Exercises and Drills, Vol. 1 (EXCP Bronze)

Nicely produced DVD with good lighting, well listed moves, excellent explanations…

The “exercises” on disc 1 - pivot turns, one footed turns, spirals, etc. - are many of the basic building blocks of many “complicated” dance patterns. If you’ve ever gotten “stuck” in a class because there’s part of a pattern you just can’t get, these discs can help.

A pivot turn, for example… Some people never really get these and they wind up taking private lessons where the teacher then “fixes” a move - in a pattern - that was never actually learned: “place, lock, pivot, place, lock, pivot...” “Oh…. So, that’s a pivot turn!”

It’s not necessary to wear yourself out learning each thing on the disc. It may be enough just to watch it several times to learn the vocabulary of the moves and be able to “see” what someone in a class is talking about. It’s a “word to the wise” kind of thing. As is… Have a big mirror handy to really get the best bang for your buck with this disc.

The “drills” here are usually suggestions of how you can practice the “exercises” (moves) presented to improve your overall dancing. They’ll suggest, as a simple example, that you learn the move then create a drill where you try it five times in one direction, and then the other. They do more than just this and what they do varies depending on the move presented.

A very good disc in terms of quality, and, a very good idea in terms of teaching, “dance.”

If you never had “dances classes” as a kid, this is a good chance to catch up to what a lot of the “good” dancers around you already know; the little things matter a lot.

Possibly the best series on DanceFlix. Because Gary is mainly known as a Smooth & West Coast Swing dancer, the genre of this DVD is listed as Waltz & WCS. Truth is, this DVD cover great drills that are fundamentals for ALL partner dancers. Body movement, footwork technique, lead concepts. Truly amazing.