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Props And Pans blog at PropsAndPans.com

Prima Princessa Hip Ballet DVD

Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake was created by two moms who love to have fun and want young girls to dream. Their DVD inspires and stimulates young minds by challenging them to learn about classical ballet through music, laughter and nature. Two of our reviewers were recently offered the opportunity to view their DVD with their daughters. Read below to find out what they thought.

 

We received the Prima Princessa DVD for our little ballerina to review. I have an 8 year old daughter who currently takes ballet, and her 4 year old little sister is fascinated with all things ballet and tutus. She can’t wait to take ballet for herself, but classes around here classes don’t start until age 5. This DVD is absolutely wonderful for her!

Prima Princessa is a tiny animated fairy ballerina who magically shows a group of little girls the ballet Swan Lake, as performed by the Paris Opera Ballet. She shows the girls one act of the ballet and explains what is happening in the story during the show. After each act the little girls learn a dance step and then spend a few minutes practicing. Then, the next act is shown with more ballet steps and it continues like this throughout the whole story. I have to admit that all I knew of the story of Swan Lake came from the Barbie so I even learned something. My daughter had a great time learning the steps and she loves to watch the grown-up dancers perform. It is now on our list of standard birthday presents for preschool girls.

-by Mary of Props And Pans

This is my first review for Props and Pans and the let me start by saying I hate ballet. However, what I love are happy kids and from everything I could see, the Prima Princessa DVD makes for some very happy little girls. I had 4 young girls watch the DVD, ranging from 18 months to 9 years old and they were each totally mesmerized for the entire 40 minutes. One little girl borrowed the DVD for a week and I’m told she watched it 9 times!

Intermingled with scenes of Swan Lake performed by the Paris Opera Ballet are scenes featuring young students from the School of American Ballet. These students demonstrate very simple ballet moves and to cut to scenes of toddlers in the yard prancing and practicing their own pirouettes and jetes. Throw in some random scences of toys performing their ballet moves and you have fascinating 40 minutes of entertainment for your young ballerina. Although a bit pricey at $19.99, you have to weigh the price against everything a busy mom can get done during the 40 minutes of peace. Then, the price seems quite reasonable.

-by Perri of Props And Pans

Mums The Wurd blog at MumsTheWurd.com

Prima Princessa: Dreaming of Ballerinas

It's no secret that I have a punk rock princess running around my house. I hope some day, she fronts the top selling punk or indie rock band and is adored by millions. Though, if she's going to be any good at dancing around on the stage at all, she's going to need to master some coordination. Therefore, while she's still a punk rock princess in diapers, she's going to have to become a ballerina.

Prima Princessa is just the help we needed. The Prima Princessa DVD features scenes from the ballet, Swan Lake, performed by the Paris Opera Ballet. It's quite an adventure for some pre-school-aged girls who are featured in the DVD, dancing around and having a blast in their tutus. Guided by the animated fairy herself (to your right), Prima Princessa, your little princess is able to live this adventure right along with them.

My toddler has fallen in love with this DVD. She asks for her "princess" movie all of the time. She likes to try to mimic the dance sequences and I just watch on with a huge smile across my face. It won't be long now...

-by Blogging Mama of Mums The Wurd

Mommies With Style blog at MommiesWithStyle.com

Take your children to the ballet without leaving the house!

Ever since we opened the DVD, my daughter hasn’t stopped dancing with Prima Princessa, a fabulous DVD that showcases the Paris Opera Ballet performing excerpts of Swan Lake. I actually enjoyed watching this children’s DVD! It is just the right length to keep your child engaged throughout the 40 minute video. This is a truly beautiful performance and features an animated fairy ballerina that narrates the story of Swan Lake using kid-friendly story telling (which is fabulous). Between acts, there are adorable little girls that dance around in tutus and learn simple ballet steps. These steps are shown mixed into colorful montages of toys, animals, children and young dancers from the School of American Ballet. Thanks to Prima Princessa, my daughter doesn’t have to wait until ballet class on Saturday to do pirouettes!

