Prima Princessa is offering my readers a giveaway of the DVD Prima Princessa Presents: Swan Lake!
I was so excited when the two moms behind Prima Princessa contacted me to review their preschool ballet DVD — I was able to tell them my three-year-old son already loved it! We had checked it out from the library, and he had just been asking me to watch "Pima Pincessa" again when they wrote.
I take an adult ballet class, and Mikko has been very interested in what I do every week. I had been looking hard for some decent ballet videos that would work for his age and interest level to prepare him for possibly following in my slippered footsteps.
Watching my review copy of Prima Princessa over again (and again) reminded me of what Mikko and I love about it.
Prima Princessa is a DVD series that introduces ballet to toddlers and young children. It works perfectly for the preschool set. All other children's ballet DVDs I've seen have been in the instructional category and are a straight class format. I think class-like DVDs can be good for older students (elementary age on up) but are usually too advanced for younger kids. (There are a couple out there for pre-ballet age, if you look.) You can also sometimes find DVDs that are a filming of a stage production or that follow ballet students through their days, but all of those can be awfully dry for the littlest viewers.
What Prima Princessa offers is, in my experience, completely unique. It's a combination
of simple ballet instruction with a stage production that's narrated and explained by a flying ballerina fairy (P.P. herself). It's engaging for young kids, not least because it features young kids in the cutaway scenes.Basically, there are four types of scenes you'll see in the DVD:
- Little kids (around 3-5 years old) dancing (twirling, jumping, running) on the grass in tutus.
- Slightly older students, but still children, in ballet class (maybe in the 10-12 age range) at the American School of Ballet, demonstrating ballet techniques such as pirouettes and pas de chat.
- Assorted clips that relate to the movement, such as a spinning toy for pirouette turns and a leaping tiger for demonstrating jumps.
- An abridged performance of a professional ballet, in this case Swan Lake by the Paris Opera Ballet.
Guess who picked out his own ballet dress to match the girls on the DVD and then excitedly told the checkout person, "I'm doing ballet!" The black tights were my attempt to get him "boy" ballet clothes. I had to give in to the euphoria of a flowy pink dress, though.
- What's nice about showing little kids dancing is that your own little kid can relate. The friendly Prima Princessa fairy tells your young ballerina/ballerino to put on a tutu and dance, and the dancing is completely free-form, in typical little-kid style. The girls in the DVD look like they're really having a fun time.
- I liked that the student demonstrations from the American School of Ballet were so well done. The students demonstrating the moves were obviously very well trained (sooo much better dancers than I am even though I'm, like, three times as old), and I appreciated that there were several boy dancers who were featured, so I could show Mikko what a boy dancer looks like and what Mikko might wear if he takes ballet classes. I also loved that these demonstrations gave a vocabulary term, which, being ballet, is in French, and then explained it in English and showed it in action. It makes for a good introduction to ballet terms kids will hear if they continue on in ballet class.
Arabesque! - I thought the little clips of toys and animals were the most random part, but Mikko loves them. Clearly the producers knew what they were doing! He loves to point out what each thing is. "Look, Mama, ladybug! … That a frog!"
- I absolutely appreciate the comprehensive excerpts from each act of a professional ballet production. Since Mikko is too young to take to an actual show yet (you trust me on this, yes?), I love that he can see what ballet is actually for. He gets the idea that dance tells a story, and the voiceover explains the story clearly. In fact, I wish I had a voiceover like that when I went to the ballet! I thought this part might be the least interesting to Mikko, but he really enjoyed it. He asked questions about the characters and pointed out what they were doing.
Here's another huge plus for Prima Princessa. The DVD costs $6.99. That's it! The company was founded by two mothers of young children, Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow, and they wanted to make sure it was accessible to a variety of income levels. I'll point out, too, that you might be able to find it at your library, as I was, but it's definitely a fun one to have on hand if you can swing it.
I'm not sure what ballet move this is, but it's fun.
Prima Princessa is a series, which is great, so they've just come out with Prima Princessa Presents: The Nutcracker
, and I believe The Sleeping Beauty is in the works.I also love that it gets Mikko (and me) moving. Witness his joy here:
So that's what I love about Prima Princessa.
Here are a couple small quibbles.
It's geared almost exclusively toward girls. I get that. I do. Girls like ballet and tutus and pink and fairies, yes. But I have a boy, and I was hoping he'd be inspired to try out a ballet class like his mama's. Fortunately, he's too young still to see all these little girls hopping around in tutus and feel like he doesn't relate. I think he knows that there are differences between boys and girls, but he doesn't yet separate himself so much into his own "team" that it's an issue. That said, I'd love to see more little boys leaping and twirling as well, and … I think they heard me in advance. Because the preview of The Nutcracker shows … yup, a whole blush of boys fighting each other with play swords (well, of course). All the promotional language, too, makes it clear this DVD is intended for your little girl. You can check out just the opening lines and images in the video on the main page to see what I mean. Again, fine and expected; it just makes me feel a little left out, for Mikko's sake.
