If youve never done ballet before, TAKE CARE!
Those without previous experince may not be able to judge whether they are following the movements correctly, especially when you are trying so hard, and instead damage themselves quite seriously. There are times where I do the movements wrong, but I KNOW I am because of my previous proffessional dance training. Please, PLEASE get proffessional help to correct your posture and movement before doing this full time.

Other than that I found this workout quite good because I could repeat the sections where I was weakest at, and it reminded me of excercises I use to do for dance that could help me now. And if you do the movement correctly, I assure you those flabby bits will tone up eventually. It was beautiful to watch and at an easy pace. A lot of work had gone into the video. Though I did find the video tacky in sense that it was selling the NY Ballet Dance CO. Representing them as though the GODS of dance. American selling tactics!

Ballet brilliant!
This video is wonderful, I havent danced in quite a few years but found the exercises well photographed and easy to perform. It was also the quickest one-hour workout I have ever experienced! The narrator has a lovely voice but is not always in sync with the exercises being performed, so I tended to ignore his reminders "to breathe" after 20 minutes or so.

The only drawback is that none of the ballet positions or terminology are explained, so if you have no prior ballet experience this is not for you as it would be quite off-putting and difficult to follow, not to mention the danger of injuring yourself. Otherwise brilliant, I ache all over today - a sure sign of a good ballet class.

What ever happened to the basics.
I do ballet at least 3 times a week and as an adult and thought the New York City Ballet DVD would be an excellent supplement to my training.....and it is brilliant for me.

However....I do feel concerned that the very basics of ballet technique are not explained for the benefit of those people that have never done ballet before. Im sure that some people might argue that it looks simple enough and of course it does with the help of the professional dancers who have been doing ballet for years and have had teachers correcting them along the way. Even a simple plie requires some knowledge of the technique to prevent injury.

Dont forget that this video/dvd is being sold on the basis that you too can have a body of a ballet dancer and I would therefore expect some explanation as to why the ballet dancers body is the shape that it is and how it is achieved. This workout differs significantly from the usual aerobic videos where you are always encouraged to keep the knees soft, this is not the case in ballet and it is important to remember that the workout is based on ballet technique, how else do you think these dancers achieved slender legs, suppleness etc.... (dont have enough room to explain here).

Other than my moan above, I thought the DVD was excellent for me, brilliant workout and beautifully shot with a few extras thrown in. I hope they bring out additional workouts in the future. Enjoy!