Product Description

Studio: Kultur Release Date: 04/15/2003 Run time: 60 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44837 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 45 minutes

Amazon.com
Latin Dancing for Beginners introduces five popular Latin dances: meringue, paso doble, tango, bolero, and mambo. Teresa Mason, assisted by Lance Estridge, teaches five different steps for each dance, a total of 25 moves in 45 minutes, so instruction moves quickly. The dancers show good form and mastery of the moves, but instruction is rushed and not detailed enough for true beginners. For example, Mason points out that a move has "hip action," but doesn't explain how to do that hip action. New steps are seldom from the rear, so a true beginner would have a tough time figuring them out. An enormous problem is that Estridge, dressed in black, blends in with the black background, making it difficult to see his hips and legs (fortunately his shoes catch the light). Sometimes the camera cuts off his feet altogether. Beginners who have had some lessons will find this a helpful way to practice, but the instruction is not detailed enough for non-dancers to start Latin dancing. --Joan Price

Customer Reviews

DON'T BUY THIS VIDEO/DVD
I was very disappointed with this instructional video. The background is pitch black and the male dancer wears black pants and shoes, so you can barely see what he is doing from the waist down, which is very important to see in order to learn. (Whole point of the video, no?) Each step is only done once or twice, so you'd have to rewind over and over until you get it. Don't buy it! It's a waste of money.

This dvd is an insult to Latin dance
I decided to view this dvd for the tango section, because I am in a tango class right now and want to do some practice at home. What a disappointment! There are about five whole minutes devoted to tango, and you should be aware that the tango style featured in this dvd is more like ballroom style tango. It's not Argentinean Tango, which is what I learning. Additionally, the dvd is produced badly, as the other reviews have stated. The leader (man) disappears from the waist down into the black background, and Teresa Mason, the follower, has squeeky shoes that make the turns she does very unelegant. The dvd is also kind of sexist, because Ms. Mason always says "the man" or "the gentleman" when she means the leader, and "the lady" when she means the follower. I know that not everyone dancing tango is a male leader or female follower, and I suppose Teresa doesn't know that Argentinean Tango started with men dancing with other men. The steps Teresa shows are not well executed either; both partners' legs are not aligned in front of the other's and they are always kind of crouched, creating a big gap; it makes an ugly line down the body with bent and unaligned knees and legs. She does not go over steps with enough repitition and starts with steps that might be a little too fast and advanced for beginners, even though the dvd is supposed to be for beginners. There is nothing about the fundamentals of the dance or technique, just a poor imitation of what could be a very graceful dance. Seriously, I have spent more time writing this review than this dvd spends teaching tango. I imagine the other dances covered in this dvd are just as short and bad.

Great dance instruction, but technical production needs help
Ihave pruchased all three of the Teresa Mason Latin Dancing instructional video tapes. My only comment in re Teresa and Lance is restricted to such superlatives as "sensational", "wow" marvelous, et al. Their instruction and techniques are the best. The only reason I do not give these tapes 5 or more stars, (if available), is in the production of the tapes themselves. I would submit the following suggestions as constructive attempts to help to make their outstanding work more readily "absorbable" (to coin a word), to the video student: 1. Provide better visibility for Lance's scenes, by providing more contrast between Lance's costume and the background. 2. It would be much easier to follow Lance's great demo's, if the steps were introduced in very slow cadence for a clearer "how to", very clearly, before demonstrating the steps in proper "Slow/Quick" cadence, and to music. 3. Point out the more subtle movements in the steps, such as the turning of the foot, in the first step of "Open left turn" in the Tango lesson. I didn't catch this until after making many viewings of the step. Also, Lance's footwork should be kept in view at all times. In the tapes Lance's feet were occasionally allowed to be out of the frame during demonsstation of the steps. I hope these suggestions will help in producing a new and imnproved version of the tapes, which are already wonderful...I must admit I am at a loss for what to call them if and when they are improved. It would also be nice if Mr. Michaelangelo was still around, and available to produce a statue of Ms. Mason for posterity....WOW!