Learning to Move and Groove with Louis van Amstel’s LaBlast: Let’s Dance

1…2…cha cha cha…3…4…cha cha cha…Yes, I…cha cha cha…got my…cha cha cha…dance on…cha cha cha. Don’t change the page! I won’t put you through my review to the beat of the music. Promise. But if you couldn’t guess, I danced my way through the new dance workout DVD by Louis van Amstel, LaBlast: Let’s Dance.

Louis van Amstel, your energetic instructor, is a professional ballroom dance champion and has been a choreographer for the reality shows Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. Let’s just say he knows his stuff! Not only does he show you how to get a workout in by dancing, he is quite the jokester. Once through the tutorial, Louis’ workout begins with a short warm-up, getting your hips moving to some authentic Latin music.

Now, if you’re an occasional dancer and can keep a beat pretty well, then you would probably consider this DVD to be for beginners, but if you find yourself with two left feet and hitting the dance floor with some “mumbo-jumbo,” then intermediate it is. LaBlast includes three dance-workouts including: Salsa, Cha Cha and the Jive. The entire DVD runs for about an hour and includes a tutorial on how to do each dance. (Note FBGs: Don’t skip over the tutorial! I thought I knew how to get my dance on until I was going every-which-way with my arms flailing over my head—lesson learned.)

Each dance session begins by clapping to the beat of the dance, so your body learns the rhythm quickly. Louis goes through the moves quite fast (this is why you need the tutorial!) and then as one move builds on the other, you quickly have a dance sequence. Once you run through the sequence a few times, you’ll eventually get faster and burn some calories. Since I can be a pretty big skeptic on dance-workout DVDs, I put them through the Sweat Test. It is exactly how it sounds—I see if I break a sweat while movin’ and groovin’; and I’m happy to say my pores squeezed out two little drops! Woo hoo!  After all the swayin’ and shakin’, you finish with a cool down.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):
Instruction: ★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★
Music: ★★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★
Overall: ★★★

Fit Bottom Line: Although this DVD will not substitute for a run in the park or a swim in your local pool, it definitely gets your tush off the couch and gets you moving. So what do you say? Let’s dance!

What’s your favorite dance? —Raquel