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- *** out of ***** stars Review by Fabio SalsaIsGood
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There is a lot of effort behind this DVD and a far bigger budget than most salsa schools can afford. Produced by a German company (www.dym.de) to promote dance travel to various locations, this DVD very much summarises what you can expect from a combined 'trip-plus-dance-class' tour to Cuba: you will see plenty of trademark tropical scenery, including beaches and Havana main highlights, and six good dancers demonstrating basic casino salsa movements, mostly in nice outdoor settings or typical Cuban buildings. The DVD has a remarkable set of features which makes it stand above standard salsa productions: it comes both in NTSC and PAL (on a single disk!), 3 languages (Spanish, English and German), 3 subtitles (Italian, French and German). All dance steps are shown from several angles, even from below the feet (!). There is an original 'son' soundtrack and even a music clip at the end. You will also find plenty of vocal explanations, several slow motion parts, visual details and close-up views. So far, so good. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks as well. First in the 70 minutes of the DVD you will learn only 4 basic steps (on the spot, cross basic step, forward and back, and side step) and one variation (basic step with displacement). The time is filled up by several repetitions and by showing the dancers (very good by the way) demonstrating the basic steps over and over again. Despite the attention to visual and vocal details and endless demonstrations I am not sure that the video is that easy to follow if you have never danced salsa before. The breaking down of elements is not that precise, nor clear and (by far the biggest criticism) the music is not always synchronised with the dancers; they will appear switching between dancing on 1 to on 2 several times, and occasionally on 3 (not to mention when the music is completely off), which may be really problematic for a beginner. Having said that, if you have never danced before, you are curious about casino salsa and you are considering whether to go to Cuba or not, it can be a reasonable buy
(Posted on 3/9/2011)
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