Ballet Technique with a Broadway Flare

"Ballet Technique with a Broadway Flare"

WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!! A ballet class set to original broadway sound tracks with singing and a full orchestra. Finally a ballet class that has some really different music that is very entertaining. This DVD class is taught by Donna Cerio who offers a unique blend of ballet and Broadway steps. Imagine doing frappes that turn into a mambo dance or grand battements that spring into a Broadway show routine. The entire video is shot on a stage so the barre work is done holding onto a chair just as if you were warming up before a performance. Each barre exercise starts with some fun choreography as an intro then moves right into the exercise with some more fun stuff to help you change sides. In the center Donna has created a very simple dance that combines all the basic steps. She fully demonstrates each step and then performs it to the music. The whole dance is then performed without stopping. What a great change of pace this DVD is!

Article from Video Librarian:

Rating *** 3 Stars - Good (Out of a 4 star system)

"Anyone who dreams of becoming a member of the chorus line in a Broadway show - or even appearing in a local mounting - might benefit from this instructional program, but the primary audience will be ballet students looking for exercises set to more popular pieces rather than the usual classical compositions. Choreographer Donna Cerio and two young performers demonstrate how all the traditional techniques ordinarily executed at the barre - plies, tendus, degages, rond de jambes, developpes, frappes, grand battements - can be practiced to show tunes simply using a chair for balance. In each case, the exercise is presented first in slow motion, with Cerio describing each required movement, after which the two dancers perform the routine to a selection from a Broadway show, with tunes drawn from Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Spamalot, Pippin and Wicked. Technically, the production is spartan: taped in an empty auditorium of a California school, with a static camera stationed at the back of the stage while Cerio and her colleagues, in plain black exercise outfits, perform upstage (and the audio isn't entirely successful in coping with the hall's resonance). But the presentation's simplicity reflects the functionalism of the entire project, which offers a refreshing alternative to traditional dance instructional videos. RECOMMENDED."

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Description	Order #
Ballet Technique with a Broadway Flare DVD	DC01D	$5.00 Add to Cart