Product Review

ABOUT THE TEACHER: Finis Jhung is a world-renowned ballet master who has been featured on CBS THS MORNING, written The Finis Jhung Ballet Technique: A Guide for Teachers & Students and produced more than 45 instructional videos. ABOUT THE VIDEO: This new ballet warm-up was inspired by classes Finis Jhung taught for the lead boys in BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL on Broadway. To get these young men warmed up and ready to rehearse in a 1-hour class, Finis had them work off the barre in center floor facing the mirrors. When you are unable to hold on to a barre, you quickly learn to get on your leg-which these boys had to be in order to perform those show-stopping grand pirouettes. EXERCISES: 1. Jog in 3/4; 2. Plié & stretch; 3. Battements tendus to the side, temps lié, stretch; 4. Battements tendus & dégagés, front & back, stretch; 5. Quick dégagés to the side, balance on half toe; 6. Battements tendus over-crossing in 4th position, pas de bourrées; 7. Flic tendus en tournant en dehors, dégagés, pose on half toe, grand port de bras; 8. Tendu, soutenu, relevé passé, pose & promenade turn; 9. Ronds de jambe à terre, fondus, pas de bourrées; 10. Battements dégagés, fondu relevés, pas de bourrées; 11. Grands battements to the front, fondu relevé, tombé pas de bourrée; 12. Grands battements to the back, fondu relevé, tombé pas de bourrée; 13. Grands battements to the side, fondu relevé, tombé pas de bourrée; 14. Pas de basque, arabesque, pas de bourrée, pirouette en dehors. SPECIAL FEATURE: Play the DVD in 3 modes: Full Class, Individual Exercises or Workout Mode where you can run the exercises without instruction. Once you've learned the exercise and heard the instructions, you may want to go straight to the demonstration with music so you can have a workout without interruption.