The instructor, Elise, was kind enough to answer some questions from Amazon.com about the Element line of DVDs.

Why do you think the recent trend for women is to seek the dancer?s silhouette?

Elise: A dancer?s silhouette is the ideal physique for a woman today. It provides strength through lean, elegant, streamlined muscles. The strengthening of the dance conditioning movements will help melt away fat while creating lean musculature that is still feminine and graceful. The stretching element of dance creates length, not only in the muscles, but in the spine as well. Training with ballet conditioning will give a woman a strong, tall slender body.

How did you manage to create a ballet conditioning program that doesn?t use a barre or any other equipment?

Elise: I created a workout that uses the strength of the core to create balance and stability in the body. The sequences on this dvd are both accessible and challenging for anyone! Many ballet conditioning exercises actually don?t use the barre as a weight-bearing tool?it?s only for balance. In this DVD a beginner can use a chair to aid in balance, as they build core strength. A more advanced practitioner can do much of the series without the aid of a chair, simply by bracing the body with the strength of the abdominals, and a lifted, elongated spine.

Who is this workout good for?

Elise: This workout is amazing for women and men of all shapes and sizes! Ballet Conditioning uses one?s own body weight as resistance, so it is safe to do every day, for women AND men? from the strongest athlete, to the ultimate newcomer to fitness. It works to build strong, lean muscle, raise the heart-rate, and speed up metabolism. Dance also helps create rhythm, grace, and balance while building a supple flexible spine. .

What do you think consumers will find different about Element DVDs from other workout programs?

Elise: I know that consumers will enjoy the pure elegance of these DVDs. This is what truly sets the ?element? series apart from other brands of DVDs. The Element DVD?s encourage a solid mind/body connection, which encourages practitioners to explore their physical edge, while being truly mentally & emotionally present in the moment. These programs are fluid and graceful in their movement, and provide a HUGE physical fitness element in a nurturing and encouraging environment. .

Tell us about the connection with this DVD and the efforts to reduce global warming.

Elise: Element DVDs support the harmony of mind and body, which encourages a social and global awareness. This harmony encourages us to do what we can to make a difference in the world. For every four Element DVDs sold, a tree will be planted in a national forest. Consumers are therefore doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint, and the dangerous effects of global warming. If we work together, we can spread health and happiness one deep breath at a time.

Element: Ballet Conditioning

• New York City Ballet: The Complete Workout, Vol. 1 and 2
• Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred
• Element: Yoga for Beginners
• Ballet Class for Beginners
• Balocity: Cardio with a Classic Twist
• Dance off the Inches: Hip Hop Party
• The Ballet Workout
• Jennifer Kries: New Body Ballet
• Ballet Boot Camp Stretch
• Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie

It's a great value. I'm taking an adult ballet class for exercise and I bought this video to supplement that class, since that only meets once per week. This workout is great. I feel that doing this workout during the week has really helped me improve in class too. I was very pleased with this video. It concentrates a lot on the legs and butt, which are needed areas for me.

It's fun and not too long. Would be great after a two mile run. It's essentially a basic barre class with some pilates at the end. I did it for the first time yesterday and am really feeling it today - it's hard to sit down, but in a good way. My only dissapointment is that I did not break much of a sweat. This is a solid workout for toning, lengthening, and balancing. I know if I keep at it it will make a difference in my body.

I don't know much about ballet, in fact, I have never been to a ballet class. It is hard to keep doing them until the very last one. Towards the end, you will do jumps without using the chair, plus some other standing exercises. Before the cool down, there are exercises on the floor that will work your legs and abs. The leg exercises in the beginning really strengthen your thigh muscles.

That's a good workout to me.

You will hold onto a chair for balance.

Although, it is gorgeous to watch and I would love to have the dancer's physique.

I love all of the leg exercises like tandu, plie, releve.

This workout will definitely improve your shape if you continue to do it.

In this part, you can build up to where you don't use your arms to catch your legs and that uses your ab muscles more.

This is fantastic.

