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I recently had the opportunity to review a fascinating children’s DVD.
‘Prima Princessa presents Swan Lake’ is a wonderful DVD, produced by Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller, “two stay-at-home moms who were both inspired by their children’s love of dance as well as a desire to see higher quality, culturally enriching programming available for young children”. It is aimed at teaching Pre-School aged girls and is narrated by a lovely little animation named Prima Princessa. She is ADORABLE!!! Prima Princessa was so cute and well thought out in creation, that she immediately captured the attention of both of my daughters. Mary Kate and Stephanie have done an outstanding job creating this video, from the animated fairy to the Swan Lake featured segments.

With the aid of my two daughters, ages 5 and 2, we sat down to watch this adorable learning video. I was quite curious to see if it could hold their attention. My two year old was a bit grumpy that day and distracted but I can honestly say that for the first part of the video, she watched intently and then would dance, then watch some more, then dance some more. I’ve mentioned in other reviews how much my children love music so I knew from the start that Miss Callie and Miss Cambryn would love it. But Callie was feeling bad and just wanted to lay in mommy’s lap and rest.

So, I wanted to REALLY see how my 5 year old daughter would respond and see if she not only watched, but interacted with the video.
SUCCESS!

I took some photos of Miss Bryn watching the DVD and you can see for yourself she was fully engrossed in the entire thing! Except for the few minutes I had to pause it so she could get up and do Pirouettes! Each scene of Prima Princessa features the Paris Opera Ballet performing a few small segments of Swan Lake. After each act, the DVD reverts to the little ballerina girls, (students from the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, the Official Academy of New York City Ballet), at home learning simple ballet steps. It also shows the name and pronounces the steps being taught. My daughters favorite were the Pirouettes and for about an hour after the DVD, she would dance around the house excitedly showing me what she had learned! :0)
A week later and she is still talking about the DVD wanting to watch it over and over and learn more of the dance steps and their names.

I was very pleased with this video. Not only did it showcase music and dance which we love, but it created a cultural experience for my children that they might not have received otherwise. I admit, my husband and I know very little about ballet and have never been to see one live so this video opened a new door to my children and myself and we look forward to learning more about ballet and movement through dance. My daughter has already decided she wants to be a ballerina so who knows, maybe there are some dance classes in her near future!

I’d like to give a HUGE thank you to Miss Mary Kate and Miss Stephanie for giving us the opportunity to review this fantastic DVD!
Please visit their Website and Blog to learn how you can order ‘Prima Princessa presents Swan lake’.
http://www.primaprincessa.com/
http://www.tutuzone.com./

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Stay tuned for our next review: Personalized Photo Confetti from Pink Poodle Boutique!!!!