African Dance Workout with Debra Bono

This video is loads of fun. It's energetic, varied and provides a good workout about 50 minutes long. It includes a warmup followed by two dance routines that Debra teaches incrementally followed by a short cool down. If you want shorter workouts, you could easily just do one of the dances. If you need to be able to do it perfectly the first time, this video probably not for you. It's a little confusing at first. With each repetition, it gets a little easier to follow. The challenge of getting better at the dances as you go is what makes it fun for me. It's a little high impact with a lot of bouncing and hopping, but it is easily modifiable if you have foot or knee problems or are just not feeling right one day. There are three demonstrators and one or two of them are demonstrating modifications that Debra points out occasionally. There are a few times where the leader flubs the cues "left, I mean, right" or once where she calls something a "combo" and then says it's a "repeater" because it "three," but it actually is a combo. A little distracting, but not a big deal. Generally, the leaders cues and demonstrations are easy to follow. She teaches a step with lots of repetitions, and adds it to the routine so it's easy to learn. The DVD includes a short set of upper body exercises at the end that seem out of place, but easy to skip. It uses weights and a step. I do the upper body occasionally and it feels good. Her guidance on the weights seems good and safe.

This is my second Debra Bono DVD and so far my favorite! This DVD starts with 7 minute warm up that includes some of the movements that you will be doing during the aerobic section and then a light stretch for muscles.The 40 minute aerobic section consist of two different workouts. If you (like me) have a very extensive home DVD library and look for DVD's to create a little variety and also muscle confusion this is it! I love doing the moves that swing your leg in circle (while standing) or work your shoulder forward in a lunge, or even a kick back with attidude. The dance is well cued, the studio is beautiful and the music is perfect for the dancers. This is advertised as an intermediate DVD and I would say that's about right, although advanced beginners may want to give it a try only because the workout is so interesting, you would not mind practing with it a few times.There are plenty of hops for those of you who like high impact, but there is also a modifier in the back (sometimes hard to see) who does a low impact version.I also like this one more than the other that I purchased because there is no down time. No stopping for creative moves..just full aerobic dance...and the dance is fun and beautiful.If you want to try a workout that is differnt than what you have (march, march, side step, side step) this is it. I will use this DVD frequently and keep it in my library.

I took African dance several years ago from a performance troop from Senegal. It was very difficult and the teachers didn't speak English which made it fun. I usually ended each class lying on the floor being laughed at. I really enjoyed it.I almost didn't get this DVD due to some negative reviews. There was a complaint about the music. My opinion: The drums are great just what is appropriate for African dance. The other complaint was about it being simple and not like dance. I'm confused about that. It's what you put into it. With each step, even side to side, she demonstrates a constant head and torso movement along with a bounce. If you're not doing that then it would just seem like stepping. I can see the multiple levels of exertion. The more you do the better the workout. The dance moves I learned years ago, I saw the Senegalese perform for an audience. They performed some of these moves in the air. How much can you bend, how high can you jump? Though I doubt I can ever become aloft, I'm sure I've got a lot of energy to put into this before I ever get bored. I have to say that I love the syncopation of African drums which are very different from the marching style of Anglo drums.

I like to dance without all the chit chat. There was no option to dance without verbal directions; I am very disappointed .

This is extremely well-cued African Dance. Debra Bono’s vibrant energy and spirit make this my all time favorite exercise DVD.

It doesn't feel like a work out at first because the instructors energy is pretty "low key" compared to other dance dvd's, but you'll be tired before you know it.

This is absolutely one of the best aerobic dance DVD's I own. I just purchased it and did it this morning and it was face paced, easy to follow, energetic, fun and went fast. This is one I will go back to over and over and am looking forward to getting the moves down more than first time try. What I like about Debra Bono is she does not dawdle; she explains the moves clearly and I can follow her but she moves through them quickly so the explanations blend into the overall workout. Some DVD dance workouts takes a long time for the explanations in the middle of the workout so once you learn them fairly well, it slows you down when you go back to it. This is not the case with Ms. Bono. She's awesome. It's awesome. I would go to her classes if I lived where she does but I don't because I live in remote Alaska. So, Ms. Bono, if you are reading this, thank you for such a fun and energy driven DVD. I love it. You're the best.

Somewhat interesting, since it does provide a different routine from any other exercise video I have, though I can be difficult to follow. It'd be nice if this had a separate instructional part to learn the moves before dancing, but I think it this was created for VHS originally and transferred to DVD.