Product Description
Carnival in Bahia, Brazil is like no other carnival in the world. The city of Salvador de Bahia pulses with energy and excitement as throngs of people gather in a celebration of life. The Samba Reggae percussion groups called Blocos Afros parade in the streets as carnival participants dance and party. The Brazilian Carnival Dance Workout: Samba Reggae brings the excitement and energy of the Bahia carnival from Salvador to your home. This vibrant total-body workout p… More >>
The Brazilian Carnival Dance Workout: Samba Reggae
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#1 by Laura Carmin on March 23, 2010 - 7:38 pm
I like the mix of yoga moves, hip action swivels, etc. but the MUSIC…this is supposed to be a samba reggae…what it is, is somebody banging on a drum with the same beat the whole way through the DVD. Samba music is vibrant and upbeat. I think the music should be changed to what the title of the DVD implies and I think all of us who have bought this DVD should get a free copy of a new one with Samba music in the background.
Rating: 3 / 5
#2 by Alejandra Vernon on March 23, 2010 - 9:12 pm
Created by the dynamic Quenia Ribeiro for beginner and intermediate students, in her “Welcome” portion, Quenia says that even if we are just starting out, we will learn by repetition, and if the movements are too difficult at first, to “…modify them to suit your needs.”
The 2nd part is a super-stretchy, extensive (approximately 20 minutes) and effective warm-up. Beyond learning the samba on this DVD, this warm-up would serve as a superb workout for those who just want to get in some daily yoga based stretches and poses for agility and strength building.
Quenia then takes the choreography in sections, repeating until it becomes familiar, and then, when putting it all together, steps up the tempo bit by bit. The steps themselves are simple, but you can get a fantastic aerobic workout by the time you’re done. Only the most athletic will survive the final top speed version, but it’s great to watch Quenia and her 2 assistants, Nao Yamada and Lisa Green, move with such blazing gusto. There is a lovely cool-down at the end, to catch one’s breath, and savor the enjoyment of dance. Well produced and with percussive music by Nick Birmelin to keep us going, I like that this DVD can be played straight through, or be used with the menu by sections.
Quenia has so much energy, charisma, and Brazilian charm, that she makes working up a sweat a delightful event. She is both at the same time incredibly strong and as limber as a rubber band, and watching her is a joy. She is also extremely knowledgeable, so you know you’re learning to dance from the best of the best, and most of all, as she says, “Have fun!”
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Seir on March 23, 2010 - 10:02 pm
Quenia Ribeiro returns just in time to help us all shed some holiday pounds or simply join in the fun of “Brazilian Carnaval”, a sizzling samba reggae dance work out which lives up to everything a work out can be. Samba is a popular Brazilian dance.
To initiate the program, Quenia welcomes the viewer to her Bahia style samba and a brief history.This program is open to beginners and intermediate dancers or those looking for fun, exercise,or in search of modifying weight issues.
The warm up is superb and rich in length with variations of yoga poses, seated and standing forward bends, down dogs, quad and hamstring stretches. This lady is amazing and energetic, her warm up sequence is so detailed which any dancer can benefit from. This section alone is a great work out if you are just beginning to dance and desire a structured strength and flexibility program. I loved it so I decided to move forward.
Next, get ready for the choreography. Three sections with impacting non-stop dance combinations, so pick your pace from the menu. The dance tutorial section is first, and combined with the slow pace section, but every step is illustrated at a slow pace. Quenia elaborates the Bahia basic samba step layered with various arm movement, earthy triple steps, circle step variations in turns, hip rotations, level changes. When you are ready, turn it up a notch and change the pace to the medium and accelerated tempos, all the more challenging especially during weight transitions, hops, and front and back steps. I suggest practicing the combinations at great length before changing tempos as you can get lost in between if you don’t follow closely. The combinations are easily attainable, the challenge: put it all together and try to keep up with Quenia and her dancers!
To finalize the program a brief cool down follows with similar poses and stretches from the warm up.
If you are a beginner to samba or just beginning to exercise, this is simply fun aerobic dance instruction and total body workout program. The hour and fifteen minutes will pay off on the dance floor, or simply help you get into those “all of a sudden tight jeans,” which seems to be my goal these days.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by S. Dawson on March 24, 2010 - 12:22 am
I loved the previous Samba Reggae workout and was excited to receive her new dvd. I will say that it was a great workout and met my expectations. The reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is because of the format. In her previous dvd she would teach a step and then you’d do the routine and after each new move you learned you would put them all together….With this workout she teaches all the steps in the beginning and at the end you put everything together. While I am not saying the moves were difficult, it;s hard to remember which moves come next, especially at such a fast pace. I found myself thrown off at times trying when doing the entire routine trying to remember which step should follow the previous. Had the instructional followed the same format as the previous dvd, this would have been a really good video.
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by YogaGirl on March 24, 2010 - 1:03 am
This dvd is the second in the Samba Reggae dance series. It is an excellent cardiovascular workout as well as being a lot of fun. It is quite different from her first samba reggae workout as such there is no problem in owning both of them. Here is a breakdown of the dvd:
Warm-up – this is a 25 minute thorough warm up from head to toe. If you have her samba cardio workout dvd, the warm-up is very similar. Standing stretches, abs, seated stretches and back stretches. Very nice. Quenia is accompanied by two dancers who I believe were in her last dvd.
Step by Step instruction + workout. This is the longest of the workout sections. About 25 minutes. The tempo is at a slow pace. The music for the workout sections is different from the previous dvd. It is all percussion with a senuous swing to it. Hard to describe, but I loved it. In the step by step instruction, Quenia goes over the choreography in sections. There are 5 sections with easy to learn steps in each section. She goes from the top a couple of times in each section. Here is the difference from her previous dvd. Once you learn a section, you move on to the next one. You don’t repeat from the top from the very beginning of the previous sections. Once you have learned the choreography in a slow temp she moves on to the samba reggae transitions steps that are in between each workout. If I had one complaint is that she doesn’t repeat the slow tempo workout from the top without instruction at least 1x through.
Medium tempo- After the slow tempo, the choreography is repeated 1x through at a medium tempo. To me this was fast. The section is followed by the samba reggae transition steps at a medium pace. About 7 minutes long.
Fast tempo – Same choreography repeated 1x through at warp speed, followed by the samba reggae transition steps at warp speed. About 7 minutes
Cool Down – About 5 minutes, neck, arm, back stretches. Seated hamstring stretches. Very nice.
I liked this dvd a lot. What makes it challenging is not the choreography; I got it the first time through. It is keeping up with the speed of the dance. Progess is being able to do it at the medium and fast pace AND keep up. The first I did the dvd, I just did the wam-up and the step by step workout and I was sweating bullets. The second time I did the warm-up and the medium and fast workouts only. The workout didn’t seem as complete to me AND I wasn’t able to keep up. So unless you are in great cardio shape, I suggest that you do all of the workouts, even after you learn the choreography. Which leads me to the cons.
Cons: As I said earlier my only complaint is that the step by step was not separated from the slow pace workout. It should have been. The step by step should have had its own section. If you are not ready for the faster tempos, you are left with going through the step by step over and over again. My suggestion is to keep moving and do the steps as she is explaining them to keep you heart rate up.
Overall: Great choreography and music. Quenia is a delightful teacher. If you love Brazilian dance, then get this dvd. Your heart will thank you. Obrigada Quenia
Rating: 5 / 5