-by Debbie of Mommies With Style

Clever Parents blog at CleverParents.com

Caroline in the City: Tutu Cute

My four-year-old daughter is a ballet school dropout. After just one eight week course at our local community center she decided the life of a ballerina was not for her. Despite not wanting to pursue ballet as a hobby she continues to be fascinated by the art form.

There aren’t many DVDs out there about ballet that are made for young children. I recently came across Prima Princessa. It’s a 40 minute DVD that combines a performance of Swan Lake by the Paris Opera Ballet with ballet instruction from students at the School of American Ballet.

My daughters (two and four) were enthralled with this production. Prima Princessa narrates the selections from Swan Lake which are thrilling to the eye. The lavish costumes of the ballet combined with the music had my daughters dancing and leaping around. Swan Lake is broken down into a few simple acts that make the storyline easy to follow for young viewers.

In between trips to the ballet we learn simple ballet steps from the students at the School of American Ballet. The younger students give your child a great way to relate to the steps and get moving.

I found this to be a great DVD and was surprised to learn it was created by two moms without any film-making experience. It is a quality show that your kids will love to watch again and again. I think the DVD could spawn a fun sleepover or birthday party where everyone involved can get up and experience the true beauty and art of ballet.

-by Caroline of Clever Parents

Swanky Moms blog at SwankyMoms.com

Prima Princessa: Ballet for Everyone

"Prima Princessa presents Swan Lake" was a delight to share with my children. My daughter (2 ½ years old) loves to dance and play dress up, and this was the perfect way to share the beauty of ballet with my children. I was also pleasantly surprised when my 4 ½ year old son asked to watch it again and began to try the different ballet moves. My children were engaged and enthralled to be part of this interactive DVD

This DVD introduces children not only to the beauty of ballet, but allows them to learn, participate and understand how a story can be told through dance. I loved that they told the story of Swan Lake as it was being preformed, shared and demonstrated different ballet moves, and showed professionals, school children, and toddlers dancing. This would be a perfect gift for any little girl or family who want to share the fine arts with their children.

-by Swanky Mom Lynne

Pennies in My Pocket blog at PenniesInMyPocket.blogspot.com

I'm thrilled to introduce Prima Princessa to my readers. Let me just start by telling you how completely uncoordinated I am. I was the little girl on the sidelines who would just stare at ballet dancers with amazement. I mean, how DO they do that without falling and breaking a bone all the while being so graceful? This utter lack of coordination and grace does not mean that I don't love ballet. I'm hoping that my daughter has a passion for ballet and that she hasn't inherited my klutz genes.

Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake is a wonderful way to either enhance, inspire or introduce the art of ballet to any little one. A fairy ballerina magically transports a group of adorable girls to see the amazing Paris Opera Ballet perform. Dancers from the School of American Ballet teach these little ones the basics of ballet between segments. Now, I know my baby is only 9 months old, but she was just mesmerized by this video. She stared and squeeled at the little girls, music and dancing! I can't wait for her to enjoy this video as she grows older.

It doesn't matter if your little one has never heard of a pirouette or if she regularly arabesques down the hall, she will absolutely adore this DVD. It would make a fabulous and unique birthday gift for a little princess or ballerina as well as a wonderful donation to your little one's dance class! The DVD is available at Amazon (all excellent reviews), Capezio Stores nation-wide, Lincoln Center Holiday Shop, San Francisco Ballet Shop, Select Learning Express toy stores and many specialty shops.

-by Melody of Pennies In My Pocket

The Opinionated Parent at TheOpinionatedParent.com

Several of the T.O.P. reviewers have been watching Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, a DVD created by moms Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller and featuring the renowned Paris Opera Ballet performing Swan Lake interspersed with narration by an animated fairy-like ballerina. Young students from the School of American Ballet appear in between acts.

