New York City Ballet: The Complete Workout DVD Review

by Natalie Belford

New York City Ballet: The Complete Workout, Vol. 1 and 2

Retail Price: $29.98

Though I have taken many dance classes, including ballet, I still found the New York City Ballet: Complete Workout DVD challenging the first few times I did it. I felt and saw results (mostly in my legs/glutes) after completing volume 1 for the first time. I’ve never been one for traditional workouts.

I can’t go to a gym and most aerobic workouts bore me so I only do them once. I picked up the NYC Ballet worour because I love to dance (though I haven’t properly danced in years) and because I wanted a workout that would give me the results like a dancer. (nice lean muscles, better posture, etc.) I wasn’t disappointed.

Having no dance experience at all, this was hard to keep up with at first. I prefer to use workout 2 and customize my routine as I please. Some of the moves may require you to hold on to the back of a chair (unless you have the luxury of a barre in your home).

I feel calm and graceful when I’ve completed my workout. You need space to move, but the room does not need to be huge; I am able to do my workout in my bedroom, which isn’t large at all.

Good for stretching and toning. The exercises are slow and easy to follow for anyone who has experience in ballet or not. I also like that the exercises are broken down into segments; so you have time to recoup and begin the next set.

I’d absolutely recommend this to anyone who is in good shape and has a firm body- mind connection. That is, anyone who understands the principles of body alignment and basically just knows how to listen to their body.

I was pleasingly surprised by this dvd (I’ve only done the first one so far), at how much of a workout is possible with simple, low impact movements. I was breathing harder after a few of the exercises and could feel my muscles working hard.

It was also nice to have that connection with gracefulness, rather than just a sports workout. The music is enjoyable and it doesn’t take too long to get the hang of the ballet moves.

Ballet is for everyone regardless of age and gender!

The exercises are accessible to people of all different levels of fitness and dance experience. Compared to the other ballet workout DVD I bought, the NYC ballet DVDs feel less like an aerobics class, are not as repetitive and put emphasis on enjoying the experience of dancing, rather than on reducing fat or burning calories.

The DVD allows you to make up your own workout from the different chapters and also to choose between a classical music soundtrack and a contemporary music soundtrack. Doing the workout, it feels so good to be in my body and afterwards I am left feeling strong and graceful, like a dancer.

Workout is Great but DVD Layout Sucks…

The set up is this: there are several different stretches, exercises, et cetra that are shot individually and you can either do all of them or just pick a few from each section.

The thing is, if you only want to do some of them, you have to go back to the menu and select each exercises you want to do, YOU CAN’T JUST SKIP AHEAD BECAUSE THERE ARE NO TRACKS. So I felt like I was wasting so much time just navigating the menu when it would be way easier to just hit the button to skip to the next track.

If you decide to do all of the exercises, they waste so much time fading out of the last exercise and into the new one.

Final Verdict: Great Addition to Your Other Routines

This workout is relaxing and strengthening at the same time; I have incorporated both volumes into my regular routine of pilates, yoga and running and I would highly recommend this to anyone.

I spend so much time and effort in trying to sweep my arms around properly and follow the beautiful movements of the dancers that an hour goes by and I’ve hardly noticed. I’ve already seen a big improvement in my body as well. Exercise haters will enjoy this workout

Click here to order the “New York City Ballet: The Complete Workout DVD” from Amazon.com