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Cardio Meets Strength Training: Slow, Strong & Simple

Customer Review "Its non-intimidating instructor gives good info and is quite friendly"

Afro-Caribbean Step: Not the Same Old Step

Tuesday January 4, 4:29pm Eastern Time PRODUCTS-Afro-Caribbean Step By Jan Paschal Debra Bono, a certified aerobics instructor who studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York, combines the sensuous moves of African dance with step aerobics to create a 56 – minute workout video that takes the "ugh" out of exercise. The video’s soundtrack — performed by her husband, Gene Bono, on keyboard and percussion – features Calypso drums and lilting melodies that could make the average woman feel like a goddess participating in an ancient fertility rite. He often takes his drum machine to play at her aerobic classes at the Feminine Fitness Super Aerobic Complex, in Hackensack, NJ. The Afro-Caribbean step workout uses "call-and-response" vocal instruction, which draws on a keystone of African culture and gospel music, with African dance steps, which involve movement toward the ground with knees bent – plus traditional vocabulary of step aerobics, rock and roll and modern dance. "It’s adjustable, " Bono said, noting her aerobics students include newcomers, intermediate and advanced students.

AFRO-CARIBBEAN STEP VIDEO ½ When I’m evaluating exercise videos, I look for tapes that give me the same exhilarating feeling that I get after a great class at the gym – especially something different, challenging but not too far beyond my reach, and worth repeating. Debra Bono’s Afro-Caribbean Step hits all three marks, presenting viewers with three different levels of difficulty so they can gradually move up in intensity as they become more familiar with the steps. The program also includes a nice, slow, warm-up and a gentle cool down, finishing off with a short abdominal toning segment (something all steppers crave at the end of class… so they can lie down). Ms. Bono’s cues were easy to follow, and the music really made me want to dance. In fact, the only thing missing was the pulse check, although there is a break in the middle of the routine for a "perceived" exertion check. Sporting excellent choreography and an original twist on traditional step routines, this is highly recommended. Video Librarian Magazine

Afro-Caribbean Step: Not the Same Old Step The workout was just the right combination of fun and work. The moves were easy to understand and the music went with the choreography well. I liked the amount of repetition that she did. Not too much (boring) and not too little. It is a different workout . Just like the cover says-"Not the same old Jenni Linck 12/13/99

Afro-Caribbean Step: Not the Same Old Step …the slower tempo is a refreshing break from breakneck-speed stepping, and helps me concentrate on the moves better. Sue Bryant 3/21/2000

More Afro-Caribbean Step: Dance Explosion!

FootNotes Media Mix August 29 - September 4, 2001 More Afro-Caribbean Step: Dance Explosion, featuring Debra Bono, is a refreshing, advanced video encore to her 1999 release, Afro-Caribbean Step: Not the Same Old Step. Bono answered the call to end the monotony of traditional step aerobics. Combining West African dance with step-aerobic patterns, her 64-minute workout is exhilarating and sweat drenching, as technically challenging as it is fun. The introductory eight-minute warm-up is enough to scare beginners away. Fears are banished as she breaks down more complicated moves during the main workout segment. The torso undulations and opposing rhythmic arm and foot movements that characterize West African dance can be more challenging when placed in a step-aerobics context. A reflection of Bono's extensive dance training, the multilayered choreography moves rapidly. Bono even outfits herself in a short lappa, the cloth used as skirts in West African culture. West African dance enthusiasts may prefer their traditional classes to Bono's video workout. But this tape is perfect for those less familiar with West African dance who yearn for a change of pace in their aerobics training. -Lenita Williamson link

More Afro-Caribbean Step: Dance Explosion! Health Helps Dance Explosion! with Debra Bono ('00) Looking for something different? If you're not faint of heart or rhythms or flabby of body, this is an exceptionally motivating program built on the propulsive rhythms of Afro-Caribbean dance. Ms. Bono incorporates both expressive and athletic movements during a challenging program that makes her break a sweat within five minutes of warm up. Wearing a fringed wrap skirt over her leotard, Ms. Bono and one synchronized companion move to the beat of drums, percussion, flute and hand claps for sequences using such moves as twists, rotations, taps, slide and hop, stretches, wiggles, hobble steps, head swings, balance, swivels, squats, the "Afro Pony" move and windmill arms while stepping up, over and around a "step" platform. Small weights are incorporated into a short conditioning segment.

