Bella Dancerella Home Ballet Studio with DVD
by Spin Master
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Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Bella Dancerella Home Ballet Studio with DVD
Customer Review: was disappointing for the child
Summary: 3 Stars
I personally didnt expect much, it is a toy after all, but my 6.5 year old daughter apparently did. She requested the toy for christmas, and my parents gladly indulged her. I think because she is desperate to learn how to dance, she thought she'd be able to do more ballet with it. The video moved too quickly, and she quickly became very frustrated and began to cry. In the movie's defense, she's a perfectionist who expects to do everything 100% correctly the first time.
I did find the video to be a bit cheezy. But then again, most kid videos are pretty tacky. I do wish it had put more effort into making up more of a routine for them to follow, even if it wasnt exactly "proper" ballet. Something to play along with. It was predominantly like any other video, mostly passive watching.
Despite her frustration over the ten minutes of instruction on the mat and barre, she did watch the video anyway, after I told her maybe if she viewed it a few times she'd get better at it. I suppose it is geared to meet the middle age of the 3-8 years which is perhaps why it has so little interaction and more viewing. A smaller child would have trouble keeping their attention span to anything more than that, I suppose. Mostly, when buying this toy, realize that is exactly what it is, a toy, and nothing more.
Lastly, my daughter also received a "costume" to wear that had the bella dancerella trademark on it. Sadly, it does not fit. It would fit her younger sister easily, which is understandable since she is three, and still wears 2T clothing. However the packaging says "3-8 years of age." I think, at least, there should be a more narrow age range on the package since that is what my mother based her decision to buy the costume on. My six year old is quite skinny (her pants fall off all the time) because she eats like a bird. Its not as if she's abnormal in size for her age. There just wasnt enough length in the bodice of the tutu and the slippers were way too small. It isnt a big deal to us, as she has more than her fair share of tutus and ballerina costumes that do fit. It was more of a disappointment and thought it would be helpful to another parent to realize the costume is designed to fit a 3-4 year old.
Customer Review: From An Ethnic Point Of View
Summary: 3 Stars
My rating is an average of 3 stars based on the following: Five stars for entertaining my 5 year old daughter. She got this for Christmas 2005. She is quite happy with the product and uses it an average of a few times a month. She doesn't mind the cheesy music, the annoying voice of leader or the low-low-low-no budget set. She thinks the monkey is funny. Zero Stars for everything else: I could care less about the music, cheap plastic bar or homemade costumes; although I really would like to beat that monkey with a baseball bat. I actually think it is going to be hard for my daughter to un-learn this video when it comes time for her to start class. She really doesn't understand that she is supposed to stand still, hold the bar and do each position. Also, it is a constant battle with main stream media about what is beautiful. Bone-straight blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes are not the epitome of beauty. My main contention is that in the version I bought there is a little black girl named Ianthe. You only see Ianthe for the introduction and the warm up. They give her a couple of five second cuts during the instruction portion of the video where she doesn't even get to wear a ballet outfit [she is still in her warm up exercise clothes] and during her part of the fruit song as a banana. The other two caucasian girls have super prominent parts during the entire instruction portion of the video and the entire fruit song [not just their fruit portion of the song]. When asked how many girls are in the video, she says two, the little girl that looks like her classmate (the girl with the blonde hair) and the little girl that looks like her friend's mom (the girl with the black hair). She never remembers Ianthe. I think it would have been nice for my little curly haired black child to see someone who looks like her have a prominent role in this video. I can't wait for the CD to scratch. And can someone please maime the monkey!Customer Review: Fun for 2.5 year old but questionable for Mom.
Summary: 1 Stars
Even though this item was rated for ages 3-8, my 2.5 year old daughter seems to love it. The quality of the DVD was good, meaning it was clear and the sound was good. The music was not ballet music but my daughter didn't seem to mind. The mat and bar were okay and as durable as I expected (...). My concern for this toy is that it does not seem to appeal to all audiences(races). My daughter is only 2.5 and all she sees is pretty pink tutu's. Her brothers ages 10 and 11 asked me, "Why is the African American girl not in the Ballet dance?" It concerned me that the African American child(Ianthe) in the video was not a ballerina dressed in a tutu and did not participate in either the Ballet Dance Steps 1-4 or the Swan Dance. I am not sure why she was in the video since she did not participate in the ballet dances. She did participate in the nutritional fruit and veggies dance, however she was told what fruit she would be(a banana), where the Caucasion and Asian girls were allowed to choose their fruit. I am concerned what message this may send to little girls of color. Was the African American girl not good enough to do the ballet? Why was she made to sit on the sidelines and act as though she could not dance? I don't want little girls of color to think they have to sit on the sidelines for anything. The creater of this toy apparently does not know that little girls of color dream of being a ballerina too. I, for one do not look to the world to educate my children through toys. I think it would be politically correct to allow little Ianthe to wear a tutu and dance in at least one of the ballet dances since she was in the video and introduced as a Ballerina.
This review is to inform and enlighten all parents that toys too can stereotype and create negative ideasin our children. I would not recommend this toy if you are a parent who is concerned about your childs phychological health.
Customer Review: My 3 year old loves this
Summary: 4 Stars
My daughter just turned 3 a few weeks before Christmas and this is definitely one of her favorite presents that was under the tree. She saw a commercial for this and said she really wanted it but I was skeptical that she would really use it and almost didn't buy it but I am glad I did because she loves it! I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think the video is rather cheap-looking and annoying from MY perspective. The video is just a step above home movie quality. Bella and the other children in the video aren't that special and I am guessing they are just kids of people who work for the company that produced it - they certainly don't do anything spectacular. Bella is just a teenager with braces who will nod with every dance move she makes and any adult who watched it while my daughter played with this made fun of the excessive nodding! Also I had no idea Bella had an Australian accent - which is fine but I was surprised! But anyway it's not made for adults, it's made for kids and my daughter sure loves it. The bar is a bit different than the one featured in the video but she hasn't noticed. My daughter has been taking a little dance class for a year or so and she likes this in addition to it, but the class is mostly just fun and she doesn't really know position 1, 2, etc.. If your child is older and has mastered that kind of thing I am not sure it would be of interest. Anyway - this was a hit w/ my daughter!Customer Review: no regrets buying, but it could be better
Summary: 5 Stars
My 5 and 7 year old daughters LOVE this. They have danced over and over. I didn't realize it was 'educational' when we first got it. I thought it was just for fun, but they are actually learning about ballet too. (and I think they already know the 5 basic positions from the video better than they did after 6 months of dance lessons.) But we bought it for the 'fun'.
I think it's a great idea for a video. DVD's have a lot more potential than this video is using though. There is a LONG introduction. It would be nice if there was a menu where you could select to go straight to the instructional section, or straight to the dancing at the end, if the child no longer needs the instructional section. It also needs a bit of a break when it's time to flip the mat over during the instructional section. The video instructs to flip it over, and then they immediately jump into using it on that side. This frustrates my 5 year old, because she can't flip it over that quickly. (Noone could.) Just a 10 second slow down would be nice.
But all-in-all, the kids are having a GREAT time with it. I just think they ought to modify the video to make it even better. The songs are very pleasant. I don't find it annoying at all.