Search - Yoga Booty Ballet Live: Hip Hop Abs on DVD

A fun, easy-to-learn cardio dance routine plus abs work and

Beth Cholette | Upstate NY USA | 08/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have the orginal YBB ballet workout, but this was my first exposure to one of the newer ones, including the Live series. In this video, instructors Gillian and Teigh teach live in front of a large studio class, leading in a tag team style; Ravi the drummer returns, and the music during the warm-up and cool-down is the same as in the original YBB.



The workout begins in a seated position. Gillian and Teigh instruct you to begin ujayyi breathing, and they then go into a Breath of Fire exercise (they don't explain either type of breathing). They also use mudras, or hand gestures, to help set an intention for the class. After this initial 2 1/2 minute section, you get to your feet for some warm-ups which Gillian says are dervived from jazz isolations; these simple moves last another 3 minutes.



Next comes the cardio portion of the workout. Gillian and Teigh teach a dance routine, gradually adding in steps and frequently taking it from the top. I'm somewhat of a choreography klutz, but I was able to pick up all of the moves either the first or the second time through (although I have been doing other dancey videos lately, so that probably was a help). Most of the moves were fun--slide steps, hip shakes, etc.--but some felt a bit silly to me, like the odd cowboy move. Overall, however, I enjoyed the cardio section--I wished it had been a little longer than 17 1/2 minutes, but I still got a pretty strenuous workout in that time.



The last segment is about 11 minutes long. The first 5 minutes of this is abs work using the YBB squishy ball; I don't have a ball, but substituing my Pilates ring plus a light dumbbell in some places worked fine. This was a decent abs workout, but again, it could have been a little longer. The last 6 minutes of the workout is a combination of a few additional strength moves--eg, planks, push-ups--combined with yoga stretching and more mudras, bringing the workout in at 34 minutes total.



Overall, I found this to be a fun, easy-to-follow workout--not necessarily the best dance video I have ever done, but one that I am likely to continue using."

Yoga Booty Ballet Hip Hop Abs

Lena, LMT | Nassau, NY | 08/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Set in a large room w/20 ft+ ceiling, brick back wall & huge long high hung windows & blue wall on the left. Teigh & Gillian are with 6 women & 2 guy students from their studio Swerve in Hollywood w/Ravi on drums.

Intro - 2 min

Warm up - 2 min - yoga mudra, kundalini yoga kria for fear using simple back/forth of fore arm swing & a mudra hand gesture "bear grip" (no movement). music is slow & sweet

DAnce warm up - 3 min - neck stretch to music, rib & hip slides & circles, step touches, double step touches, dancer's yoga pose, shoulder circles temp of music is faster, more for dancing

Dance - 18 min - step forward backs, skating, runing man/mambo fast step, some cute arm hip hop movements, cowboy/pony. Nothing hard to learn or high impact or high intensity. Gillian even looks cool during some of the dance moves & you can see she has talent.

Mat/Abs - 6 min - using their squishy ball or some have used pilates circle, etc. pelvic tilts, crunches, reverse crunches, shoulders & reverse crunches, straight up inner leg squeezes w/crunches, lying spinal twists back/forth w/o allowing knees to touch floor, more knees to chest & shoulder to knee crunches, pilates modified teasers, 1 shoulder crunches for obliques, reg crunches again

Yoga & Cool down - 4 min - cobra, child's pose, dolphin yoga for abs, bow, push ups, child's pose, sit relaxed & last mudra & short affirmation.



I liked this one's dance portion much better then the ones on Light & Easy, Latin & Cardio Cabaret.



I felt energized & positive after doing this & it made me want to exercise even more like all their other dvds. Their positive words were helpful to make me want to do this again & again. Gillian & Teigh have great body awareness and have great focused energy while still reminding you to always have fun & have the correct intentions as great as any great guru yogi master. (Teigh studied studied Kundalini yoga and meditation under Siri Sat Nam Singh for over 8 years & Anusara yoga with Desiree Rumbaugh and John Friend.)"