Lord of the Dance

Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Dance: Performance=4, film-making=0.
Review: What a disappointment! There's fantastic talent and effort here, but it is thoroughly painful to watch, due to the film-making.
The constant, rapid shifting of camera angles, including up through the glass floor, combined with the switches to slow-motion video, make the effort to enjoy the tempo and flow of the show effectively impossible. Further, the VHS version alternated between poor lighting and oversaturation of color. Too bad. The performance is high-energy and creative, although without the "heart" of Riverdance. It's a fair-to-poor 90-minute encouragement to see the stage show, if it is ever performed again. That's about it.

Rating:
Summary: Exhilarating
Review: An incredible performance--Flatley is simply phenomenal. The soprano made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I think Irish dancing is the ultimate when it comes to the expression of health and sexual power. The women look incredible. Forget the vulgarity of jazz dance or hip hop granstanding--this is not to be missed. Although I like their playing, I don't care much for the ladies on violin stomping around in 'hoe-down fashion,' or the vaguely hippie-ish, Eastern hand gestures of the Temptress, but these are minor complaints. This is what it purports to be--an expansion, an improvement, an evolution of the finer aspects of Riverdance. Flatley made the right move. The crowd is so loud and enthusiastic, you'd think it was a Beatles flashback! A whole lot of fun, and very impressive, theatrically--filmed on tour in Dublin.

Rating:
Summary: Flatley - A pioneer performer
Review: Lord of the Dance is Flatley's baby. He has done for Celtic folk dancing what John Curry did for ice dancing; changed it into something bigger, better and more creative -- truly a new dance-creature. Just as Curry's ice dancing morphed into ice ballet in his genius hands, the ordinarily subdued Celtic dance has morphed into Irish Precision dancing under Flatley's creative genius. With lovely costuming, creative but understated arm movements and a jazzy touch of show biz, not a bad thing in every case, this is a treat for the eyes, ears and soul. Purists may prefer the less flashy, more reserved performances, and there is something to be said for that. But if you enjoy heart-racing passionate soaring dance and can appreciate the monumental precision training and athletic excellence involved in putting together just one dance, let alone several, you will truly enjoy this creative display of a brand new art form. With the exception of the oddball Druidic walk-ons by candle-bearing attendants, it was a cohesively dazzling performance. Say what you will about Michael Flatley's towering ego, he is nonetheless a creative genius. I could have done with fewer dizzying camera-shifts, no doubt a by-product of overzealous camera men who seem to have the notion that viewers have short attention spans. There were fewer such camera-shifts than in the motion-sick "Feet of Flame" but still far too many. All things considered, it is Flatley's best of the newer genre of Irish/Celtic folk dance.

Rating:
Summary: Lord of the Egotists
Review: As a fan of Riverdance, I was excited to get "Lord of the Dance" which I had heard many good things about. But, my gosh, what a disappointment!

My first thought was, "Weird."

The costumes, the songs, everything about it was just plain strange. And then in swaggers Michael Flatley--Lord of the dance, the hero, with feet of flames! Humbug. He'd better watch out, he might burn himself.

And then I watched Riverdance again. I began to notice just how big his ego was, even then. Now, after seeing it several times, I can't stand it! He strikes the most ridiculous poses, in Riverdance, AND in Lord of the Dance. It's simply nauseating.
Michael Flatley may be just about the greatest dancer, but he knows it. That's the whole problem.

So, if you're a fan of Riverdance, don't think that because you love that, you're going to love this. "Lord of the Dance" is a waste of time and money.

Rating:
Summary: Pure energy
Review: "If I would have told you the biggest selling show in world is an Irish dance show, you would have laughed. But we're here." (Michael Flatley) Shattering selling records in Australia, Britain, and the US, Michael Flatley and his show have shown the world that the underdogs can become superstars. Lord of the Dance tells a story of good vs. evil through Irish dance. The evil Don Dorcha (Daire Nolan)is seeking to abolish love, beauty, and all that that is good, and to set himself up as Lord of the Dance. The celts then cry to the true Lord of the Dance (Michael Flatley) who ultmately defeats Don Dorcha.

