Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of fun from a great dancer but hard to follow uptempo, 2 Nov 2000
By A Customer
Colin Dunne is a fantastic dancer and he goes over the dance steps at a good pace. The videotape is good for the Irish dancer with a little experience under their belt, however, when Colin does the steps up to speed, the uninitiated will find it hard to follow. The dance steps will help those studying Irish dance expand their repetoire with some more basic steps. For those looking for a basic step-by-step tape, they would be better to invest in something like Olive Hurley's tapes.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great for Irish Dancers with some experience, 22 Feb 2001
By A Customer
Colin a very talented dancer in conjunction with the Celtic Feet Dance Troup have created a wonderful video. This video teaches three routines, and completes them with a demonstration by the Celtic Feet dancers. The first "reel" is fairly easy to learn but the second and third dance may require prior experience in Irish Step Dancing to grasp the techniques in time.Although with a bit of rewinding you'll have a lot of fun!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, 12 April 2006
In this video, Colin Dunne and the Celtic Feet Dance Company show you how to perform several soft and hard-shoe dances. The introduction is a short talk by Colin Dunne about his dancing life, and begins with Colin dancing a solo called "Celtic Jazz." This is followed by over half an hour of teaching steps and performances by the company.
Look and Production:
Although this isn't the most important thing about the video, I feel it does have to be mentioned first. The video was made in 1995, over ten years ago now, and it shows! It doesn't particularly detract from the video, but the video quality of the time wasn't amazing, and it's amusing to see the hairstyles that some people sported! However something that I feel does detract from the quality is that it was performed in front of a non-participating audience. More on that later.
Teaching Quality:
I agree with previous reviewers: it is useful to have some experience of Irish dance. Why? Because Colin goes through the steps very quickly. The format is usually: Colin tells you about the dance, he demonstrates the steps once slowly, the dancers join in, and then it's set to the music. From the promotion for this video I also assumed that it was going to contain more advanced steps than it actually does. The problem with needing to have experience is that by the time you have some, the steps will be too simple for you (for example, I've been dancing for three years now, and I have moved way beyond the steps shown). I am sure that maybe in a workshop circumstance, Colin Dunne would make a very good teacher, but because it is set in front of this non-participating audience, it is more like a show for them, so going over the steps slowly would bore them (this is why I feel that the audience element detracts from the quality).
Overall Impression:
Two stars out of five. The dances that you get to see the company performing are the most exciting bit, although they are simple. The music the dances are set to is nice, and quite traditional. You do have to consider the time that this was made. 1995 - Michael Flatley was setting up his own show, and although Colin Dunne was the new Riverdance lead, he wasn't as popular as the charismatic Mr Flatley. This video is less instructional, and more a vehicle for Dunne to present himself as a star in his own right, to show his personality (he does seem like a very nice chap), and as a reaction to the Irish dance fever that was sweeping the world, to "feed the craze," perhaps. However, I am glad I bought it, as it adds to my Irish collection, and I can almost understand the idea of having the audience there, to give the "big star doing a private show" kind of thing.
Other suggestions:
For the complete beginner: the video's pace is too fast for those who don't know the basics, try Olive Hurley's videos for good solid instruction.
For the advanced dancer: this video will be too simple for you; Jean Butler's Irish Dance Masterclass is a must-have.
For the Colin Dunne fan and Irish Dance Paraphernalia Collector: buy this video!
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