[.ca] Landon, Tina: Behind The Moves: Session 1

too fast!:
This DVD is like one long session of music videos with the instructor talking inbetween each music video. The counts of 8 were taught way too fast so I found myself rewinding constantly just to figure out what they were doing. I would recommend this DVD to someone who is already trained in dance who might want to learn the moves of the videos. Otherwise for beginners it's not too great a DVD. In addition to that, you need a fair bit of floor space to do these routines. For someone like me with an average sized living room, it wasn't too great. I moved all my furniture off to the side but still had trouble bumping into things.

hot hot hot:
this dvd is an amazing look into the world of music video dance. tina landon is a legend, & in 'behind the moves' she breaks down some of her most infamous routines... britney spears, shakira, christina aguilera, j-lo... etc the dvd also features an interview with tina, interviews with shakira, christina, nsync, etc, behind the scenes footage. brilliant!!!! every dancer should own a copy!

Definitely not for Beginners!!!:
At first I was so excited to order this because I have heard so much about Tina Landon & was eager to give this a try. I found it so difficult to keep up with Tina & you basically need to have some sort of training in choreography to understand how to do some of the moves. It is a little cheesy at times & I feel that she teaches a little too fast and doesn't break down the moves well enough to understand them. As the titles indicates, this is session 1 and after giving this a try (twice!) there is no way I am interested in a session 2! Save your money, unless of course you've had some form of professional training. Too bad that Amazon doesn't offer a video preview so you can see for yourselves. Some of the dance portions she breaks down are from Jennifer Lopez's "If you had my love" video, Christina Aguilera's "Come on over" Shakira's "Wherever, whenever" video, Britney Spears' "Oops I did it again" and one by Samantha Mumba.

Great DVD that Requires Persistence and Coordination:
I have just begun Tina Landon's DVD, and feel that I have gotten more than my money's worth in the way of a wealth of fresh new dance moves-similar to my experience with the wonderful "Darrin Henson's Dance Grooves" DVD. Both Tina and Darrin are great choreographers; and I love the humor, insight, and sense of fun they express in their videos. I also find their passion very appealing. It is a real mountain to climb learning your moves from DVDs such as this one-a good kind of mountain that feels extremely rewarding as you accomplish it. (Nothing worthwhile to learn is easy, right?) My approach to each routine is to pause the DVD with each count to see where the dancers' arms and legs are. On other passes through the routines I also slowly move from count to count using the magic of the DVD controls to go a few frames at a time. I use this technique to follow the transitions of the arms and legs of the dancers to each "pose" to be achieved at each count. I go over the routines over and over again. And practice and practice and practice them. I am very pleased with the choreography that I've learned from Tina's DVD and actually have gotten a lot of compliments for them when using them in dance clubs. I feel that at a bargain price I have been gaining an extremely valuable education in agile dance grooves from a great choreographer. (I feel the same way about Darrin Henson's best-selling DVD, too.) Especially considering that I spend hundreds of dollars a month in dance training for ballroom, latin, and swing. There is no substitute for years of training in dance. (Tina even says that in the video.) For what you pay for Tina's DVD you get a lot of information, and if you have the desire to put the time in and possess enough body coordination you will learn Tina's routines. If you go in with that mindset you will have the proper expectations for this dance video. After all, there is no magic pill to make you a better dancer--it takes work whether from you learn from a DVD or from a private instructor. What you get from this DVD is a little slice of knowledge from a master choreographer that you probably could not spend any real time with. This DVD is a most welcome addition to my dance instruction DVD and book collection.