ever see those DDR or ParaPara machines in the arcades? they're FUN!!! there's a free version you can use on your home computer (Diet Diet Revolution or Dance With Intensity). my daughters introduced me to it about two years ago, but i've only just recently started trying it (quietly, privately, when there's no one around to see me make a chump of myself).
if you're not familiar, the DDR concept is thus:
- high-energy music plays on your computer that may or may not have neat background graphics and/or effects
- arrows (up, down, left, and right) move up the screen and hit corresponding targets at the top
- you have to step to the front, back, left side, or right side as indicated by the arrows in time to the music
- double combinations mean you have to jump (front and back, left side and right side, etc)
ParaPara is a bit different in that the arrows tell you how to move your arms.
they have big DDR competitions in the larger arcades in bigger cities (ie, Toronto and Vancouver) where the kids add all kinds of fancy dance moves to the basic steps. there are even competitions where teams of two, three, or four make fantastic displays of athletic ability as they trade places in and out of the game console.
one of the neatest things i've ever seen was my daughter with five friends (male and female) in the basement, all stepping in time - it was like my own personal riverdance show, lol!
the thing i like the most is that my kid is actually *moving* and not
watching TV or IM-ing 24/7. we dance together sometimes when it's not too fast and we have a lot of fun. she's in great shape with a lot of muscular density because of the high impact exercise: 16 yrs old, 5'5"-ish, weighs 175, but is only a size 11 (NObody believes she weighs more than 140).
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