Ballroom Dancing Mastery System (7 DVD Set) Review + Giveaway

I was provided with this product in exchange for an honest review. Sponsored giveaway.
Image and blurb sources: Amazon.com.

Today I have the DanceCrazy Ballroom Dance Mastery System DVDs for review, along with a giveaway! This set is listed at $197 on Amazon, on sale for $39.75 which is an awesome deal. If you've ever wanted to learn to dance, you don't want to miss out on this chance to win this set!

 Blurb:
Ballroom Dancing Is hot! We see it on "Dancing with the Star"s, we see it on "So You Think you Can Dance". It's everywhere! Ballroom Dance is fun, and it s incredibly social. Spanning Ballrooms around the world, dance clubs, wedding songs, and nightlife, Ballroom Dance is everywhere.
This 7 DVD set, progressively and step by step, takes you into the beginner's world of Ballroom Dance, in all the major social ballroom dances.
Ballroom Dancing DVD Set Covers Swing Dance and it's major patterns, Waltz Dance, Rumba Dance, and Foxtrot over 7 DVDs that take you from your very first steps.
Here are the four types of dance dvds: 

Swing Dancing and swing dance dvds can be difficult. Swing dancing is one of the single most prolific styles of dance, you'll find it everywhere. Get ready to swing dance with DanceCrazy's extensive introduction to Swing Dancing, a 2 DVD Series! This is the first of two DVDs, and covers the fundamentals of the dance, extensive swing dance lessons, as well as a few beginner patterns.
Two left feet? No rhythm? No Problem! This swing dancing DVD series is for you. You'll be showing off some amazing Swing Dance steps in no time at all. "There's no other DVD series that is this in depth, this step by step, or this fun..." Swing has earned its reputation as one of the most versatile and energizing forms of popular music and continues to attract new converts to its catchy tunes and syncopated beats.
Two progressive Waltz Dance DVDs. Learn to Dance the Waltz! This DVD teaches the very basics of how to dance the waltz. We include a complete breakdown and detailed instruction for men and women, including dancing to the music, and essential tips for success on the dance floor. Waltz your way to grace, style, and confidence with the help of two friendly and accomplished instructors. You'll learn the essential components of this beautiful dance, such as Rise and Fall, Sway, and Footwork, as well as exploring steps that will showcase your dancing and help you gain the poise to shine on the dance floor! Explore the gorgeous movements that made Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance icons and then incorporate that fluidity into your own steps. You learn everything from the Box Step to the Twinkle and more, all while having a great time!
Learn to Dance Rumba. Beginners 2 Volume Set. DanceCrazy.com presents the second of two beginning rumba dance DVDs in your complete step by-step-guide to dancing the beautiful Rumba! This DVD walks you through an amazingly fun array of beginner Rumba dance steps that are sure to light a fire on the dance floor. From the very basics, our professional Rumba instructors guide you through every step of the way.
Learning the Rumba has never been as easy and exciting. This spicy and sensual dance combines luscious rhythms, memorable melodies, and gorgeous patterns to create the ultimate, intimate expression of Latin romance. With the resurgence of Latin music and dancing, Rumba dancing
And Finally, Foxtrot! Want to embody the essence of Frank Sinatra's fantastic music combined with Fred and Ginger's grace and style? The Foxtrot Dance will make it happen for you! Foxtrot epitomizes elegance, class, and big band sophistication. Popularized at the beginning of the 20th century by vaudeville performers, Fox's Trot was quickly adopted by ballrooms across the nation and transformed into the dance we know as Foxtrot today. Foxtrot not only showcases grace and flair, but also combines it with the swingin' sounds of some of our best loved jazz musicians.
The Ballroom Dancing Mastery Set has it all! The system puts all these dance together. There s nothing else like it. 

Review:
 
 So unfortunately I'm going to have to do just a partial review today and add in the rest later - basically, I was given plenty of time to do the review but inadequate time to post the giveaway and since I have to post the review before the giveaway... yeah. I've reviewed all of the DVDs except for the Rumba series so I will add those in later. I'm currently dealing with some overexercising and possibly adrenal fatigue so I hope you can see why I'm not rushing to complete those two DVDs!

I did review 2 of these DVDs already - the Waltz Volume 1 and Swing Volume 1. I have giveaways for those individual DVDs as well.

2 things: My box broke, so unfortunately the plastic box this comes in apparently isn't that sturdy. I don't really care that much but it is something to consider. Also, I find it a bit odd they have a different couple on the cover. It would make more sense to me to have a photo of the instructors.

Foxtrot I really enjoyed, and so far I think it's my favorite of the the DanceCrazy DVDs. I wish they would have had a second volume for it as well. It really was a lot of fun. If you enjoy Swing, I think you'd like Foxtrot as well. You do need quite a bit of room to dance. Sway and the Promenade were my favorite steps. Promenade is just a bit trickier than it looks.  Watching this DVD I'm glad I was practising without a partner because I have a feeling I would be all left feet and stepping all over his feet! There are some dips in this dance, and doing those on your own really makes for an awesome abs workout. I do want to mention that some of the DVD felt out of order in comparison to their other videos because they had tips in the middle of the patterns as opposed to at the end of the DVD.

Side note, I found the Foxtrot DVD most interesting as a T-tapper because I could really see how T-tapp builds upon some dance methods. Pretty cool!

Both the Waltz and Swing Volume 2 discs include an extra menu which shares the tips, types of dance, etiquette, social vs. competition, etc. so that is a really nice feature. I definitely enjoyed Waltz volume 2 more than I did volume 1. The open break I found to be most fun. On the Swing volume 2, again there are quite a few dips and these were much harder to do just practising by myself so I found if I held on to a chair that worked really well. I had to laugh while watching this DVD because I cannot imagine trying to dance some of these moves while wearing high heels, especially not the spins!

Rumba I found to be fun, similar enough to other dance methods it was pretty easy to catch on to and therefore pretty intuitive. With patterns such as the box step appearing once again, learning was quick and easy. I did find some of the beginners patterns to be more challenging than some of the more advanced patterns, at least at first. Rumba Rocks and Cross Body Lead were a bit tricky at first, it definitely took me a few tries to get the hang of Cross Body Lead.  Volume 1 discusses social versus competitive Rumba and Volume 2 has this in the extra section in addition to information about the Cuban motion, footwork and tips. This disc has 5 new patterns, most of which I found to be incredibly easy and simple yet fun. Crossover breaks was the only 1 of the 5 to give me some hangups, otherwise I got the hang of these patterns just by watching them dance in the initial introduction to each pattern. Rumba is fantastic if you want to exercise your hips and abs, and I only have one complaint in regards to this set. At different times the instructors use different names for the patterns which could be very confusing when you're first learning these steps.

This is a really great set, and you get quite a variety of dance methods so it's fun for everyone. The nice thing about these is you can either do an entire disc or two at once (pausing for breaks of course!) or you can just learn one pattern here and there at your own pace. Quite a few of the patterns crossover between the different styles (such as Box Step) which makes learning the steps even easier.

Giveaway:

Winner will be selected on December 31, 2014. Shipment date is set for January 1, 2015. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.