express segment, which jumps right in, than with the Cardio Dance, which works its way up slowly; like Beth I also didn’t feel the need to do any warming up before this segment.
- The cardio dance: This is an interesting blend of ballet, modern dance, and yoga moves. You’ll do a little bit of one style, a few moves from another, and then kind of a yoga interlude. There are definite blocks of choreography, some of which are repeated several times, but there’s no real TIFTing (taking it from the top, or making them all into one big dance).
- There is a good deal of overlap between the warm-up, cardio dance, and express segments, not least because the express is a premix made from the main cardio dance. It’s nice to see the premix and other options, but if you don’t love one you probably won’t like the others.
- I was also a little disappointed in the tutorial, which does not break down the steps but instead, as Beth says, runs through the entire routine more slowly than in the workout itself. James instructs with his back to you. Those of you with dance backgrounds will be familiar with this type of instructional, however, and given James’ background I’m not surprised this is what he chose to do. I didn’t actually need the tutorial, however, as the steps weren’t that tricky, but there were one or two sequences that tripped me up, which is why I peeked at the tutorial in the hopes that James broke down which foot went where when.
- The stretch: James introduces this as self-myofascial release and core training on the foam roller; I’m going to repeat Beth’s heads up that this is NOT AT ALL how this is labeled on the DVD cover or even in the DVD menu. It’s also 25 minutes rather than the 20 minutes promised on the cover. Does Gaiam’s marketing department even speak to the part of the company that makes their products?

Level: I’d recommend this to exercisers with a little bit of experience in dance, yoga, and maybe also foam rolling. Beginner through intermediate level exercisers may feel that they get more out of this than more advanced exercisers.
I consider myself an intermediate / advanced exerciser, with some dance experience (as a child I took ballet, jazz, and modern dance) and some yoga experience (I’ve been practicing yoga for the past 8+ years), although I was still relatively new to foam rolling when I got this. The benefits I got from the dance portions were more along the lines of warming or loosening my muscles up rather than working my heart; I did the main workout on a lighter day and the express as part of a warm-up before another workout, and they worked well for that purpose.

Class: James and Trudie for the warm-up, cardio dance workout, and express workout, James alone for the stretch and footwork tutorial. For all segments instruction comes from James via voiceover.
Trudie is a game participant; she may not be the most graceful, talented dancer, but she makes up for that with her enthusiasm and willingness to give it her all. But then most people would find it hard to match James, who moves so fluidly and purposefully.

Music: instrumental songs taken from Songs from the Labyrinth. An acoustic version of Sting singing “Message in a Bottle” plays during the main menu.

Set: The entire video was filmed on the grounds of Trudie and Sting’s Tuscan villa (Il Palagio). The warm-up and footwork tutorial are set inside a former chapel where a Buddha surrounded by candles supervises James. The cardio, express, and stretch segments are on a patio outside, with shots of the green, rolling Tuscan countryside visible in the distance.

Production: clear picture and sound, with the music and James’ instruction audible. Camera angles get a little artsy at times, but for the most part you can see what’s going on.

Equipment: James is barefoot throughout the entire workout. Trudie wears soft-soled shoes for the cardio dance portions, so if you feel more comfortable with shoes follow her lead, just make sure you can pivot on your floor surface (you won’t be doing spins, but you will need to do partial turns to get your feet into position). You will need, as Beth mentions, a 3’ long round foam roller for the stretch portion.

Space Requirements: For the cardio portions you should be able to take a few steps in each direction, but you don’t need a huge space at all do to this. I think I at 5’8” managed to do this in a 4’x6’ area, although I may have reached past that a little bit. For the stretch you should be able to lie down with your limbs extended way out.

DVD Notes: When you pop in the DVD, a quick Gaiam intro pops up, which then launches into Trudie’s introduction to her workout series, a trailer for Ana Caban’s Quick Start Pilates for Weight Loss, and another trailer for Patricia Moreno’s Dance Core Cross Train; fortunately I found I could skip through these rather long promos to get to the main menu, although I had to hit skip several times to get there. Your main menu options are Warm Up, Cardio Dance Workout, Express Workout, Stretch Workout, and Bonus Materials (Interviews – Trudie Styler, James D’Silva, and Sting; Footwork Tutorial; The Making of Sting’s Album, If on a Winter’s Night).
Trudie introduces the cardio dance workout, and James introduces the stretch workout; fortunately these are very brief, but they will play every time you push play on either segment.

Comments: Portions of the proceeds from sales of new copies of this DVD benefit Unicef’s Ecuador Water Project, according to the front cover.

I acquired this one for the foam roller segment, but I’m finding I don’t use that as often as I had originally planned. I’ve been foam rolling on average 3 times a week since December as a complement to my strength training, and I personally find Denise Beatty’s Fitness Fix foam roller massage segment more suitable for my needs. Specifically, I like Denise’s thorough rolling of the lower body muscles; James spends much less time on the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes and leaves out the calves and shins entirely. Admittedly James does much more for the upper body plus a few nice moves for the area around the sacrum, but I find that I prefer to do more focused trigger point-type work, specifically Jill Miller’s stuff with her Yoga Tune Up balls than foam rolling when it comes to that half of me. I have gotten some good ideas for upper body moves from James that I sub in while working along with Denise, however, so I’m glad to have given this a try.

I think I would have enjoyed the dance portion earlier on in my fitness video journey; when I first started I had a number of other dancey routines like this, including several from The Method, plus more ballet and fusion workouts. Now I’m finding that I prefer to keep my yoga separate and if I want dance I’d rather reach for something like Chantal Pierrat’s Soul Sweat or even Shiva Rea’s Yoga Trance Dance. I’m sure some people reading this are thinking, “Really? You prefer those to this? What’s wrong with you?” I think, like so many things, whether or not this works for you depends upon your personal preferences. Fortunately this video, even with its quirks, provides yet another great option for those looking for a flowing workout that leaves them feeling great without feeling like they’ve been run over.

Instructor Comments:
James has a very professional persona. I would have loved to have seen a little bit more of the warmth and good humor he exhibits in his interview make their way into the workout itself, especially since he stresses how important it is to have fun. As things stand he’s pleasant but doesn’t show a lot of personality during the workout itself, as he’s rather down to business. He’s clearly a well-trained dancer and an intelligent instructor who’s given some real thought to the routines; you feel focused on the task at hand when working along with him.
James, originally from Goa, India, has an English-inflected accent that’s easy to understand.

KathAL79