Spinmaster Bella Dancerella Swan Lake Home Ballet Studio - DVD

My 2 and 3 year old got this for Christmas and they love it. Yes, the music can get annoying for any adult, but the girls quickly picked up on the theme song and now dance all over the house doing "ballet." It's way better than having them watch a cartoon and watching their "performances" at family gatherings has already provided hours of amusement. The worst part is the price (I actually got it for cheaper at KMart). I'm back online to find the pop star one and just noticed there's also a cheerleader one. Too funny! Hope your kids enjoy it as much as mine!

I got this as a present for my 4 year-old who is in ballet lessons. She loves ballet and really wanted this. It's very much geared to a younger child, with the music and dance. It progresses from a dance studio to the "finale" on a real stage. This provides a nice change of pace. The production is high quality and very professional.

I liked the lead dancer, she's very appealing for a young child to watch. The barre is nice for support, it's not intended to be anything more than that. The point is for the children to learn how to dance without the barre. It leads them through a variety of steps and sequences and then at the end it's all put together into a scene from Swan Lake. I think the pace is just right. It's assumed that this will be watched several times. The teaching is done through demonstration, not through detailed explanation.

Our set contained two dvds and mats, one for Swan Lake and one for the Lets Go Dance introductory dvd.

My girls (ages 18 mos and 40mos) received this as a Christmas gift from their aunt and they absolutely love it! Every day since they received it, they dress up in their princess skirts (not included) and dance with it. It is actually simple enough for the 3 year old to learn from and interesting enough for the 18 month old to watch and "dance" to. They are completely fascinated with it. My 3 year old takes ballet/tap/gymnastic class, but there are things she learned from this kit. My husband and I were extremely satisfied and would definitely recommend this product. Anything that could make kids this happy is totally worth it.

My almost 3yr old got this for Christmas and has always liked dancing around the house (she does not take lessons) So when she used this she was in heaven. The steps are EXTREMELY basic and good for a 3-4 yr old child with no experience. She's done it twice today; the videotape is 30 min long and the first time she asked me to play it again. So that's a lot for one day.

THE BALLET BAR
Very cute idea. Simple as ever to put together. It's made of pvc piping that snaps together. I think it makes my daughter feel as if she's really in class.

THE MAT
Big waste. It's a plastic flimsy thing and when my daughter dances on it it sometimes bunches up beneath her. In the video I swear they have the mat glued down! The only thing on the mat they need is the fott positions for First, Second, and Third position. They DO NOT teach fourth and fifth position. In any case, my child still likes it.

THE VIDEOTAPE
It's a half hour program of an older girl dancing with 5yr? olds behind her. At some points it seemed more of a music video than instruction tape. She first does a stretch warm up, then three dance moves (with French terms as well), then three feet positions. Then they learn to curtsey and go on stage. All this in different attire and songs.

I don't recommend this for ANY child who has has more than a half yr to yr of lessons. It's very cutesy and basic. BUT, my daughter does love it ;)

A younger child would probably enjoy this. The package says it is appropriate for ages 3-8. My 7 year old was bored after 3 viewings. The steps are presented too quickly and the production is very, very, average. The music is enough to drive any person over the age of 10 crazy. It is a bizarre cross between Barbie, Barney and cheesy pop music. The mat and barre were good in the set I bought (the barre pieces all fit), and the DVD played fine. The idea behind this is good - giving girls an easy introduction to ballet - but the follow-through in the production department basically sucked. The most annoying part of the whole thing? The girl who portrays Bella's incessant head shaking. What is up with that? She looks like she has a tic or something. If she does indeed have a physical problem then good for her to do something like this, despite it. If not, the producers should have duct taped her head.