I personally reviewed this DVD with my 22 month old son. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m very liberal. He loved it and danced around with the little girls on the screen in between tossing his football at the window and throwing a ball for his dogs. I’m neither a ballet person nor a DVD person and even I loved this show. It’s one that I’d let my daughter watch when she’s older with no hesitation. It’s an extremely well-made and healthy depiction of what ballet is and a great way to expose young children to the culture of ballet and the infamous Swan Lake. From their site you can download a free colouring book too! Read on to find out what our contributors thought.

- by Nicole the Founder and Senior Editor of The Opinionated Parent

Kendra for The Opinionated Parent

At some point, just about every little girl dreams of being a ballerina. Maybe it’s the beautiful costumes ballerinas wear on stage - the sparkly headpieces, the romantic tulle, and the shiny satin Pointe shoes, or perhaps it’s the graceful, flowing movement perfectly coordinated with some of the most gorgeous classical music ever written. Whatever it is that captivates them, little girls love the idea of ballet, even if they don’t know exactly what it is.

I was not at all surprised the day my daughter told me she wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up. After all, she had already started to identify with every princess she saw, so I figured the ballerina phase couldn’t be too far behind. In my attempt to nurture her interest in ballet, I started showing my daughter the DVDs of several well-known ballets, hoping she would be as mesmerized by the story and the drama as I have been. The truth is, though, most full-length ballets are quite long – one-and-a-half to two hours on average – and how many 3-5 year-old kids can really sit still and pay attention to anything, no matter how interesting, for that long? Even though it was clear to me my daughter was intrigued by this mysterious art form, it was also abundantly clear to me that the long, drawn-out drama of the story and the lack of narrative during the dancing made it difficult for her to remain focused on the DVD for very long. I tried to find some ballet DVDs suitable for young children, and was horribly disappointed with what I found. It seemed that “kid-friendly” and “good dancing” did not exist together in the ballet DVD realm. Enter Prima Princessa!

Imagine my delight when I was asked to review the ‘Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake’ DVD! I was very curious to see if it was truly possible to create a kid-friendly ballet DVD without detracting from the beauty of the art. We received our DVD on a Saturday afternoon, and from the moment I took it out of the envelope, my daughter claimed it. Something about that bright pink fairy on the cover, I think. Within a matter of minutes, my daughter had the case open and the DVD in our DVD player. ‘OK,’ I thought, ‘here goes nothing.’

Had there been a video camera focused on my face as I watched my daughter’s reaction to Prima Princessa, you might have seen my expression change from one of shock to one of delight! Not only did my daughter seem to *like* this DVD, she was twirling around in the middle of our family room wearing a princess costume and ballet slippers within a matter of minutes. Because the actual Swan Lake ballet is shown in a much-abbreviated form WITH narration and explanation, my daughter actually paid attention to it. She even asked me questions about the story! The ballet clips are from the Paris Opera Ballet, hence the dancing is simply beautiful! Each shortened act of the ballet is followed by a segment of several pre-school-aged girls giggling and dancing to music, along with an introduction to some basic ballet terminology and some video clips of students at the School of the American Ballet executing those particular movements.

Prima Princessa presents Swan Lake is the most engaging, well-crafted, age-appropriate ballet DVD I have ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few. When my daughter asked me to ‘play it again’ as soon as the Prima Princessa DVD ended, I knew we had a hit. Not only does she like to watch it regularly, she wants to dance every time she watches it, which means she gets some exercise, too. Instead of wishing I could be anywhere else except in front of the TV (as I do with most of the DVDs I’ve been lucky enough to watch over and over and over again…), I find myself smiling and laughing as I watch my daughter fulfilling her fantasy of ‘being a ballerina.’

So, the question remains – when can we expect more Prima Princessa DVDs? Stephanie and Mary Kate have done a fantastic job with this first production; I can hardly wait to see what comes next!

-by blogless Kendra

The Parenting Diaries at TheParentingDiaries.com

Every theater and ballet fan knows what Swan Lake is. However, it was my daughter’s first time and mine too, to see it through Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD. The story is beautifully narrated by a young girl, much to the delight of my 4 year old. The narration is simple to understand and very effective for young viewers. My daughter is not studying ballet at this moment but this DVD sure perked up her interest in it. She started to mimic the dance moves and requested for a tutu!

