 Dance and Be Fit: Brazilian Body(Acacia) 2008 What is it? A 48-minute Brazilian dance-influenced cardio workout. Includes 3 12-minute segments, with the third segment a combination of dance and lower body tone. Kimberly Miguel Mullen instructs. Who is it for? Advanced beginning and intermediate exercisers. This workout is done barefoot, so keep this in mind if working on a hard or uneven surface.
What to expect: I saw a Capoeira demonstration once, and was completely intimidated by the sight of people doing cartwheels, Brazilian style martial arts and other highly athletic endeavors. So I approached this Brazilian-style cardio DVD with trepidation, since one of the 12-minute segments was Capoeira. I shouldn't have been so reluctant to give this workout a try — it was lively, fun, and didn't require me to do anything that was beyond my capabilities as an intermediate exerciser. The first segment, Maculelê, was actually the most sweat-inducing — it consisted of large movements that took their cues from Latin and Carnivale dance. The next segment, Samba Reggae, was dancier and not quite as high-powered. Finally, the Capoeira segment, while containing some unusual light toning moves, was not hard to do, even when it had me crawling on the floor. And, thankfully, I only had to do a baby half-cartwheel (I couldn't even do a full one when I was a kid). The lively bonus segment, a few minutes of "Samba de Roda," is also a lot of fun. The only issue with this DVD is the cueing — Mullen does it in voiceover, which is fine, except the timing was often off. She would be telling you about the next move when you were already partway into doing it. I don't know why this couldn't have been edited to coincide better with the moves. But after the first few times you do this DVD, it should be a moot point, and you should be able to do the moves well enough without needing a lot of verbal instruction. Other Exercise DVDs you may like:
 |
Review Directory 
