Riverdance - Live from Geneva

Rating:
Summary: I liked Live Geneva Riverdance
Review: I just bought this Riverdance, and also have the older version shot in Radio City Music Hall. I like this one better. It is longer, for starters; about two hours. It shows close-ups of the dancers feet, which I liked. I was wishing the girls were wearing something besides black tights and dark skirts against a dark background, so I could see their legs better. But, the dancing was very good. The orchestra, with an assortment of instruments, was quite appealing. The violinist dancing around while she was playing was nice, too.

In Michael Flatley's DVDs the costumes are much more colorful. I would have preferred more of that. Bright colors are nice. I never could understand the storyline, if there is one. It includes the Irish dancing, which is why I wanted to buy the DVD. But it includes black tap dancers, which you can see all the time on television. The story includes traveling to other countries, other shores. Why, I do not know. It seemed forced. I would have preferred more Irish dancing. If they needed variety, they could have included some Scottish Highland Flings, or sword dancers, instead.

I only buy DVDs that I intend to watch more than once. This certainly is one of them. I do plan to go back and back to it, watching it over and over.

Rating:
Summary: I almost cried!!!
Review: I own the one shot in Radio City and I love it, the kids that I baby-sit throw it in the vcr and dance away with it. It is an amazing show. I recently bought this version and it's atrocious!!! Everything is in red, the dancing is sloppy,the extra scenes are not worth having, and there's fog. This show used to be "classy" I guess you could say, and that was what set it apart from showier shows like the one (because they are all the same with a few added numbers and new costumes)Micheal Flatley runs. Like the other viewer said...Moya Dougherty said that there was a fine line that they couldn't cross, and it has definately been crossed. If you like Michael Flatley's show then you'll like this, maybe. If you liked the other Riverdance...save your money.

Rating:
Summary: New is not always better
Review: I would not recommend this version if you have not seen Riverdance before. Some of the scenes are ruined because of the almighty closeup. A good portion of the show is watching the dancers torso, not complete dancer, with feet moving. All you watch is their smiling face bobbing up and down. This version is also much slower then others I have seen; many slow songs and watching people playing musical instruments. I would only get this if you are collecting the different Riverdance shows. Buy Michael Flately's version if you are new to Riverdance. Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames great.

Rating:
Summary: I expected to see Michael Flatley dance.
Review: If I had seen this version of Riverdance before seeing the one starring Michael Flatley, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it. I was so disappointed that I gave this one away. I ordered "Lord of the Dance," then "Feet of Flames" and finally "Gold." They are phenomenal. If you like this DVD, You'll love Flatley's work.
I recommend buying the Collection. Be sure to watch them in this order so you can appreciate the production innovations. "Gold" features an interview with the artist that is awesome and inspiring.

Rating:
Summary: How Did This Happen to RIVERDANCE?
Review: If you have followed RIVERDANCE seriously, this version will make you remember Moya Doherty's warning in A JOURNEY about crossing the line. What with the blinding entrance backlights, smoke machines, swaying hips, headset mics and the ugliest costumes this side of Vegas - the line is barely to be found in this tired, truncated incarnation.
You should own it, however, for the inspired performance of the splendid Breandan de Gallai and for the American tap dancers.

Rating:
Summary: How Did This Happen to RIVERDANCE?
Review: If you have followed RIVERDANCE seriously, this version will make you remember Moya Doherty's warning in A JOURNEY about crossing the line. What with the blinding entrance backlights, smoke machines, swaying hips, headset mics and the ugliest costumes this side of Vegas - the line is barely to be found in this tired, truncated incarnation.
You should own it, however, for the inspired performance of the splendid Breandan de Gallai and for the American tap dancers.

Rating:
Summary: Great Show
Review: This version, published by the Detroit PBS station version is a recording from the show in Geneva. It's a very similar show to the New York City version, though the minor changes are still just as enjoyable, if not more so.

The video is much sharper focused and the camera work flows better than the New York show. This show is sharper than the Superbit version of the NYC show too. The production didn't seem to be as high a quality as before but it does work fine.

In much the same way that this let down the NYC show, the camera crew neglected to realize that they cut off the dancers feet a little too often, which in this show was very important.

The Audio is STEREO only, but very clear and quite acceptable.

Although I'm happy that this version didn't need me to flip the DVD over for the second half of the show, it did have a noticable transition to the second layer of the DVD between scenes in the second half of the show. Why this transition didn't happen during the black screen at the half way mark is particularly shortsighted.

Overall very enjoyable and worthy of an addition to Riverdance fans DVD libraries.

Rating:
Summary: I Might Get Kicked Out Of The RD Nuts Of The World Club...
Review: What are they thinking? Who changed the number that originally featured Davey Spillane playing the pipes? Why on Earth would anyone want to take one of the most soul-hauntingly lovely pieces of Sacred Musick ever written amd make subtle alterations to it?

And the sound quality of the tape leaves a lot to be desired! As always, the performers are AWESOME! And I've gotten over the trauma of knowing that I'll never get to see Michael and Jean live! Just kidding about the trauma part, however the RD of my dreams DEFINIETELY has those two in the lead roles!

But come on, a Lugh with black hair! The best Lugh I've actually seen live was Patrick Roddy. The best Brigit I've seen live is Eileen Martin.

The last time I saw RD live was about a year ago, and this was the version that I saw and it kind of made me think that RD was trying to go Hollywood!

However, there were a few good things about the changes. The narration about how it's all a journey from one lifetime to the next and the inclusion of the Shivna number! It's quite good!

I wouldn't realy advise buying this tape unless you are a RD nut like I am and buy anything about RD that you can get your hands on!