No experience necessary! Two-Step, Swing, West Coast Swing, Polka, and Triple Two-Step are all taught from a complete beginner perspective. Whether for a hot night at a club or just something fun to do, this volume is f... more »or everyone as you will learn to lead and follow the five most popular Country Western dances. The Country Western Dance Sampler is professional, easy to follow, designed specifically for beginners and fun for anyone wanting to get started on the dance floor. With over 80 minutes of instruction, four camera views, and beginner-friendly curriculum, Shawn and Joanna Trautman will build your confidence and help you get moving on the dance floor. Filmed and presented with multiple camera angles and Picture-in-Picture technology, you will be surprised at just how easily you learn with the right instruction. The design of the curriculum and camera placement for the DVDs allows the leaders to do the EXACT movements that Shawn presents, and it allows the followers to mimic Joanna in real time without having to turn away from the screen. In addition to learning along with the instructors with split-screen formatting, you will also get to dance each dance with music alongside the instructors at the end of each section.« less
"My wife and I are new to ballroom dancing in the last year. We've taken some lessons, but found that we needed the extra help of videos that we can use on our own schedule in our home and we've tried a bunch of them. This DVD and the whole series of new videos from Shawn Trautman have been a godsend and much more useful to us than the others we've tried. We are actually doing the dances within a short time and having fun, rather than getting aggravated with one another. Trautman's emphasis on the differing roles of leader and follower and the very clear demonstrations of those roles have helped us enormously. These DVDs include much more music and time to practice the new steps than most videos, rather than just watching an instructor do a step and go to another step. We like this video a lot and strongly recommend it. On a side note, the logistics/timing of shipping and subsequent email communications with the company were, after many frustrations with other online outfits, the best we've seen."
Excellent Instruction
A reviewer | Florida | 11/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Another great DVD. Shawn Trautman has a unique ability to give excellent instruction that is detailed, clear and presented in a logical order that is easy to learn from. All of the lessons on this DVD were easy to follow and the picture-in-picture close-up shots of their feet were very helpful. The lessons move at a pace well-suited for someone who likes detailed instruction yet wants to keep moving forward at a good clip. I love country music, and the music selection on this DVD was energetic and kept my interest. During the 2-step lesson, I was inspired to pick up my guitar to see if I could figure out the picking pattern - VERY COOL! We went through this DVD just one time and felt very comfortable, even though the polka wore us out (who would want to dance that one over and over??) :-) Five stars."
Great mix of dances
Shane S. Preston | Reno, Nevada | 11/27/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I play in a country band in Reno, Nevada and I bought some of these dvds to educate myself on what the crowd expects. This one was extremely helpful. It gave me a great overview of the most popular dances. Not everything is two-step and it's great if you can know what else everyone is doing. This dvd does have some great two-step but its also got all the other ones you need to know to be up with everybody. Excellant sampler!!"
BOOTS AND HAT TIME
Peggy Woods | VA | 11/25/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I FOUND THIS DVD PUTTING ME IN THE MOOD FOR
BOOTS AND HATS.THE WAY SHAWN AND JOANNA
TEACHES HOW TO HOLD EACH OTHER MAKES ALL
THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.IT'S ALL IN
THE PATTERN OF STEPS THEY TEACH.THIS ONE
IS ENERGICING AND INTERTAINING.JUST GREAT.
"
Great for beginners
Naomi J. Moca | 11/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have no country western dance experience at all and thought this DVD gave me and my partner a great foundation to work from."