Prima Princessa's TutuZone

Principled Discovery

Stephanie and I recently had our first online live interview with "Principled Discovery." This thoughtful blog is written by Dana, an amazing homeschooler with 4 children! from the site: "Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! "

Thanks Dana for such a great opportunity!

Coming Up For Air

Thanks "Coming Up For Air" for such a wonderful review today, October 30, 2008. We are thrilled to hear April enjoyed the show!

Review: Prima Princessa

I promise this is the last review this week! :)

A few weeks ago, I was asked to review a DVD called "Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake". Written and produced by two Mommies: Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow. Both women are stay-at-home moms who, "despite having no prior movie-making experience, have teamed up to produce this show. They were both inspired by their children's love of dance." You can follow these two movie making Mommies on their blog Tutu Zone.

Prima Princessa is an adorable DVD that any preschool girl will love! As I have no preschool age girls in my home anymore, I gave it to my Sister's friend April who has a preschool age little girl! Here is what April had to say about her daughter's reaction to the DVD:

First off, she seemed mesmerized by the 'real' dancers, but totally enjoyed having the narrative for the story itself. She would come clambering over to me barely able to breathe with excitement about telling me who each character was and what they were doing or what they did. She even danced a little bit when she didn't think anyone was 'watching' her. I think she most enjoyed the story for what was happening and that she was able to actually understand the characterization.

"Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake" features the Paris Opera Ballet and Students from The New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. In the DVD, a little ballet fairy takes a group of preschool ballerinas to see the Paris Opera Ballet perform segments of "Swan Lake". At the same time, your little ballerina can learn some ballet movements and what "Swan Lake" is all about!

This DVD would make a great gift for your little preschool ballerina! Released in January of 2008, Prima Princessa is now available in specialty stores nationwide and on Amazon.com, It retails for $19.99. With Christmas right around the corner, this is a wonderful gift idea for the wee ballerina in your life!

**UPDATE!!**

I just got an email from the producers of Prima Princessa and they are featuring a Holiday Giveaway on their website! Check it out! What a terrific way to add a little "specialness" to your little one's Christmas!

Cool Baby Kid Review

Cool Baby Kidis a must for all those cool little babies out there! We are thrilled to have our DVD reviewedon this fun site! -Prima Princessa Productions

Here's their review:

Prima Princessa DVD

Having fond memories of my own years as a "ballerina," I couldn't wait to get my own little girl in a tutu. Coincidentally, the same week that the Prima Princessa DVD arrived, my daughter received a tutu as a gift from a family member, and so naturally we put both on together to prepare for her first ballet lesson. Created by two moms and combining the Paris Opera Ballet and Students from School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, the Prima Princessa DVD is a must for any ballerina in training. My daughter's favorite part was watching the little girls pirouette, and mine was watching her attempt to do the same. In a few weeks when we start the Mommy & Me ballet class my daughter and I will both be the Prima Ballerinas of the ball after practicing up with Prima Princessa!

Cool Tip: Purchase Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake at Amazon.com and put on your tutus!

Prima Princessa DVD and Fairy Princess Dress Up Set Holiday 2008 Giveaway Contest!

Contest runs until December 5, 2008.

To win the Prima Princessa Holiday 2008 Giveaway Contest, leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address up until December 5, 2008.

 

 

 

 

Just in time for the holidays, Prima Princessa Productions is offering an amazing giveaway of not just our children's ballet DVD, Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, but we are also including an adorable dress up set, perfect for a little Swan Lake princess!  This set includes beautiful white and silver sparkle wings, an elegant white feather & faux pearl tiara, an adorable white tutu, plus a super soft stuffed animal swan. And of course our DVD Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake. These items are appropriate for kids ages 3 and over. (Check out my daughter below sporting the tutu and tiara. Dog not included!) This is a $75 value!

 

Many of you are familiar with our show, but for those of you who are not, Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lakeis a 40-minute DVD for children 3-7, with an animated fairy ballerina who magically transports a group of little girls to see the world famous Paris Opera Ballet perform Swan Lake. The show is cleverly abbreviated for kids and narrated beautifully by an adorable cartoon ballerina. Between acts, the children return home to learn simple ballet steps which are playfully shown mixed into colorful montages of toys, animals, children and young dancers from the School of American Ballet, the official academy of the New York City Ballet.

