Customer Reviews

Rhythm & Shoes - The Irish Way [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I received this video, I thought that I would be getting another Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, but was surprised to see it was all traditional. As an Irish Dancer myself, I would definetly recommend this video to anyone who is interested in Irish dance and would like to learn more about the traditional form of it.

Good news, Bad news, and Recommendations: 1.) Good news - cute kids, beautiful costumes, effective overhead and flanking camera shots, great job by the performers, who range from the very young and angelic to older and expert. On the whole, probably a better view of the stage action than if you had had a seat in the audience at the event. 2.) Bad news - It looks to be about 10 minutes worth at first glance, but it doesn't take much tape to do 38 minutes in EP. The music is competent but pretty homey (accordian and/or piano predominate most of the time), so don't expect The Chieftains, but maybe the simplicity of the music lets you concentrate on the performing kids a bit more, anyway. 3.) Recommendations - Don't record on EP like cheap home movies next time, please, and it would have been really great to have had a few minutes of back-stage chat with the kids on why they do this and what they think about it, and to get a better look at their clean, beautiful faces and truly artful Celtic style costumes while they are not hopping up and down for a moment. (Tapadh leibh, a chloinne! Thugainn a rithist sibh fhathast, ma's e ur toil e!)

I bought the VHS version, so I can't vouch for the DVD quality. It's such a shame tha such a masterful program was so poorly recorded. The sound is dull and distant. The beautiful costumes are half-hidden in the darkness. Some kids are more or less visible, but the ones in the farther rows fade away. Also, I would have liked to see more intricate choreography, more sets.

This video makes you want to become an Irish dancer. I recommend it to anyone who is an Irish dancer or who likes Irish dancing!