Way back in the day, I used to not only be a dancer, but I used to think that I'd be a professional dancer—it was my dream as a young girl to be on Broadway. But things got in the way, as they often do, and other things took priority in my life—school work, competitive athletics, and social activities throughout my teens meant that dancing lessons and performances hit the back burner. But my love of dancing in general has never waned!

I recently heard about a fairly recent workout DVD release: Jamie King's Rock Your Body ($14.99 on amazon.com) and was intrigued. Although it's been years since I've danced formally, taken a class, or learned a routine, I knew I'd have to check this one out. Want to hear what I thought about it?

I have to say, I'm a pretty big fan!

This DVD is one of the better dancing workouts that I've seen. It's hip, has great music, and is moderately challenging—by that I mean that I, as a person with some dance experience, was still challenged, but not the point that it was impossible. In fact, what I like about this challenge (pace of instruction and difficulty of choreography), is that it keeps me coming back to this DVD so I can practice and perfect the steps.

Jamie King is a choreographer to several well-known dancers and performers, including Madonna. In this DVD, you start with about a 10-minute warm up, which is easy to follow and fun! Then Jamie breaks down an entire dance for you into easily-digestible segments: starting slowly, then practicing it a few times a half speed, and then practicing a few times at full speed. Because it's on DVD, you can easily go back to review the steps if you need to. By the time you master these moves, you're ready for the performance—which is really fun! The dancers come out on stage, complete in their costumes and with a crowd cheering them on. Then you do the whole dance at full speed, several times in a row.

I wore my heart rate monitor during this workout DVD. The warm-up definitely got my heart rate up to the low aerobic zone (about 55% to 65% MHR). The instructional dance segments were up and down, but mostly near the 60% to 70% range. I haven't yet mastered the moves to try the performance, but I can predict that the performance speed and intensity will get my heart rate well up to the top of my aerobic range.

I highly recommend this DVD to people who like a bit of a challenge—you have to mentally focus and work hard to do these moves. It's best suited for people who do have some dancing experience or at least a natural talent for it. It's great fun, and even though I might not have looked as coordinated as the pro dancers in the video (I like to imagine I did though!), I really felt like one.