I tried Dance A GoGo one night when my boyfriend was out of town so he couldn't make fun of me. I stumbled and flailed my way through the Music Video Dance Workout, Latin Groove Dance Workout, and the Nightclub Fun Workout. While choreographer/instructor Andrea Lin and her skanked out GoGo girls look sexy and cool, poised, graceful and everything I am not, I just looked, uh, confused. Someone should probably tell them though that belly dancing is not "Latin."

On the rare occasion that I was able to get at least part of the series down, I did feel like a total badass. So maybe this video just takes practice, but it's not effective enough to be worth the time.

Equipment Needed
If you want to dress like instructor Andrea Lin and her GoGo girls make sure you have your bathing suit, giant hoop earrings and fingerless gloves ready. If not, you'll be good to go in your pajamas. That's how I did it. But since Andrea's first workout tip is that "Dressing sexy can get you fit!" you may consider dolling yourself up.

Effectiveness
Sorry, but this is not a workout. Though dance is an intense cardio exercise, this style dancing does not fit the bill. I was surprised to see how slow and calm it was. I was expecting some kind of high energy thumping techno routine but all three of these dances are more Cassie "Me & U" than say, Ke$ha "Don't Stop." There are some side stretches in the Latin Groove that left a slight twinge in my obliques the next day but that's hardly enough to make me recommend this DVD.

Safety
Other than looking completely ridiculous, you're not really at risk for injury with this workout.

Cast/Instructor
Classically trained choreographer Andrea Lin is a great dancer but a terrible teacher. The main portion of each dance consists simply of her doing the routine with a team of backup dancers. No instruction at all. You might as well be watching a music video. The Movement Breakdown section is a sad attempt at instruction in which Andrea does a poor job reading cue cards while one of her dancers (quickly) demonstrates the move alongside her. Finally, a Back View Dance Along section allows you to watch Andrea from behind with mirrors all around so you can get the moves down. This would be great if she'd walk you through it but again, no instruction. Just dancing.

The lack of instruction makes it difficult to keep up. I found myself pausing a lot to try and get a move down but eventually just gave up and stumbled along.

Music
Music Video Dance Workout is done to "On the Floor" by K12. Sexy Latin Groove is a remix of "Dream On, Oceania." And the Nightclub Fun Dance Workout uses "Shake It" also by K12.

I actually kind of enjoyed the K12 songs. Of course, Andrea is cool enough to mouth the right line from the song at precisely the right time in the dance to look totally cool. You will probably not look this cool.

Set
The sets for all three workouts look like underground nightclubs with lots of flashing lights and fog. I don't frequent these locales but I trust that is, in fact, what they look like.

Video
The videos are 16:9 widescreen and look fine.

Negatives
The lack of quality instruction makes this set a bust. I can watch music videos for free, thank you very much. If you're going to claim I can get fit doing these dances, you had better teach me how.

Conclusion
Though this video didn't do it for me as far as a workout, it might be a fun "girl's night in" activity. Looking stupid in a group but being able to laugh at everyone is probably a lot more fun than just looking stupid all alone and laughing at yourself. So if you stumble upon this in a bargain bin or at a garage sale, then and only then would I recommend picking it up. Otherwise, don't bother.

Katie