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Salsa & Mambo Video Reviews

Adrian & Anita

Estilo Parejas DVD 1

Level: Intermediate

Style: On 1

Content: Turn Patterns.

General Comment: Adrian and Anita are two accomplished dancers, with a considerable and diverse training in several dances who, as they tell us in the interviews contained in the DVD, have found their real passion in salsa. They have achieved a lot already, being able to boast first prize at several international competitions, including the equivalent of the World Championship, in the category On 1. This talent shows clearly in the DVD, their dancing is spotless, energetic and made impressive by a well acquired stage craft: everything is just perfect and sharp.

Needless to say, this implies that this salsa is most suited to the stage or to the ones of you who like to impress their friends. If you are one of
these salsa dancers, this DVD is for you and you will find plenty of inspiration for turn patterns and style for both for male and females.

The DVD contains 8 turn patterns, all danced and taught On 1. The turn patterns in themselves are not particularly challenging, they contain no
more than 2 spins for the lady and no really difficult passages. The challenge is to make them look as crisp and impressive as Adrian and Anita
do, and this will surely take some time.

Each turn pattern is first shown with vocal counting, then broken down in both the male and female component and finally danced to music. All the instruction is in Spanish only and this is a pity, but I think that a dedicated student would be able to work things out by careful use of the remote control. The use of two camera views with zoom in and out as needed is very well done and the DVD in general is very well produced. It also includes interviews and, most important, clips for their shows which are, as you may expect, top class.

Reviewed by Fabio - Good

Anita Style DVD 2

Level: Int

Style: On 1

Content: Ladies style

General Comment: You can read a few words on Adrian and Anita in our review of their DVD 'Estilo Parejas'. 'Anita Style' is a ladies' styling DVD. It is nicely organised: the first session is dedicated fully to styling with arms and hands, something Anita makes much use of in her dancing. She shows how to shape the hands, how to lift and lower the arms elegantly, how to time the movement to the music and how to emphasises the musical accents with the hands.

She then shows 5 sequences of solo work; this is very choreographed material, which you can use in your shows. The sequences are quite diverse; they contain some elements of classic mambo, some elements of flamenco and other moves more common to the salsa repertoire. Anita's style is sharp and powerful and her talent shows quite clearly. Finally, with Adrian's help, Anita shows a simple turn pattern, first danced 'plain', that is with no special styling, and then made richer and richer by incorporating multiple spins and some styling element taken from the sequences just shown.

All this is On1 and unfortunately explained only in Spanish. Nevertheless, as for the 'Estilo Parejas' I think that a dedicated student would be able
to follow most of the material. Each turn pattern is first shown with vocal counting, then broken down and finally danced to music both with front and back view. The use of two camera views with zoom in and out as needed is very useful to focus on the details of the arms and hand. Also as in the 'Estilo Parejas' interviews and clips from Adrian and Anita shows are included.

Reviewed by Fabio - Good

Adrian and Anita style DVD 3

Level: Int-Adv

Style: On 1

Content: Shines

General Comment: You can read a few words on Adrian and Anita in our review of their DVD 'Estilo Parejas'. 'Adrian and Anita style 3' contains a set of 10 solo sequences, basically shines including a lot of body work and styling, 5 for men and 5 for ladies. Each sequence is first shown with vocal counting, then broken down and then danced to music. As for the other DVDs from this couple, their dance on1 and their style is very sharp and full of energy: material for choreographed shows. They both are proficient dancers and thus able to get away with moves and emphatic styling that most of us would not be able to afford, but if you like this kind of material, or this kind of challenge, you can be sure you will watch and learn from some of the best dancers around.

The material is explained only in Spanish, but unlike the other DVDs this time you can find subtitles in English. As for the other DVDs of this series you will find very useful the use of two camera views with zoom in and out when needed.

Reviewed by Fabio - Good