Personal Video Selector
Recommendations: Complex Choreography
Do you feel that, if you get the whole routine the first time through, it won't be interesting enough to motivate you over the long term? Do you like a choreography challenge, with lots of combos and fancy footwork? Here are some of the best choices for interesting choreography and good instruction.
Christi Taylor. If you haven't tried Christi Taylor's workouts yet, your first stop should be her Web site. You can read VFer's reactions to her videos here on VF. All of her videos fit the above description. She has both step and hi/lo workouts, and all are excellent. Particular favorites of our readers, in part due to the motivating music, include the Heavenly Series (Step Heaven, Hi/Lo Heaven), Still Jumpin' and Still Steppin', and her new Totally series (Totally Cool Step and Totally Hot Cardio).
Kari Anderson is a former dancer and her grace and excellent communications skills make her videos great choices. DanceWorks is one of her most popular, and a great example of Kari's hi/lo choreography. For step, try Body Tech or United Steps. Her early tapes, like Sweat Express and Two the Max, are a little dated, but many still love them, and the choreography is dancier than Kari's more recent videos.
Cathe Friedrich's step videos, especially PowerMax, StepWorks, Rhythmic Step, and Step Fit, pack in a lot of interesting choreography, but the style of the moves is a little more athletic than some of the others on this page.
Kristin Kagan's first video, Step This Way, is described by some to be somewhere in between Christi Taylor and Cathe Friedrich's step choreography.
CIA (Creative Instructors Aerobics): CIA videos were designed to give group fitness instructors ideas for choreography. However, the best of them also make great intermediate to advanced level workouts. There is usually minimal instruction in order to pack in as much choreography as possible, so the learning curve may be a little steeper, but once you've learned the routines you don't have to slow down for instruction. Quality and popularity of CIA workouts varies widely, so read the reviews for ideas. Among the favorite CIA instructors for complex choreography are Patrick Goudeau, Christi Taylor (who has some CIA titles), Franny Benedetto and Jennifer Mills Palmer.
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