When I was a kid and we would visit our family in Mexico I would watch in awe as my mom, aunts, uncles and cousins would dance fast paced Latin music with ease. My mom tried to teach me but it was difficult for her to lead me when she was used to being the one led. A few times one of my younger aunts tried to teach me and in the limited time she had we did have some success. It wasn’t until I was a teen and right here in Northwest Ohio, believe it or not, I attended parties and get-togethers with Latino friends from neighboring congregations that I really learned to dance – at least cumbia. Salsa for some reason always evaded me.
It’s been 15 years since I’ve danced with a partner. On my own I wouldn’t even know where to begin to explain how to dance to my girls. I’ve tried and failed. Thanks to Salsa Crazy I received a copy of Salsa Mastery System DVD set for the purposes of review. I’ve never taken a dance class and I was a bit skeptical how well dancing would be explained in a video.
To my surprise once the basic steps were laid out and practiced several times following along with the more detailed moves was easy. The instructor did a very good job laying each pattern out move by move in sync with the music. Sometimes exercise or instructional videos move at such a fast pace you find yourself pausing and rewinding constantly. This video set was easy to follow. Each pattern was repeated several times – first in half time, then at full speed and finally to the music. It made following and copying the dancers much easier. I enjoyed the instructor’s tone and manner.
The only problem I ran into was not really having a willing partner with which to practice. My girls tried and got frustrated and my husband just doesn’t dance. I figure I’ll have to learn both the lead and follow parts so that I can both teach my girls when we have the time and follow when, if ever, I get to dance at a party again. The only thing I didn’t like about the video was the background and lighting. The instructors wore dark clothing with a dark ballroom background and poor lighting. I understand they wanted to make it true to life, but either lighter clothes or a lighter background would have made viewing better.
I received a complimentary sample for the purposes of review.
Firstly, I’m a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.
