AMERICA DANCES! 1897-1948: A Collector's Edition of Social Dance in Film

Rating:
Summary: Only for dance history buffs
Review: If you're a dance history buff, you might enjoy this, but be warned--the material appears to be mostly fuzzy public domain film clips, nothing from familiar films. "Social Dance IN Film" suggests that it has film clips--it should be "Social Dance ON Film." Also, most if not all of the music is just a badly-synchronized piano--even films from the sound era are accompanied by this piano. (Couldn't they keep the original tracks? ...or are music rights preventing their use?) The audio is really pathetic. If you are only interested in the movement of dance, then you might like it.

Rating:
Summary: Throwing pearls before geeks
Review: This DVD presents and incomparable collection of historic dance clips. But whoever is behind Dancetime Publications hasn't got a clue about handling historical material. They ripped out the original soundtracks and replaced them with a ragtime piano track that has nothing to do with either the rhythm of the dancers or the music of the periods. Get this DVD --- because I know of no other source to see these dance clips --- but be prepared to turn the sound off, and wonder how anyone could have blown it this bad in their concept of historical preservation.