Blues Dance for Beginners

This is a pretty good basic/intro video for Blues dancing. The instructors are good, and both seem to enjoy both dancing and teaching. There is good instruction both on dance moves and also the more generic material - isolation exercises, posture, etc., so both beginners and intermediate dancers should get some useful material from the video. The DVD covers both "Juke Joint" style and "Ballroom" style, and mixes the two by the end. In each style, they teach a few basic moves by themselves, then a number of more advanced moves that are built up, in order, to make a specific sequence. A little more about the moves in the sequences by themselves would have been good, including how to lead into and out of each move (when they're not in that sequence) and variations (for example, a double turn is taught, but not a single turn). The viewer can probably experiment and figure a lot of that out, but experience level will play a factor in their success (and confidence level). Not much is covered on timing or style/personality, which would have been nice.

The audio is a little tinny/echo-y, so once in a while it's hard to make out specific words; overall, it's still OK, though. The description says it's 60 minutes, but it actually runs a hair over 48 minutes. The DVD is packed with material and is fairly high quality (aside from the audio), but a little more time/material could have been put in to take this from a very good video to an excellent video.

Finally, the 'lifting" move, shown in the demonstration video at about 1:20, is one of the most amazing moves I have ever seen (for non-professionals), and played a part in my renting this video. I might try to find a Blues dancing partner, just so I can do that move with her.