Dance Off the Inches: Hip Hop Party DVD Review

by Natalie Belford

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $14.98

The first time I tried the Dance Off the Inches: Hip Hop Party workout, I didn’t like it. I thought the moves were much too complicated and I would never get them down right. That doesn’t mean it’s not doable, but it WILL take you a few workouts to get the choreography, arm movements and flicks.

In the meantime, you should listen to Jennifer (the instructor) and do what you feel rather than worrying about how you look.

Having said that though this is still a great heart-pumping cardio and even if you don’t get every move down, you will get a good workout since you are constantly moving. The step guide tutorial is helpful but doesn’t allow too much practice so repeated viewings help, but nothing is better than doing the steps in the workout itself.

I didn’t touch the DVD again until I was getting bored with my yoga DVD. I’ve since done it twice, and it’s grown on me. Most of the moves can be learned after a few viewings.
The Sexy Smooth Hip Hop portion is my least favorite.

The steps aren’t particularly hard to understand, but that section has a lot of hip rolls and body rolls. As someone who’s not so good at pulling off hip rolls, it makes that section of the DVD frustrating for me. I can always skip that section, though.

The Basic Hip Hop section was the easiest in my opinion, especially after going through the step guide. I also liked the World Hip Hop section, which I thought had the most interesting moves.

Each chapter teaches diff styles of moves, but you will always repeat previous learned moves from that chapter & also previous chapters. I liked the moves, they weren’t watered down or if they were it was only a little.

Jennifer is relaxed here, she was never annoying in my opinion, she only mostly gives you cues to help move your body right which is what you need most, no fake encouraging or weird personal tidbits others might give.

The music is great. I’m very picky about my music and this makes you want to dance. It’s not that fast techno stuff, or the “typical dance aerobic” music with a sped up tempo to make it fast enough to “dance” to. The beat of the music just makes you want to POP it!

You’re getting a great workout, legs are burning, abs are tight, heart rate is up there. It’s not like the usual boring cookie cutter aerobic routines that still remind me of the 80’s and 90’s even though it’s 2008 and videos produced within the past few years still have that 80’s and 90’s feel to it.

I was apprehensive at first because most of these classes are lame and simplistic. I really liked this because the instructor teaches it like a dance class all the way through.

There is a separate section to learn the dance steps so that the actual 50 minutes of the dance class is spent dancing and not learning. I also bought the 10 minute DVD which is great too.

What I Didn’t Really Like..

A couple of movements may be difficult for people with bad knees, particularly the butterfly. Overall, though, I think this workout should be doable for most people. Like some of the other reviewers said, there are a couple of moves that are difficult on carpet, including the slides.

For these, I just accept the fact that I will not be able to slide as smoothly as she does since I’m on carpet. he step guide would have been better if it had gone a little slower and included more practice of the steps.

The music may not be purist hip-hop as well if that is something that bothers you.

Final Verdict: If You Like to Dance… Get This!

I liked this because the instructor teaches it like a dance class all the way through. There is a separate section to learn the dance steps so that the actual 50 minutes of the dance class is spent dancing and not learning.

It is not an overly strenuous work out, but a great choice on a day that you want to sweat AND really enjoy your work out. Good for even people with no dance experience!

Click here to buy ‘Dance off the Inches: Hip Hop Party’ from Amazon.com