More Afro-Caribbean Step: Dance Explosion! This actually made exercising fun. Most step tapes are so repetitive, but not this one! (online feedback)

More Afro-Caribbean Step: Dance Explosion! July/August 2001 Super-sized stamina is required to complete this intense workout. It may take a few tries to get the steps down, but there's plenty of variety - you'll be breathless, but never bored.

More Afro-Caribbean Step: Dance Explosion! This work-out video is awesome!! I found it to be very challenging but fun. The first time I tried it I had problems but because it was a different approach to doing a step routine I took the challenge and am getting stronger with each workout. (online feedback)

3 Flavors: Aerobic Dance Workout

Library Journal June 1, 2003 Tired of boring exercise videos? Debra Bono, veteran of the famed Alvin Alley American Dance Center, can diversify your routine with African Dance Workout and 3 Flavors Aerobic Dance Workout. Combining dance and aerobics, Bono's regimen will challenge and provide lots of fun. .... 3 Flavors addresses the beginner. Each of the three 20-minute aerobic dance segments is designed as an independent routine, with a warmup and a cool down. Choose from African, Latin, or hip-hop dance, with each section set to appropriate music. This is a great video for those with fitness goals wishing to learn new dance steps. Bono is highly motivational and very qualified. 3 Flavors can lend variety to the viewer with a regular exercise regimen. However both videos are enthusiastically recommended for public libraries wishing to diversify their fitness collections.

3 Flavors: Aerobic Dance Workout San Gabriel Valley Tribune Health Beat June 1, 2003 Dance workout videos tend to promise more than they can deliver. They hook buyers with the romantic illusion of moving like a ballerine or a jazz dancer. But in reality, most of us are too clumsy for these dance routines, dumbed-down as they may be. Every so often, somebody gets in right. Debra Bono creates three flamboyant yet simple dances in "Three Flavors! Aerobic Dance Workout". Aimed at beginner and intermediate levels, the workouts become progressively harder. Beginners will want to start with the celebratory African dance. Once that's mastereed, try the slinky, syncopated Latin workout. The most challenging of the three is the hip-hop dance, which requires some fancy footwork. Each workout runs 20 minutes. This video also contains warm-up and cool-down segments. "Three Flavors" will definitely add spice to your fitness routine.

3 Flavors: Aerobic Dance Workout Dance Spirit Magazine September 2003 Good For: Beginner/Intermediate With three separate 20-minute sections-African, Latin and hip hop-this workout video can be done a single section at a time or all three in a row. The African section has aerobic hops and swings; the Latin section features salsa, mambo and Flamenco influences; and the hip-hop section is explanatory enough that even your parents could break it down. 3 Flavors: Aerobic Dance Workout The Seattle Times Today "3 Flavors! Aerobic Dance Workout: African! Latin! Hip-Hop!" (60 minutes, $19.95, www.bodybgood.com, 201-342-2631). Reviewed by Suzanne Doughty, 42, of Mount Vernon. Instructor Debra Bono presents three 20-minute workouts with beginner to intermediate levels of difficulty. "I enjoyed the new moves taught with the African and Latin workouts immediately," Doughty said. "There are more sequences to string together and remember. The Hip-Hop was initially more challenging because of the mirror images and quicker moves," which she thought would be good for the 18-to-20-plus age group. "Others will like this because you don't realize your legs are moving so fast (or exercising) due to focusing on the moves. Once you know the routines, you feel accomplished! You can put more into the exercise and work harder without having to count repetitions as with an individual group of exercises." She would have preferred the workout in DVD, so it'd be easy to jump to a particular workout. (This workout plus Bono's "African Dance Workout" are available together on DVD for $35.)

African Dance Workout

Library Journal June 1, 2003 Tired of boring exercise videos? Debra Bono, veteran of the famed Alvin Alley American Dance Center, can diversify your routine with African Dance Workout and 3 Flavors Aerobic Dance Workout. Combining dance and aerobics, Bono's regimen will challenge and provide lots of fun. Addressing the intermediate and advanced audience, African Dance is an intense 56 minute routine comprising a warmup, two aerobic dance segments, a cool down, and a bonus upper-body workout. The emphasis in on African dance, with fast, high-energy leg movements set to a bouncy African beat... both videos are enthusiastically recommended for public libraries wishing to diversify their fitness collections.