Michael and his entire troupe are superb, performing everything with precision, ease, and grace. Filmed from multiple angles, the movie provides the viewer with many perspectives impossible to see from the audience. This allows one to get a much better grasp of certain formations. The DVD also contains a fantastic 'behind the scenes' bonus feature which by itself makes the DVD well worth getting. I have watched it numerous times, and it just gets better. There are so many little details that add up to produce the greatest show in the world, led by the greatest dancer in world: Michael Flatley. This is his legacy.

Rating:
Summary: Flying Feet
Review: Michael Flatley leaves his original "home" with the Riverdance Troupe to deliver what is in essence a ballet-drama in this performance video. Although the story he tries to tell seems a bit murky at times, the dancing makes up for it. Definitely a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, BUT IT'S NO RIVERDANCE!!!
Review: First, I need to mention that I'm a Pagan and this review will relate to that.

I'd never been able to figure out WHY the one time I saw the Lord Of The Dance(the original one)on PBS I didn't really like it that much. I described as a "cheap imitation of Riverdance."

Since Lughnassadh was last week and I took Lugh(aka Lord Of The Dance)as my Patron Deity,I decided to give LOTD another try. I rented it from the library and have just finished watching it. Here's my analysis:
1. It's MORE overtly Pagan than RD
2. It has a storyline that is easier to follow
3. The Triple Goddess is quite easy to recognize, The Maiden, being represented by the Young Girl who plays the Irish Whistle SO ENCHANTINGLY, The Mother, being represented by the female lead, The Crone, being represented by the Womon who dresses in green and has glorious red hair and sings sweetly and mournfully to us
4. Michael Flately makes a PERFECT Lugh, flamboyant, as a God of Fire/Sun(another one of His names is The Shining One)should be. Protector of the weak, when he defends The Maid Of The Woodlands. It doesn't get any better than that
5. The dancing is INCREDIBLE
6. The stage set is great
7. The lighting isn't QUITE as good as Riverdance

BUT...
And it's a big but! IT'S STILL NOT AS WONDERFUL AS RIVERDANCE. And the reason why it's not as wonderful it the SOUL-HAUNTINGLY LOVELY MUSIC OF RD. Now if Michael Flately could manage to get Bill Whelan to compose the music...it stands a good chance of perhaps being even better than Riverdance.

But I believe that BOTH tapes belong in people's collections. If you like RD, you'll probably like LOTD as well.

Rating:
Summary: You'll get hooked- trust me!
Review: This is the original. Once you SEE this, you just can't wait till you buy more. You'll be amazed. You'll want to see them preform. The girl in the RED DRESS will make the guys drool. Michael Flatley is trully the best out there.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Unwatchable
Review: This video is a punishment for not seeing the show live. There are so many ridiculous cuts and changes in camera angle and points of view (even through glass underneath, which is a waste) that the best anyone can say about this show is that they ARE dancing, and very spectacularly, too, but you cannot actually SEE the dancing itself; you cannot follow the rhythms and the patterns. The shots from underneath, which last only a few seconds each time, are a frustration because there is no time to really see what is happening, so that comes across as a gimmick. If the constantly jumping camera weren't problem enough, there is also a problem of a very dark stage and too many moving, jumping, beams of light and strobes. About a third of the way in, I got exhausted by this unwatchable mess and just shut the whole thing off. The music sounded wonderful, though, so maybe I'll just consider this video to be an audio tape. I'm sure the show itself must have been fantastic to see, but as far as this video is concerned, Riverdance it very definitely is not.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth your money...
Review: I gave this horror one star because the program doesn't have zero stars. Please, don't get me wrong. Michael Flatley is the best in the world and is a joy to watch, his dancers are brilliant performers and it should have been a great experience to watch them. However, the lighting was so dim, it made almost impossible to enjoy the scenery. The editing was unbearable, no image lasting more than two seconds on the creen. Long shot, closeup, feet, medium shot, repeat at random in the midst of darkness. Impossible to watch without a terrible headache. And are we so stupid that we can't use the slow motion button on our VCR's? That's probably why sometimes the... editors provided us with slow motion effects. I used a lot the fast forward button, though. Too bad, because it's a great dance company which deserves respect and admiration not only from the public but also from the editors. I wender from which cave have crawled those imbeciles. If you still want to buy this tape, I hope you will enjoy a few seconds of great dancing. I didn't.