THE DVD:

I've always fancied myself a dancer, but somewhere between high school dances and nights out at clubs, I missed learning the basics of how to actually dance with another person. 1990s dance culture encouraged solo grooves, with at best people dancing in big groups. Coordinated movement and classic, old-fashioned two-person combos were rarely required when the emphasis was on beats per minute more than getting to know your partner. I tried venturing out to take some lessons, but that ended disastrously (as humorously chronicled on my personal blog: 1 2 3). All I really learned was that I needed a different approach.

Part of my problem with group dance lessons was that there was a certain amount of material that had to be covered in each session, and there was no ability to adjust for members of the group that might not be picking it up as fast. Despite being a class for beginners, not all students began in the same place. I tell you this by way of introduction as to why I decided to take a look at Slow Dancing For Beginners, vol. 1, part of the Shawn Trautman Dance Collection. Trautman is a longtime dance teacher, working with professionals and amateurs alike. His DVDs, from what I've gathered from this disc, are made to reach beyond the dance studio and serve couples in learning to dance together. With DVD technology, students aren't beholden to anyone's speed but their own, and Trautman even encourages backing up and reviewing what was just learned until the user has found a comfort zone.

As I said, Slow Dancing for Beginners is designed for couples, and so Shawn dances with his wife Joanna, with each explaining their respective roles in traditional slow dances. That means each student is being addressed by a teacher working specifically in the leader or follower position, explaining what one can expect from his or her partner and what is also expected of you as a partner. The presentation is stripped down and simple, with largely one camera position running throughout, and only the occasional inset screen to show close-ups of foot positioning. The Trautmans give easy to understand instructions, backed up by short text points on screen. The emphasis is on repetition, going through each stage of the dance multiple times before adding the next piece.

The basic lesson is broken down into five easy stages:
1) Learning basic steps.
2) Foot, hand, and arm positioning for establishing a rapport with your partner.
3) Introducing more movement and straight turns.
4) Underarm turns.
5) Momentum turns (where the lead moves with his partner rather than her just spinning under his arm).

A final section reviews all of the previous five steps, looking at all of the lessons combined together in order to try the dance as a complete activity. The total course runs just under 90 minutes. With a little time and the right partner, I think just about anyone--including a dumb klutz such as myself--could learn from this DVD, and even experienced wedding crashers might want to pick it up as a refresher course now that the summer has begun and many a bouquet is being prepared to be thrown.

THE DVD

Video/Sound:
This direct-to-DVD production is filmed in anamorphic widescreen HD and though fairly low-budget, looks very good for what it is, including the picture within picture and graphics. Audio is mixed, again, for clarity, so don't expect any fancy tricks bouncing around your speakers.

Extras:
No extras, unless you count the commercial for Shaun Trautman products that plays when the disc loads. This can't be skipped over or fast-forwarded through, which might grow annoying if you're going through the lessons over more than one evening.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Recommended. There is not much to be analyzed in Slow Dancing For Beginners, vol. 1. The Shawn Trautman how-to is as simple as can be, designed for ease and comfort so as not to overly complicate the instruction. If you're on the market for stepping up your dance game, you really need look no further. Slow Dancing For Beginners, vol. 1 should provide you with all the lessons you require.

Jamie S. Rich is a novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for his collaborations with Joelle Jones, including the hardboiled crime comic book You Have Killed Me, the challenging romance 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, and the 2007 prose novel Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, for which Jones did the cover. All three were published by Oni Press. His most recent projects include the futuristic romance A Boy and a Girl with Natalie Nourigat; Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks, a loopy crime tale drawn by Dan Christensen; and the horror miniseries Madame Frankenstein, a collaboration with Megan Levens. Follow Rich's blog at Confessions123.com.