African Dance Workout StlToday August 18, 2003 African dance video is lively and challenging If you've ever heard the soulful rhythms of African drumming, you know how difficult it is to remain still. The drums summon your head, shoulders and hips to move, and it's criminal to deny the body this pleasure. Debra Bono's "African Dance Workout" is a great way to get your cardio groove on while having fun. While many African dance classes are conducted barefoot, this video is performed with Bono and three students wearing shoes. That makes sense, given that the impact level is mixed, and it's wise to protect your ankles, knees and back. For maximum enjoyment, allow yourself plenty of room to move around. The warm-up gets you moving and flows right into the workout. Bono doesn't go into a lot of detail about how to do the movements and it's not really necessary if you let the music help you. The meat of the workout is quick-paced, energetic and builds toward a choreographed routine. Standard aerobic staples and dance steps such as the pony, box steps and mambo are included and executed with an Afro-Caribbean twist. But just when you think you've really hit your stride, Bono throws you something unexpected. "In my dance class they didn't call out everything - they'd say, 'work your mind and your body'" announces Bono. "So let's see how your memory is. I'm not gonna call out any of the steps. Challenge yourself, challenge yourself!" Uh-oh. Frankly, some people loathe this type of "challenge." After all, one could just put on a CD of African drumming and not have anyone call out anything. But then there is Bono's school of thought, which supports working the mind. So she launches into the routine and doesn't call out the steps, but she does point in the direction you're supposed to be going. She holds up fingers indicating the number of repetitions and, as an added bonus, points to the body part that is supposed to be moving. Whew! The best news is, it doesn't last that long. There is a brief interlude for a 10-second heart rate check. A chart comes up on the screen, but the digression presupposes you have some knowledge about checking your heart rate and interpreting the results. After the cool-down an upper-body strengthening segment concludes the 55-minute video. Two- to five-pound dumbbells may be used. The video has a few uneven moments. At one point Bono is demonstrating a portion of the choreography and calls out to each of the students to show a different level or modification. But it's difficult to discern the third level from the other two. Also, because Bono does everything full out, occasionally she sounds like she's getting out of breath and talking faster as a result. That is offset, however, by the high-fives the other three give one another on completing some of the more challenging movements. It feels genuine and is definitely hard-earned. -Sharon Fuller

African Dance Workout Seattle Times Videos On Review October 3, 2003 African Dance for Fun This was my first-ever exercise video, and it was a great one to start with. Since the level was intermediate/advanced and I'd never done this before, there was no way I could keep up with her on the first viewing, but I LOVED the steps. I really like this style of dance and music (African/Caribbean rhythms), so even though I was frustrated with my lack of coordination at first, I decided to just do the step series that I managed to master. Then repeat it when Bono was doing the parts I hadn't yet learned. You can practice a small series of steps over and over while Bono adds new parts. It helps to "lock in" a short series, because she just keeps building on the initial steps and if you don't know those, you'll get lost pretty quickly. Watching Bono go through the steps, it doesn't look aerobic, but it sure was. You can do the moves in a low, smooth way, as Bono does, or add some "jump" to it, as one of her background dancers does. You can do the dance by just doing the foot movements. So it's possible to raise or lower the cardio effects to match your fitness level. The 56-minute video has a 3-minute cool-down and a 5-minute upper-body workout, which is a nice way to ease out of the dance segment. I add time to the upper-body segment so I can get more of a workout for those muscles. -Nancy Grandjean

African Dance Workout Dance Spirit Magazine September 2003 Good for: Coordinated Beginner/Intermediate Bono takes the classical dancer's vocabulary and gives it an African twist. You'll learn two dance sequences that are repeated enough times to do by memory, but the tricky counting will keep you guessing. You can take the low impact route by stepping through the combinations or jump on every step to bring the sweat factor through the roof. If you're feeling ambitious, try the extra upper-body toning section included after the workout. African Dance Workout Fine Living Website A cardio workout using traditional African dance movements from several cultures. Drums keep the beat for a warm up, the cool down and all the intensity in between. For intermediate and advanced. One hour VHS (or DVD combined with Hip Hop African aerobic dance workout.) Includes segment for upper body strengthening too. Get barefoot and prepare to move - you can't sit still with these infectious beats