Do you have a prima ballerina in the making? This DVD is a mini-tutorial of the basic moves in Swan Lake. Each movement is explained well and demonstrated clearly. I was surprised my toddler watched it over and over even if she doesn’t know a thing about ballet. What more for young ballet enthusiasts?

-by Grace of The Parenting Diaries

From Dates to Diapers at FromDatesToDiapers.com

My little Princess Ballerina flipped over Prima Princessa, the animated fairy ballerina who magically transported her to see the narrated ballet, Swan Lake. Between each act, my little Princess dances and twirls, along with the young dancers, while learning the official ballet steps, and after each performance she begs for more with her squeals of, “Encore, encore!”

This magical dance adventure would make a wonderful gift for your little ballerina. It’s sure to mesmerize her, as it has mine, while it inspires and stimulates her young mind. It was created by two moms who love to have fun, so I was thrilled with the ingenious Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake.
Oh, and don’t tell them (or their daddy) that I told you this, but even my boys were captivated!

-by Christine of Dates to Diapers

My Family Loves It at MyFamilyLovesIt.com/blog

I was very excited to review this DVD after I saw the clip on the Prima Princessa website. I love the concept of showing the kids a real ballet and between acts showing little girls dancing around having fun. Its nice to have the story of Swan Lake narrated so that the kids (and adults) know what is going on in the ballet. When I watched it with my daughter she got excited and clapped when the little girls clapped after the acts. She is only 20 months old and definitely young for watching this but not for long. I can picture her wearing a tutu and dancing to it by the time she turns 2. In my opinion Prima Princessa will be perfect for girls 2-7 years old. A big plus is that its very educational (in a ballet kind of way), teaching several ballet terns such as pirouette. I like that the French words are put up on the screen and repeated so kids really pick them up. They show clips of real kids preforming the moves clearly as well as toys and animals preforming the moves. The quality is high and its fun to watch. It was very important to me that not every kid was blonde and blue eyed (I think there were 3 races shown and a boy was used for some of the demonstrations). This is definitely a very girly DVD and Swan Lake is just like a disney princess movie but with my older two kids being boys I am ready for a little frilly stuff. I highly recommend this for anyone who has a little girl at all interested in ballet or princesses, but I have to warn you that a tutu or some sort of dress up wear is going to be essential for most viewers!

-by Heather of My Family Loves It

 

Sometimes Can Can blog at WinnerMama.blogspot.com

I am the mom who wants my children to be exposed to all kinds of arts and culture. We have opera and classical symphony music CD’s in the car that we rotate with world music and good old-fashioned nursery rhymes. Van Gogh prints are hanging in their bedrooms. I want my children to have a taste of everything that the arts has to offer, so that they can go back to the arts buffet and load up their plates with what they like.
I want my sons to learn about ballet. I don’t know anything about ballet, other than it is a pretty dance. Enter the Prima Princessa DVD! I learned ballet steps right along with my kids! Prima Princessa unites the elite performance of dancers in the Paris Opera Ballet with the playfulness and FUN of young girls excitedly trying ballet steps for the first time. While young viewers jete with excitement, they are learning useful ballet terms. Imagine your child explaining to a friend that “pas de chat” is French for “the steps of a cat”. Won’t that be remarkably cultured?

-by Candice of Sometimes Can Can

CPA Moms at CPAMomVA.blogspot.com

When I was a young girl, like most girls my age, I took a few years of ballet lessons. I hated it. I was uncoordinated and clumsy and overweight. Ballet just was not for me. But while I did not excel at actually participating in ballet, my love for the art form never dissipated. I love to attend the ballet when I can and hope to pass this love down to my children. This DVD gave me an excellent opportunity to introduce ballet to them for the first time.