As I mentioned, they actually seem to have alleviated this a little in the second DVD in the series. I also mentioned, and I really did like this, that some of the student dancers are boys, and very skilled at that. In the professional production, of course, there are plenty of men dancers. So there are still people I can point out to Mikko as examples for what he might become. (Um, not really; he is my child after all, so I'm not sensing professional dance career in his future, but still.)
I also appreciated that the children included an apparent mix of ethnicities. That said, the professional production read as pretty uniformly white (not meaning to slight anyone in the
Jeté!
So those are my two small concerns, which I believe Prima Princessa heard in advance and has been working on. Other than that, I think the DVD is top notch and worth adding to your children's DVD collection if you have any budding ballet stars among your family. The production values are excellent, with no indication that this is an amateur attempt. The sound is good, the editing, the narration, the cute little kids in their costumes, the filming locations — it's all high quality and worth every penny of the $6.99 asking price and beyond.
BUY IT!
Did I mention the DVDs are priced at only $6.99? I know, right?You can buy Prima Princessa Presents: Swan Lake
and Prima Princessa Presents: The Nutcracker at Amazon, where they're eligible for free Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. The running time for the Swan Lake DVD is 40 minutes.Prima Princessa has also come out with a book for beginning dancers: Prima Princessa's Ballet for Beginners: Featuring the School of American Ballet
, on sale for $11.66 on Amazon.WIN IT!
For your own chance to win a DVD of Prima Princessa Presents: Swan Lake, enter in the comments below! Contest is open to U.S. and Canada.
(As an aside, the DVD is Region 1, which is for U.S. and Canadian DVD players. I am the one shipping it, and I will ship it worldwide. I am saying it's open to U.S. & Canada, since Region 1 DVDs will play only in U.S. and Canadian players, or potentially in region-free players. If you live elsewhere, you assume all risk of having the DVD not play for you. In other words, you're free to enter the contest if you're sure sure sure a Region 1 DVD will play in your machine, but I can't replace it or help you out if you win and it doesn't. Ok?)MAIN ENTRY: Visit PrimaPrincessa.com and tell me who will dance to this DVD if you win!
Leave an email address in at least one of your comments if it's not clearly visible on your profile or linked web page so I can contact you if you win. (You can write it like this to foil spambots: mail (at) hobomama (dot) com or similar.)
BONUS ENTRIES, to increase your chance of winning (leave a separate comment for each so I can count them all):
- Subscribe to the Prima Princessa TutuZone blog.
- Leave a relevant comment on a TutuZone blog post, and tell me what post you commented on.
- Have a look around PrimaPrincessa.com, and tell me something you learned.
- Follow www.HoboMamaReviews.com publicly through Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to the Hobo Mama Reviews RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
Firefighter ballerino takes a rest. - Follow www.HoboMama.com through Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to the Hobo Mama RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
- Follow @Hobo_Mama on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
- Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can use the retweet button at the top of the post or tweet this text: Enter to #win a delightful children's ballet DVD in a #giveaway from Prima Princessa and @Hobo_Mama! http://bit.ly/cw8Bnp {11.10, US/Can}
- Like Hobo Mama on Facebook.
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- Enter another of my current giveaways (1 extra entry per giveaway — check back for more).
- Put my Hobo Mama button on your website or add www.HoboMama.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code is in the sidebar. Leave your site URL in the comment.
RULES:
- Contest open to United States and Canadian mailing addresses (but see my comment about Region 1 DVDs above).
- Leave each entry as a separate comment so I can count them all.
- For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, just let me know in your comment.
- For tasks that garner you multiple entries, you can copy and paste the comment with a #1, #2, etc.
- You don't have to do any of the bonus entries, but you do have to complete the first mandatory one.
- I will pick the winner through Random.org after the contest closes and send an email notification. Leave an email address in your comment if it's not clearly visible on your profile or linked web page so I can contact you if you win. If I can't reach a winner or don't hear back within a couple days, I'll draw a new name.
- Any questions, let me know: mail {at} HoboMama.com
Contest closes November 10 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
Disclosure: Prima Princessa sent me a free DVD for review.
Amazon links are affiliate links.
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relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent.
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Amazon links are affiliate links.
I try to seek out only products I think you would find
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If I don't like a product, I won't be recommending it to you.
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75 comments:
My 6 year old daughter would dance to the Prima Princessa video :) She LOVES dancing. In fact, her brother might help her with some steps - they both study dance - and my son just lifted his first girl in ballet class today *proud mama*
my best friend's daughter will be gancing to this if I win it
strezo@sbcglobal.net
My Margaret will dance to this!
