[aziyade]

First brief impression of Jillina's newest dvds = thumbs up!

There are 4 dvds: A fitness/workout dvd and 3 choreography and technique dvds. Let's start with the 3 volumes of choreography, and then discuss each one individually.



STRUCTURE:
These are organized much like the first 3 dvds were -- introduction, warmup, technique, combinations, choreography, cool down, performance -- and a bonus "behind the scenes" clip of Jillina being Jillina :)

with one KEY exception:

EVERYTHING IS CHAPTERED !!!!!!!!! YAYYY !!!!!!

No more rewinding through the entire list of combinations to find the one you need to work on :) In the technique and combo and choreography sections, not only is each part chaptered, but you have a chapter for the instruction, and a separate chapter for the practice of the instruction -- the drills. You ALSO have the ability to "play all" of either the instructional chapters or the practice/drill chapters together in one session.

THANK YOU!

She teaches the technique sections filmed from in front (with cuts to focus on various body parts), and the combos and choreography filmed in front of a mirror.

The filming is good. For the most part it stays in one place, and only really cuts away to show the movement from a different angle. Lighting is good. Sound is good. The stage is littered with the usual stuff -- but that doesn't bother me, and it doesn't get in the way of the instruction. She teaches in basic practice clothes.

As before, she modifies each of the combos to create a choreography out of them, but the combos can stand alone. And they're cute :)


CONTENT:

I did not watch the warmup and cooldowns on any of the dvds. Sorry! It was my turn to cook last night, and I didn't have time.

The instructional content on these dvds is a bit of the same and a bit of different stuff from her previous dvds, but there's a different approach. Each step that is taught is practiced in the "drill" section in several different ways, at different speeds and with different orientations, AND with different footwork patterns -- to show you variations on how that step can be accomplished. I like that idea.

I didn't list each move taught on each dvd -- sorry! But some things you'll recognize from previous dvds (like the umi) and some things I don't remember seeing.

One curious addition is the first step taught -- a hip drop. I was puzzled as to why she would have such a simple and primary step as the first thing taught -- but now I have a theory. We'll come back to that.