I have mostly been doing Pilates workouts so I thought I would try this after reading other reviews.

I cannot stand in the same place on these jumps the way that Elise does, but it still gives me a great cardio workout.

And she has a VERY weird, distracting habit of "warming" nearly every line (the only explanation I could find for the weirdness), so that it sounds like she's making a dirty innuendo; my mental image is of her constantly wiggling her eyebrows and winking creepily. 5) Her instructions tend to give important info a little too late to be helpful - not until the very end of the last leg of moves where she's casually lifting her leg to her ears (ok, I'm exaggerating) does she mention that it doesn't matter if you only lift it an inch, practice will increase flexibility, yada yada. Whereas I've put in Tracey Mallett every day, this is only the second time I've put in this DVD. My verdict:. It was very discouraging to me. This really adds to the creepy soft-core pron feeling of this video.

4) As to the actual exercise - the segment was too long, and impossible for anyone other than a dedicated gym-rat or ballerina to follow. and probably not too many more times. 1) Gorgeous Pacific background (someone's beautiful house). 4) For a complete ballet newbie, I guess there was a good element of introduction to ballet moves and terms. to refine technique, or a mix of ballet-Pilates or ballet-yoga. Yes I know I have a remote, but I think a good choreographer builds exercise programs in segments, and switches muscle groups. I am certainly NOT one of those women whose reviews I read here on Amazon who complain that an exercise video spends TOO MUCH time demonstrating moves, and gives too much of a break between moves.

Ebay here I come. I am willing to swear blind that the production company mixing the music does mostly soft-core pron. You'll end up discouraged and feeling inadequate, instead of proud of your hard work. All the other DVDs I saw reviewed on Amazon seemed to be for an existing dancer (which I'm not). Great figure, yes, very graceful movements, yes - but slender and delicate no.

What the heck. So with that in mind, here's my review of Elise Gulan's Ballet Conditioning:. Cons:. And maybe a little creeped out and dirty. Her thighs could not only crack walnuts - but could crack a walnut DESK.

2) I have to say this - since I volunteered at a fire station I probably (unfortunately) know more about soft-core pron than most women. 3) I found the moves very difficult, and I was working hard let me tell you. 1) I was distracted by the fact that she kept on referring to long, lean dancer's muscles - but she's a beast. With that ocean background, contact-paper "wood" platform, and fake cultured voiceover - it really was set up like soft-core pron. :). 2) Gulan has an amazing figure and is very graceful - gives me something to which to aspire, and trying to imitate her grace took my mind off the difficulty of what I was doing - a tiny bit at least.

If you want to have a reasonably paced, uplifting workout session, go elsewhere. I need things simple and paced so that I can actually do it. It was so disconcerting, and distracting - in the first section there was even the classic 70s pron "bow-wow" every now and then. She just never stops, and never gives you even a second's rest, and rather than switching muscles just sticks with the same ones, nonstop.

3) Gulan's voiceover is freakin' annoying.

With a little self-tan and a tiny bikini, she could compete for body-building, I'm actually serious here.

So you know who's doing this review - I'm very tall, 235 lbs, 30 years, good athletic background but not in great shape now.

Pros:.

My pulled groin would have appreciated that little tidbit a bit earlier.

If you really want to do ballet conditioning, and are willing to kill yourself every day until you can actually follow her moves, go for it.

Nope.

I'm trying to find a good DVD to exercise, and I thought I'd try ballet - hey, who doesn't want to be more graceful, lean, and strong.

I know she's trying to sound soft, musical, warm, and classy - but it sounds unnatural and forced.

It gets easier over time as your flexibility develops (and it does), but never stops being an exhausting workout. 40-45 minutes of intense muscle toning for legs, with incredible stretches and resistence work for arms that leaves you feeling leaner, taller and stronger every time. I highly recommend this video for casual dancers (like, if you took ballet classes as a pre-teen) and those who never have danced to really challenge your muscles in new and unique ways. This video is deceptively intense, but an amazingly simple workout for the effort. Another 10-15 minutes of intense abs work to round it out.