The co-creators of this production, (Montclair NJ moms) Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller, said on their blog that this DVD is “a really fun mix of professional ballet, an adorable animated princess ballerina and little girls dancing.” This 40-minute DVD features an animated “fairy ballerina” (Prima Princessa) who narrates the story of Swan Lake to a group of pre-school girls. Scenes of the Paris Opera Ballet’s actual performance of Swan Lake is interspersed with footage of the pre-school girls dancing “ballet” outside, and students from the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center (the official academy of the New York City Ballet) practicing the ballet positions and steps being taught on the DVD. All the parts dovetail to each other nicely, reinforcing the learning process. And it’s entertaining enough that it kept my 3 year old daughter AND 5 year old son watching the entire time!

I highly recommend Prima Princessa for your own children (10 out of 10 binkies).

Where can you get it? At Amazon.com of course, but also at the Prima Princess site. Bonus - not only can you buy the DVD at the Prima Princessa site, you can find a clip of the DVD there, coloring pages you can print out, and a link to their blog.

-by CPA Mom

Tara’s View of the World at TarasViewOfTheWorld.blogspot.com

We LOVE the Prima Princessa dvd at our house. My daughter loves to watch the little girls spin and twirl and dance. The music is wonderful. The dancing is beautiful. Even my sons stop and watch when the animated fairy ballerina comes on the screen! I am very impressed with the wonderful quality of this dvd. I am sure we will be watching it for years to come.

-by Tara of Tara’s View of the World

Q T Pies at www.QTPies7.com

Prima Princessa arrived at our house one afternoon when I very much needed a break from little children’s lovely antics. I opened the package with much joy and popped the DVD in the player.
At first my four year old daughter just watched with wide eyes, in awe of all the beautiful dancers. The second time through she tentatively started doing the lessons with the little girls, who are so cute it will bring tears to your eyes. By the time we had watched the DVD 5 times, even my 16 month old son was doing ballet!

Prima Princessa is engaging for little ones, adorable for adults, and so much fun. Watching the true ballerinas was enjoyable, but watching my 4 year old and my 16 month old actually learn ballet moves was amazing and adorable!

If you have a little girl who loves dancing, Prima Princessa will delight her to no end with the added benefit of actually learning ballet.

- by Lisa of Q T Pies

ParentGuide review at www.ParentGuideNews.com
Movie-Making Moms
New Jersey mothers Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow are more than just caretakers. The two successfully created the grass-roots entertainment business and straight-to-DVD show Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake. This hip 40-minute DVD presents an animated fairy ballerina who magically transports a group of little girls to see the Paris Opera Ballet perform select segments of "Swan Lake". Between acts, the children travel back home to learn the basics of ballet. Visit www.primaprincessa.com for a clip from the DVD, a Tutu Zone Blog providing useful tips for mothers and much more. The DVD is also available at www.amazon.com.

Working Moms Against Guilt Review at WorkingMomsAgainstGuilt.com
"Prima Princessa is Primo for Little Ballerinas"
Excerpt from Sarah's review, I'm always looking for ballet-related books and DVDs, but my standards are high. I want materials that are true to the spirit of the works they represent while also showing dancers using proper technique. I'm pleased to report that there's a new DVD out that does both of these things. It's called Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, and it's the first in what its creators hope will be a series of DVDs teaching young kids about popular ballets.

Cool Moms Rule Review at CoolMomsRule.blogspot.com
"Today's Giveaway: Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake!"

SharpMom Review at SharpMom.com May 2008
"Featured Product Review"

Hip Mama's Place Review at HipMamasPlace.com April 2008
"Prima Princessa for Ballet Lovers"

Parent Hacks Review at ParentHacks.com April 2008
"Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake: DVD for ballet-loving preschoolers"

PlayThings Magazine March 2008 issue
"Engagement Party"

See the most recent reviews of Prima Princessa here!

DVD Available At:

Amazon.com 5 Star reviews

 

Contact Us

Stephanie Troeller at (917) 743-9715 or stroeller@comcast.net
Mary Kate Mellow at (973) 865-8769 or tutuzone@gmail.com

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