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Don't expect to learn dance, it's poor cardio moves
I am trained in trapeze, aerial acrobatics and a bit of ground acrobatics. I thought this would be an interesting addition to my skills for my learning. I really thoroughly hated that product. Hemalayaa seems to be under the odd impression that pop crossed with hip hop, in an Indian 'decor', makes her move like a Bollywood dancer.I am pissed at how she tries to represent dance. I bought the item beucause the first line in the description suggested the moves were dance moves used to do workout. Ultimately, I just had to watch her 'performances' to view just what a terrible mistake I had made by buying this product (seriously, do the test, look at one of hers and then go look 'sanson ki mala pe' of Madhuri dixit, or any other Madhuri Dixit(sorry guys, I find her really graceful)).
In terms of dance, she will offer you a few moves that she reinvents, renders risky, only to keep the label of other forms of dance. I'll illustrate my point by explaining three of her most repetitive moves in the DVDs. her shimmy(term she borrowed from belly dance) is merely a shift of weight from one ankle to the other with feet loosely spread and the entire body moves as she moves like a five years old. She also borrowed the term plié from ballet, but her plié is just as randomized with butt pulled back curving her spine as if she wanted to do a 'lunge' with weight, feet are both looking forward, she lets the knees bends and rebounce through the whole body (what the heck, has she even looked at what plié means???). It would have been beneficial for her to look it up, because there is serious muscle control involved to dance gracefully. Honestly, I can remember doing that as a child, but I wouldn't do it again, I love grace, not slobby. The one thing that worried me most is how she suggested a 'whip spine' (in bollywood dance workout),where she just throws her back down and throws it back up rapidly to see her hair be thrown back...You know, the spine is something precious, I wouldn't recklessly 'whip it' just to look like a shampoo add girl!I'll stick with what I knew, you keep feet close only 5-10 cm distance between them, and then slowly you let your spine roll down towards the ground with hands and neck hanging, making a neat curve in which you feel each vertebra join the curve(you can bend knees if too hard at first); then you slowly roll it back up one vertebra at a time. That really stretches the spine to get it real flexible (what the hell...'Spine whip', Grrr). If I started warm ups like that at my gym, they'd throw me out for reckless risky behaviors . Also, her posture isn't one of dance; when you dance you want to look tall, to control your back so that all moves look as fluent as if they didn't pressure the back and other limbs to move with them...
I really regret having spent near 30$ on this silly item. Ultimately, I view it as inappropriate to use. Perhaps if you were looking for cardio random moves it could have some kind of purpose, but even then, some of her moves are rendered risky by the wrong posture she advocates for. If you want good Bollywood moves, there are quite a few good ones on video sites. If you want to incorporate moves from Belly dance, I suggest you look them up, same for Ballet; but don't let her sully grace while she lets every limb of her body dangles as if it was too weak to control movements. If you do buy it, please mind your movements and don't try to imitate her too much!! Thanks for reading. Hope it helpsRead full review...
Bollywood Dance Workouts 3 pack DVD
I love these dvd's. they are fun and they do get my heart rate up. Doing them makes me feel more limber afterwards and if I went out dancing (which I don't) but if I did, I think I would dance better using some of the moves. I exercise maybe 2 days a week, sometimes 3. I am getting an elliptical machine, so I will use these in between, that's if I can stay motivated !Read full review...