In praise of dancing

Some of the most popular machines in video arcades are the dance party games. In these, dancers stand on a foot pad and follow cues on the screen to perform the latest moves to current hits. The problem is that some of these rap and hip hop songs contain lyrics that may not be appropriate for all children.

Digital Praise, Fremont, Calif., offers one solution with Dance Praise ($49.95), a PC game that turns your computer into a dance arcade game. With a dance pad that connects to a USB port, Dance Praise contains over 50 top Christian hits from today's most popular artists.

The music provides for energetic dancing with uplifting messages that reinforce values such as love, goodness, and forgiveness. It has four key modes of play: Dance, the basic game with scores for the performance; Arcade offers scoring plus onscreen challenges; Exercise, for a cardiovascular workout that calculates calories burned and shows animated food items flying away; and Shadow Dance, where one dancer choreographs moves for another to copy. All four modes can be played at three levels of speed and complexity. There also is a Tune Into You feature that automatically will match the level to the dancer's individual pace.

Two expansion packs are available that add 35 new songs each to the Dance Praise library. Volume 1 adds Modern Worship songs and Volume 2 has Hip-Hop and Rap.

For more information, visit www.digital-praise.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning