Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake Review
Every year my Mother-in-Law and her sister take their grand daughter's to the ballet...I watched year after year all the while having boy after boy...lol...but finally I have a daughter that can participate soon!I can't wait until she is old enough to sit in her pretty little dress and watch a real ballet...but until that day...
We have Prima Princessa!!
From http://primaprincessa.com/ :Put your dancing shoes on, and enjoy the show! Prima Princessa presents Swan Lake features the world-renowned Paris Opera Ballet performing excerpts from Swan Lake, live on stage! Swan Lake is narrated by the adorable cartoon Prima Princessa, herself! Between acts Prima Princessa guides you through ballet steps performed by School of American Ballet students so you can become a Prima Princessa ballerina too!
When I first learned that I was going to get to review this DVD - Miss Maddy and I immediately checked out the website. We must have watched the intro 10 times the night that I got the e-mail that we were going to get a copy.
I gotta tell you -- while I bought 2 tutu's before Miss Maddy was born...she barely wore them before that night. She would always complain that they were itchy -- or that she was FINISHED!!But once she saw all the little girl's in their tutu's up on their tippy toes -- the girl was hooked!
I thought that it was amazing that after just watching the intro on http://primaprincessa.com/ that Miss Maddy rose up on her toes and started spinning like a mad woman. I wish that I had thought to have my camcorder at the ready!! It was a very special moment.
Prima Princess pictured above is a lively and fun guide to the wonderful world of ballet and Swan Lake. Miss Maddy was captivated by her.
She introduced the acts of the ballet and encouraged her to get up and dance along.
The Swan Lake DVD that we received was very comprehensive...not only did it cover the story line of the ballet...it was interspersed with breaks -- and anyone with little children knows -- we need a minute to jump up and get our wiggles out!
While I think that Miss Maddy enjoyed the actual clips from the ballet Swan Lake -- she was a little put out that the evil Von Rothbart was so mean...she took up this position and pout every time that he came on the TV.
I like that after each act of the play -- there was a ballet dancing tutorial featuring dancers from the American school of ballet. It was fun to watch her try to copy their moves.Miss Maddy liked that after each featured dancer...it would flash to a fun figure or two doing the same thing.
For a Pirouette -- there was a jewelry box ballerina spinning.
For Jete -- there was a tiger that was jumping up a log.
For Pas de Chat -- there was a cat jumping to grab some string.
My favorite part though : that they featured little girls in tutu's spinning around and around. They would spin til they fell down in a fit of giggles...which Miss Maddy would also attempt to replicate!
I wish that this picture was a little less blurry -- But she was full of energy and spinning circles around me at this point.The thing that I loved most about this DVD -- is that while it is meant for little girl's to have fun -- they are actually learning about the ballet...the story line, ballet moves and suspense.
This is a picture of Miss Maddy watching the very end of Swan Lake - it was right around the part where Prince Siegfried is searching for his dear Odette. He looks all through the flock of swans until he finally finds her.
She was quite relived once he did.This DVD really showed me that music is very powerful. At 2 - I am not sure that she could understand the story line...but the music was very intense as he is searching and she picked up on that.
Terms that were introduced - and Miss Maddy's Interpretation of them:
Pirouette: A turn or a spin around on one leg done on pointe or on demi-point.
Jete: A French term meaning “to throw.”
This was described as "Jump" in the DVD.
Pas de Chat: A movement starting in fifth position, in which the dancer looks in the direction she is moving. The dancer lifts her back foot to her calf and plies on the front leg. Then she jumps into the air, picking up both legs at once underneath her body and pointing both feet toward each other. She lands on one bent leg with her other leg pointing to the mid-shin and finishes in fifth position.
This was described as "walking like a cat" in the DVD.
Make sure that you visit http://primaprincessa.com/ to find out how to get your little princess her own copy of this wonderful DVD.
Watch the Intro -- Print some coloring sheets - and check out what other Mom's are saying!
I would also recommend that you check out the Teacher/Parent guide. This would be great for little girls who are a little older and can follow the story line...great guide to understand the history of the ballet Swan Lake.I received a copy of Prima Princess presents Swan Lake on DVD. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions expressed are my own.
Updated 3/10/10 to add: I was able to get a chance to review this product thanks to being a member of The Product Review Place.
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Hi Mellisa! I'm stopping by to give you a blogger award!
ReplyDeletehttp://cariescoins.blogspot.com/2010/03/ive-received-another-blogger-award.html