Hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the release of Dirty Dancing. It’s the ultimate summer movie about the romance between Johnny (Patrick Swayze)–a tough guy dance instructor at a summer vacation resort–and Baby (Jennifer Grey), an idealistic soon-to-be college freshman. The movie features a terrific soundtrack and some–you got it–dirty dancing.
Dancing, of course, is a wonderful workout. A couple months ago, I wrote a post about dance workout DVDs, which you can read here. There are plenty of dance workouts, but there’s only one official workout to dirty dance at home.
Dirty Dancing Official Dance Workout features instructors Tracey Mallett and John Byrne. Mallett is a veteran at-home workout instructor, and Byrne holds his own. They aren’t Johnny and Baby–or even Johnny and Penny. But, they’re having a good time dancing, and the instruction is good.
The workout features six sections, each approximately 11-14 minutes long. There’s a “Syllabus,” which can be done as a warm-up, that introduces the steps that are featured in the rest of the workout. The dance sections include Dirty Dancing-inspired moves and feature four songs from the movie’s soundtrack: “Love Man,” “Yes,” “Johnny’s Mambo,” and “Do You Love Me.” In each of these sections, the routines are taught in a 9-minute instructional, which can then be used to dance to the featured songs. The final section is the “Saturday Night Dance Challenge,” with no verbal instruction. It’s just a time to dance the moves you learned.
In many instructional dance workouts, the moves are introduced very slowly, and it can feel like your workout has virtually stopped. In this workout, the moves are introduced at a moderate pace with few stops. For viewers with little dance instruction, it may take time to catch on.
As with many dance workouts, some moves can be difficult on carpet. There’s no cool down or stretch. The DVD menu is not user-friendly, which is annoying at first.
So, is it the time of your life? Probably not. It’s not an intense workout. But, it’s fun for beginners or for days when you want to take it easy and have a good time.
(P.S. No partner is required.)