I subscribe to you in Google Reader.
And I follow you on Twitter.
And I like you on Facebook
subscribed to prima princessa tutuzone blog
strezo@sbcglobal.net
My friends daughter will be dancing to this
snugles4433@hotmail.com
Oh, my ONLY daughter (out of 6 children!), is always dancing ballet in her room. She would flip to have this!
matthollycart@gmail.com
My 3 year old would go nuts over this video!!
onecheaplady@yahoo.com
Thank you Hobo Mama for the wonderful review!! Mary Kate and I both are so thrilled that your daughter had such fun... our goal has always been to get kids up off the couch and dancing and having fun to classical ballet. Your review made me smile broadly! And as for your small quibble with our show being too pink and girly I agree completely!!! so, you have to see our new DVD just released for this Christmas, "Prima Princessa Presents the Nutcracker" which features a bunch of fun dance-loving preschool boys who dance, and sword fight, and have fun with ballet right along side the tutu clad girls!
Steph Troeller
Co-Creator, Prima Princessa
www.primaprincess.com
My sweet precious princess Anaiah will dance to this if we win! Thank you.
My daughter would love this DVD (and maybe my 15 month old son will partake too!).
oceanglowkat {at} gmail {dot} com
I just became a google friend follower :-)
oceanglowkat {at} gmail {dot} com
My 6 year old daughter is currently on a dance showteam. She loves watching others dance and imitating the dancers!
my 3 year old granddaughter would love this. she likes watching dancing on tv and try to copy the people
jmajor4870(at)aol(dot)com
This would be for my nieces that love to dance.
rbjj32825[at]lycos[dot]com
This is easy! I have a 3 year old tumblebug/ballerina that would LOVE to watch this every day :) Thanks for the great giveaway!! Amanda
strawberryshimmer (at) gmail (dot) com
My one-year-old loves to dance, so she would love this!
mearley1979 at gmail dot com
subscribed to tutuzone blog
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I learned that they won a Parents' Choice award
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My 6 and 4 year old girls will dance to this if I win!!
kathrynbaby2004@yahoo.com
My little girl (2 years old) would love to dance like this...love it!
natalia
liahec@yahoo.com
my 5 year old daughter
I am a new GFC follower. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway.
dianad8008 AT gmail DOT com
My nieces would love to dance to the DVD.
My 5 yr. old grand~daughter would be receiving this...heavensent1@yahoo dotcom
I learned the show features real professional ballet footage narrated by a cartoon ballerina so children can easily follow the story...heavensent1@yahoo dotcom
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I have three daughter under age 8 who I am sure will dance their hearts out to this dvd.
arianiah@hotmail.com
Visited the Prima Princess site, there are a lot of fun things for kids there, like coloring pages! My children both love dancing and ballet stuff, so they would love this DVD!
Entered your My Best Friend nursing giveaway.
Oh how cute this is! My little niece would love to dance to it!
I was skeptical - but after reading your review and visiting the web site, I think my 3.5 year old SON would have a blast dancing to this! We already do yoga together, why not ballet, too? :)
I visited the Prima Princess site and learned that it was started by two moms! One mom also enjoys cartooning, and the other mom enjoys making jewelry!
My 5 year old girls love these DVD's, they dance to them all the time!
christianclippers at gmail
I follow you on GFC
christianclippers at gmail
Be a great xmas present for my niece...she luvs to dance, thanks.
My friend's daughter will be dancing to this if I win!
veniceangel@hotmail.com
I entered the My Brest Friend giveaway
the kids would love this.
My 2 daughters (6 and 3) who love to dance.
dmcalgaro@yahoo.com
my daughter is obsessed with ballet lately (thanks to angelina ballerina). she loves to dance and i think she'd really enjoy dancing along to this!
heatheranya at hotmail dot com
i learned that i can buy the dvd at target
i entered the my brest friend giveaway
heatheranya at hotmail dot com
My 5 year old niece would love dancing to this DVD Thanks so much
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entered giggle junction giveaway
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My one year old daughter will defintely dance to the DVD. She loves to dance!
randi094 at rocketmail dot com
Follow you on twitter.
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Tweeted the giveaway:
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I would LOVE to win this for my daughter who is a ballet nut!
onecheaplady@yahoo.com
My daughter Ellie is so into Ballet and would love this.
katiemur@gmail.com
I follow this blog.
katiemur@gmail.com
My niece would love this DVD! noweesmom at g mail dot com
I visited the site and my daughter would love to dance to this DVD.
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I subscribed to Prima Princessa TutuZone blog.
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I visited the site and I learned, that they are "Winner fall 2010 small screen award".
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I follow you on GFC. (Anja M.)
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