You know Bollywood, right? Well, if you are anything like me (and who isn’t?) then you secretly try and imitate their awesome dance moves in the privacy of your closet, despite not having a walk-in. So when Acacia Lifestyle contacted me
to ask if I wanted to try out any of their videos, I got so excited I was twitching. Because Bollywood is just that awesome.
Par-TAY!
I called up a few of my best girlfriends, D, S, G, and of course Gym Buddy (a.k.a. Good Sport) Allison. We all put our kiddos in their respective beds and then met up in G’s basement to learn how to groove like the Kama Sutra.
The Bollywood Dance Workout
I want to be Hemalayaa. Seriously. She is one sexy chick despite not being the Hollywood Ideal Anorexic Barbie. And she knows how to work it too. She and her “sisters” wear 
awesome gold chain belts to highlight the exact feature that us crazy Americans use Spanx to cover up. Plus they have the coolest floaty pants. If I knew how to work it half as well as these gals I’d never have to buy myself a meal again.
Thankfully for stock boys everywhere, I’m not a good dancer. I love to dance. Love it more than almost anything else! I swing, hip-hop, charleston, cha-cha, salsa, waltz, rumba, cumbia and polka my little heart out but that’s the thing – I’m all heart. Zero coordination. Thankfully I’m not embarrassed easily so my lack of skill doesn’t slow me down much.
Indian dancing is harder than it looks. But so SO much fun and full of attitude. My fave line from this video was during the “play time” sequence where Hemalayaa instructs you to first do a hip shaking move called “The Goddess” immediately follo
wed by the Running Man. Yeah, like your 8th grade dance running man. In her sultry voice (she narrates the whole video rather than talking while exercising, which I really appreciated) she giggles, “The Goddess and the Running Man. Yeah, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe the man is chasing the goddess? Who knows? Laugh at yourself!” That pretty much sums up the vibe of the whole video. Just good fun.
But how is it as a workout? We all sweated. Here’s the Girlfriend Lowdown:
G: It was fun! But don’t bother wearing your heart rate monitor.
S: Definitely a good core workout and fun cardio but nothing intense.
D: I probably wouldn’t do it again. I had a hard time with some of the moves and the music was really monotonous.
Allison: I liked it but it would have been more fun if they put all the dance moves together to make a whole dance sequence.
As for me, I would definitely do it again for entertainment value and because it seems to embody the essence of confident femininity – a trait I would love to posses but sadly lack. As far as exercise though, it was pretty mellow. Not my go-to cardio but good for an easy day. It made for a great girl’s night out though!
“Feed the Chickens!”
It was fun getting together with the girls and just lettin’ loose!
I just wish I were a little better at actually letting loose 🙂
Hip hop is definitely helping!
that sounds like it was tons of fun! can i come next time?
I am too uncoordinated to do the running man, but I can do a mean sprinkler! 🙂
I’m uncoordinated and I get embarrassed easily. That’s the hardest part about my aerial dance class (which is over now….wahhh!)- there’s a lot of free form movement, and I feel kind of clumsy- mostly during the warm-ups.
Maybe I need to practice in my closet more.
Sounds fun!!!!! I’m a closet dancer myself, but mainly because I don’t want to injure any innocent bystanders. (Bydancers?)
ooh yay
This is the DVD I won from crankyfitness’ workout DVD give away! I’m so looking forward to trying it out 🙂
So FUN!
I love Bollywood yet am wholly uncoordinated.
Next time mightcould I make the papadums & sit in a directors chair & cheer ya’ll on?
Miz.
That looks like fun! My husband doesn’t understand why i like the spectacle of Bollywood; they play movies at our favorite Indian restaurant and he’s constantly muttering at how bizarre they are.
I’m also intensely uncoordinated, but love to dance in the privacy of my house.
I am sadly deluded and believe I really can dance. I used to be in a street-dance group and they ALWAYS put me on the back row. Devastating!
Those are some seriously cool shapes you’re throwing there – impressed!
TA x
It sounds like a good time to have with a group. Much better to laugh along with other people than to feel like a geek alone!
hehe, it looks like you gals had a good time though!
That sounds like fun! I want to have a dance party now:)
Isn’t it amazing at how many people say they are “uncoordinated” Whenever someone new comes to my classes that is the first thing they say, as if my expectations of their success should ride on coordination. Some people won’t try Turbo or Hip Hop because of this claim. Very Interesting and Very B.S. Anyone can move to a choreographed beat. I mean just look at all the white peeps in Hip Hop Hustle. Everyone is dying to get “Coordinated!!” (Does it help that I keep the lights off?)
I did belly dancing for awhile. Sounds similar. It was fun. Would have been alot more fun to do with a fun group of friends! Yeah, the instructor always had us padding our hips. THAT part I could do!
Thanks for the post,
Lori
Lol. That does look like a blast. I love all the dancy, hip swinging dvds out there. They’re so much more fun. I love to do them on the days where I’m not motivated to go to the gym, but I still want to do something.
Have you tried Zumba?
Totally fun! I’d do it again just to learn how to bounce my shoulders like they did!
Thanks for letting us be guinea pigs with you!
how cute are you guys?
If i asked my friends to do anything like that they would either laugh in my face, or tell me yes and then never show up.
because i have the best friends in the world.
http://www.groundedfitness.com
Funny, I just put this on my netflix queue the other day.. nice to read such a timely review!
I took a real bollywood dance class and it was pretty intense, not as much cardio but absolutely intense with all the crouching and squating moves. I also took a bollywood dance class at my (then) gym and that was intense cardio-wise, the instructor was insane and we were in constant, fast motion from one move to another, it was kinda done aerobics class style where you build some moves on eachother then string it all together.
Turbo Jennie – It DEFINITELY helps that you keep the lights off!!!!!
:0)
A Bollywood work-out video! That’s awesome! And inviting over some girlfriends to do it with you is doubly awesome.
Sounds like it was loads of fun!
I listen to a largely Bollywood playlist when running. I’ve seen the movie clips which go along with many of the songs, and sometimes have little visions of the happy people in sparkly clothes dancing – usually from atop a moving train – to accompany me up a particularly tough hill. (I freely admit it’s possible these visions are caused by the 87% relative humidity and summer heat.)
i’ve got this dvd too! it’s fun and you can work up a slight sheen, but it definitely gets a little monotonous. i know that actual bollywood can be substantially more intense, both with resistance moves (like squatting), and the cardio. if anyone watches so you think you can dance, you’ll have seen an awesome routine that would have been really hard to do! i just did a pole dancing boot camp class yesterday, btw, and WOAH, my arms and core are SORE. (this isn’t for strippers, it’s for empowering women…)
This is a really good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Short but very accurate info… Many thanks
for sharing this one. A must read post!