Three short ballet-type workouts — or actually two, since the third is mainly a repeat of the second segment. Jennifer Kries instructs.

Beginning exercisers who want to learn basic ballet moves as part of their workout regimen. If you already have experience with any ballet-influenced exercise, or have been exercising for a while, you won't need this.

I'm baffled as to why this DVD is being marketed as having three workouts. There are only two: the 13-minute introductory routine and the 16-minute beginner workout with slightly more advanced versions of the moves. The third one opens up with Kries explaining that once you know the exercises you can focus on kicking increasingly higher, and then the second workout is run over again. So in reality, you are getting just two routines, and you won't need the first one after the first few passes. That said, this is a nice beginner's DVD if you know absolutely nothing about ballet, but have heard it's good for your lower body. It's true — these moves appear easy but there's more than meets the eye. They're actually fairly difficult to execute with the proper posture and some of them offer a balance challenge. One of the reasons ballet dancers love Pilates is that both require intense muscle awareness and precision of movement to experience the full benefits they have to offer. If you don't feel every inch of your core and lower body working throughout each move, you are not doing them right. Kries uses ballet terminology — tendu, corps de bras and the like — but the routines are so simple that the language is not intimidating. If you enjoy what you see here, or if you are already familiar with many ballet moves, then you'll want a longer, more comprehensive workout.