10 best Fitness DVDs: Brazilian Dance Workout
You'll shimmy off pounds
and learn moves you 'll be tempted to show off in public. The infectious spirit of the instructor, Vanessa Isaac will keep you going long after you break a sweat
Exhilarating!
Vanessa exudes a passion and love for Brazilian culture …(her) vocal’s could stand alone, adding the dancers just proved to be a rich layer of icing!” Valley Voice
We tried out almost 150 exercise DVDs — from sculpting and toning to cardio to Yoga and more. Out of all those workouts, a few stood out.(Samba 2 named one of the top 10 Favorite DVDs atYourExerciseDVDs.com)
Samba Party Workout 2: Brazilian "Carnival" Grooves
The problem with many cardio dance DVDs is that they're all style and little sweat; they have choreography that's hard to learn; and once you learn the steps, you still don't get much of a workout. Vanessa Isaac has solved all that with her fun and simple approach to Brazilian dance. This Samba-inspired routine has moves you can take to the dance floor, is easy enough for beginners to learn, and will raise your heart rate.
The flow of energy from this woman is freeing..."
"Her decade long effort to share the music and dance of her country has paid off."
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
Samba Party Workout 1: Brazilian Rhythm Celebration is competently hosted by Vanessa Isaac and provides a lively and energetic 35-minute introduction to the amazing and passionate world of Samba dancing. Educating the viewer in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step, simplified instructional manner, Samba Party Workout 1 brings a surplus of life into the enjoyable activity of dance with this unique and invigorating style, engaging the viewer both physically and mentally. A welcome addition to any personal or music/dance school instructional DVD collection, Samba Party Workout 1 is very highly recommended for its "user-friendly" construct and intriguing content to all viewers looking for a fun and lively "how to" guide to dancing the Samba!
“Vanessa Isaac is a terrific teacher. There've actually been a couple of times that I was gloomy when I went out to dance and absolutely brimming with joy when I finished … it's a legal upper. I will definitely watch for anything and everything Vanessa Isaac teaches in the future. “
Plenty of DVD titles offer workouts - but none perhaps as compelling as Vanessa Isaac's presentation BRAZILIAN DANCE WORKOUT WITH VANESSA ISAAC. An outdoor setting with live drummers captures the intense rhythms and beats of Brazilian dance in a workout for all fitness levels. No single Brazilian dance is the focus: samba, reggae, axe and more are combined in a fun routine.
Her personality is very sweet, charming, happy and exciting. This will definitely rub off on you!"
Samba Party Workout 1: Brazilian Rhythm Celebration, Hip Brazil, 38 minutes, DVD, $14.99. Available at Amazon.com, www. www.hipbrazil. com and other online retailers; also in stores.
Performer and dance instructor Vanessa Isaac’s Samba Party Workout 1 should be distributed to all those folks who produce and distribute dance/fitness videos. It’s that good.
There’s much to recommend: A step-by-step how-to on samba steps; tips on modifying the workout to decrease joint stress and other problems; a brief history of the Brazilian dance; a fun, easy-to-follow cardio routine; plus a charming and inspirational instructor.
Dance workouts often suffer from a lack of danceability. The pace may be too fast and the steps too difficult. The instructions may be so unclear, they’re opaque. You try to do the workout a few times, find yourself flailing and stumbling and wondering why your hips swivel left when you want them to go right. And just where the heck were you the day the coordination-and-rhythm genie came calling?
By contrast, Isaac’s method of instruction and her infectious love of the dance leave you feeling refreshed, exhilarated, ready to hit the dance clubs. You’re a gazelle, a samba cat, a graceful and sultry creature. (Please, take a moment ... breathe, bask in the delight of your newfound dancitude.)
Isaac bases the routine on six basic samba moves: sidestep, hip roll, box step, twist, groove, and one simply called the “samba.” The samba step involves step-touch-touch foot movements combined with side-to-side hip action and coordinated arm waving.
The high-impact hopping movements in the routine can be easily toned down for people with back and joint problems. If you feel your heart rate increasing too quickly, you can slow down by cutting out the arm movements. Isaac explains these things in a tips section, but also makes note of them during the routine.
Because it’s a dance workout, not straight aerobics, athletic shoes aren’t suitable. Isaac recommends wearing supportive, comfortable shoes with smooth leather soles.
Tie a scarf around your hips. Samba party on!
"Everywhere that I turn, I bump into another of Isaac's dedicated students: at parties, at concerts even in the hall's of the Indy... Isaac's success has a lot to do with her warmth, charm and knack for making people feel at ease, but it is her skill and knowledge of the culture that that truly brings her students an authentic experience."
This is fantastic: the only dance-based workout I've tried (and believe me, I've tried a lot) that is actually just like being in a dance class. The movements are broken down and built up properly, you end up with a real dance and you certainly sweat a lot while having fun. Great low impact cardio, but that's not really the point: this is about feeling great, feeling the rhythms. Anyone who has done any dance before will be on familiar terms with the way this is taught, and those who are new to it will I am sure soon pick it up as it is so well done. it puts most of the 'flasher' DVDs out there to shame. An amazing product, where the people on screen seem to be having as much fun as I was. Buy it