Dance and Be Fit: Brazilian Body (2008)

I must own this.

Yet another of Acacia's fitness offerings with top-notch production values, "Dance and be Fit: Brazilian Body" is energetic and highly effective.
The setting is a large platform straddling a pond, backed by trees and other tropical plants, in Hawaii. The music for warm-up and cooldown is a happy, soothing sort of melody, while the workout sections have differing types of percussion tracks, all of which are enthusiastic and well-suited to the choreography.
There are 5 sections to the workout: a 6 minute warm-up, 12 minutes of Maculele, 12 minutes of Samba Reggae (Carnivale inspired), 12 minutes of Capoeira, and a 6 minute cooldown. The entire 48 minutes put together is challenging enough that I had to pause between each to drink some water, but beyond that I was able to get through it just fine as an intermediate exerciser, and I was quite quivery and tired by the end. Beginning exercisers might be better off doing single sections and working up to stringing them together.
Some reviews of this program that I have seen have mentioned poor cueing; I don't think it is really that bad, but then, I ALWAYS watch a workout at least once before I try it for the first time. It is true that sometimes the cue to a move will come slightly after the dancers have started doing it, but it's really not hard to follow along and the more one does the program, the less this will be an issue. Kimberly Miguel Mullen is actually quite conscientious about giving verbal cues whenever the exerciser's head is down or facing away from the TV set.
As a choreographer and instructor, Miguel Mullen ranks pretty high on my list after doing this workout a few times. The moves are interesting and well-designed to access most body parts, and they are legitimate dance moves, not tired aerobics standby's. Granted, this requires a certain level of coordination, but it's worth it to try to master the program, because it's a lot of fun. Miguel Mullen's voiceover is cheerful (but not annoying) and very encouraging. Her form is impeccable and inspiring to emulate (or at least attempt to). She has two backup dancers; one woman, one man. For the third section, it's just Miguel Mullen and the male dancer, Gustavo, who is also a co-choreographer. This is quite interesting, as it gives two different approaches to this martial art. Miguel Mullen is clearly approaching Capoeira as a dancer, while he is obviously trained in the martial arts, so while they are doing the same moves, they look VERY different in their execution.
All in all, I highly recommend this workout to intermediate or advanced beginning exercisers. I plan on purchasing this DVD. One minor note: this workout can be tricky if you have neighbors underneath you. There is some jogging in place, marching, and stomping that is slightly awkward to commit to fully if you're working out in the wee hours of the morning and you know your neighbors are probably still trying to sleep. But that's really the only problem I had throughout the entire disc.
Bonus features include an extra routine with Miguel Mullen, as well as 2 segments from other Acacia DVDs, "Bollywood Dance Workout" and "Yoga Trance Dance."