The producers Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller are both stay-at-home moms who despite no prior movie-making experience teamed up to produce this show. They were both inspired by their children's love of dance to create this show.

“As moms we know what kids want, and we know what kids need. Children are inherently smart and creative, and they love to move. Our show has not been dummied down like a lot of other kids’ shows out there,” says Mary Kate. “No couch ballerinas here. Our goal is to inspire kids to get up and dance and have tons of fun to boot!” explains Stephanie.

 

Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lakeis consistently ranked the #1 children’s ballet DVD on Amazon.com. Prima Princessa is in more than 60 stores nationwide and has just been released in Japan by Creative-Core-JP (Columbia Music Entertainment). For more information please visit our website at www.PrimaPricessa.com.

 

*We are releasing the DVD this Holiday season with a new cover which may not be available in time for this contest. Winner will then receive DVD with original cover.

 

Contest Rules:

 

1) Post a comment about this post up unitl December 5, 2008. Make sure to leave your email address when you post your comment and we'll contact you if you win. Your address will not be used for anything else.

2) Winners are posted on a separate post on Tutuzone. It's up to you to check back here to see if you have an unclaimed prize.

3) All winnings must be claimed within one week of the posted end of the giveaway, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

 

4) One winner will be selected at random.

 

5) Winner must be from USA or Canada only.

 

Contest to appear on Prizey.

Momma In Flip Flops2

 

We are so excited to be featured on Momma In Flip Flops2 along side so many other great finds. Thanks Andrea for the great review! -Prima Princessa Productions

Here it is:

"Do your children love to dance? I know both of my children are dancing fools and were thrilled to view the Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake DVD. We had leaping, dancing and lots of entertainment while viewing this DVD and enjoyed every bit of it.

The Prima Princessa DVD gave me the feel of the baby Einstein DVD's (but not for infant) but geared towards ballet dancing, which is exceptional for your little princess and prince. I was afraid this would be geared only towards girls, but there are male ballet dancers and my son enjoyed watching them and learning the different moves and listening to the story of Swan Lake. I do think it's more for girls with all the little girls in it, but definitely not just for girls. Your little dancer will love the little girls dressed in their tutu's dancing around and want to be just like them........"

 

Parenting Community

Check out 3 Ps In A Pod's review of "Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake" posted on Wellspere site!

The Insider

Check out The Insider for Celebrity Baby's review of "Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake"!

When I Come Up For Air

Check out our new review on one of our favorite blogs, "When I Come Up For Air".

A few weeks ago, I was asked to review a DVD called "Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake". Written and produced by two Mommies: Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow. Both women are stay-at-home moms who, "despite having no prior movie-making experience, have teamed up to produce this show. They were both inspired by their children's love of dance." You can follow these two movie making Mommies on their blog Tutu Zone.

Prima Princessa is an adorable DVD that any preschool girl will love! As I have no preschool age girls in my home anymore, I gave it to my Sister's friend April who has a preschool age little girl! Here is what April had to say about her daughter's reaction to the DVD:

First off, she seemed mesmerized by the 'real' dancers, but totally enjoyed having the narrative for the story itself. She would come clambering over to me barely able to breathe with excitement about telling me who each character was and what they were doing or what they did. She even danced a little bit when she didn't think anyone was 'watching' her. I think she most enjoyed the story for what was happening and that she was able to actually understand the characterization.

"Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake" features the Paris Opera Ballet and Students from The New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. In the DVD, a little ballet fairy takes a group of preschool ballerinas to see the Paris Opera Ballet perform segments of "Swan Lake". At the same time, your little ballerina can learn some ballet movements and what "Swan Lake" is all about!

This DVD would make a great gift for your little preschool ballerina! Released in January of 2008, Prima Princessa is now available in specialty stores nationwide and on Amazon.com, It retails for $19.99. With Christmas right around the corner, this is a wonderful gift idea for the wee ballerina in your life!

Kids Love Ballet

 

Our first Spanish review straight from Columbia! Gracias to "Kids Love Ballet"! -Prima Princessa Productions

"Mary Kate Mellow y Stephanie Troeller son dos madres que viven en Montclair, NJ. Ambas inspiradas por sus hijas que adoran el ballet, realizaron un lindo video llamado "Prima Princessa".

"Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake" es un divertido ballet para niños y niñas en el que Prima Princessa, una linda hada bailarina animada; transporta mágicamente a un grupo de niñas a ver un fragmento del "Lago de los cisnes", realizado por el Ballet de la Opera de París. En los intermedios, las niñas regresan a casa para aprender simples pasos de ballet, los cuales se recrean en ambientes coloridos, con animales, niños y jóvenes bailarines de la Escuela de Ballet Americano. Es el regalo perfecto para los más pequeños, que se están inciando en el ballet.

Si deseas conocer un poco más sobre este video, puedes visitar su página oficial, allí encontrarás cortos del dvd y páginas de Prima Princessa para colorear!!

También puedes visitar el blogde estas amorosas mamás."

Momelettes

Momelettes is a great website for fabulous techie tips! We could all use a little help.

Thanks to Momelettes not only for writing a review of our DVD, but for showing such an interest in how went about creating "Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake." If you are interested in our journey check out the review below. -Prima Pricessa Productions

The review:

All tech talk/organization aside, if there’s one OTHER thing I relish, it’s hearing stories of success. Such is the case when I got a copy of a DVD in my hands called “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake”.

The DVD is charming, and without even watching a single frame, the mere thought of nostalgia from my childhood days of tutu’s and my parents meeting their six-year old daughter backstage at dance recitals with flowers made me misty-eyed just thinking about it.

The 40-minute DVD starts with an introduction from the animated cartoon fairy, Prima Princessa. She then takes a gaggle of tutu-clad preschoolers through several acts of Swan Lake (performed by the Paris Opera Ballet), narrating the storyline while the dancers perform. Who knew Swan Lake had a more dizzying storyline than Desperate Housewives?

In between acts is the fun part, where obviously talented young students from the School of American Ballet teach basic ballet moves for the kids to try at home while they are watching.

Zoe, my 14-month old loved it, and still continues to love it. As enthralled as a 14-month old can be with a movie, she watched the DVD, pointed at the fairy, and danced. Let me tell you, there is nothing cuter than watching your 14-month old dancing along with Swan Lake on the TV screen!

(Well, I do have something cuter. Sending my husband a text message asking “What’s up?” and getting back as a reply “we are now watching Swan Lake at Zoe’s request”. There’s just something really lovable about a visual of my husband sitting on the couch watching ballet with his daughter. )

Wanting to give the DVD a thorough test, I gave it to my neighbor to see if her 3 and 4 year old daughters liked it. I got it back a few days later with reports of plenty of repeat viewings!

What really struck me about this video, though, was not how much Zoe liked it. What got to me was that here was two women, like me, who had their hands full with kids and a busy life – yet they still had time to work together to visualize, create, produce, and SELL a children’s DVD. And here I am complaining that it’s hard to find time to sit down and reply to a few emails. Yes, ladies, THAT is what struck me.

I had to write to the creators, Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller (http://www.primaprincessa.com) to find out the motive and the technicalities of their success.

Taking over one year to complete, Stephanie took her very convenient background as a ballet dancer and a cartoonist (talk about the right skills for the job!), and Mary Kate used her wits as a previously successful small business entrepreneur selling her own jewelry to Neiman Marcus, among others.

Among my curiousness of the creation process, the big question I had asked Mary Kate was how they had gotten the ballet footage. I mean, where you do even start?? Mary Kate was very quick to respond that in addition to about four-months’ work on a comprehensive business plan, they spent many hours researching via Internet and telephone. Apparently, the answer is painfully simple – you need to spend the time it takes to do some clever Google searching, and then you pick up the phone.

My next question was, when did they find the time? It took many dedicated babysitters, and many late nights after the kids were asleep.

If you are of an entrepreneurial spirit, remember that Mary Kate and Stephanie started with a need – there were no decent ballet movies for children. The other strength they had was a partnership. One of the problems I had was that I tried to be an entrepreneur by myself, while Mary Kate and Stephanie have proven that teamwork and positive energy pays off - and they have the Princess to prove it!

My hats are off to Mary Kate and Stephanie. They have proven that no matter who you are, or what you do, if you are willing to work hard, you can dream, envision, and create a product for others to enjoy.

If you want to find out more, you can visit their press page at http://www.primaprincessa.com/press.html.