As I 'm well aware the famed show/performance Riverdance has received great international praise for bringing Irish dancing to the masses of the worlds population. For the most part I my self think Riverdance is a great thing regardless of its fame and notoriety because It truly gives a taste and visual representation to what has been performed for hundreds of years in Ireland.
The Irish dance is usually put into categories of céilí/set and stepdance. Céilí dances being a more social dance in groups or couples, very typical at social gatherings such as festivals or even friendly nights at the pub, less technical and along the lines of a square dance. Stepdancing is more along the lines of the competition circuit though still practiced in non-competitive manner. Riverdance the show encapsulates both of these styles of dance which I believe gives a fairly well rounded view of the Irish dancing. Along with the dancing there must be music and all in all I think Riverdance music is quite exceptional in the Celtic sense, sure enough there are different types of Irish music ranging from the more theatrical sounds of Riverdance, all the way to the Chieftains, Dubliners, and then the songs of the Clancy Brothers.
Anyways It's seems as though some people hate on Riverdance for its success, simply because of it being so renowned and widespread that In their eyes it must be faulty and subjective to the masses and changed from its original roots. This seems the case because ones have stated that Celtic/Irish music or dancing is not bad but Riverdance is. I suppose it is judging what one does not know but I surely know I have been guilty of that in the past. Either way, I suppose people just really don't understand the greatness of Irish stepdancing. It's technicality and rigid movement, you will see dances from around the world that are running and moving all of the place, doing impressive movements with their bodies. But with Irish stepdancing it is all about structure and posture. Standing up straight and tall, hands down your sides, with only your feet moving like lightning holding your chin high and proud in the air. The greats have said that you should be able to dance on the surface around of a dinner plate, further proving how controlled and technical the footwork must be.
I suppose the argument for such things like Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance because it's less strict to the principal rules of the dance being the posture and foot work rather than ballet. Though there has been some comparisons to Riverdance that do not fit the part. For instance, comparing Riverdance to musicals such as Rent or Cabaret which I just think is totally ridiculous and unfounded for in those musicals and others there is a specific story line and dialogs between main characters. As for with Riverdance yes there is a mild story line but there is no dialog between any of the performers nor are their and specific characters, there are no names....all there is, is music, dancing, and mild plot of the Irish emigrating to America. So on those facts alone I would not consider Riverdance to be a musical on the same comparison to the greats like Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Or Oklahoma.
Here is an image that I found surfing the web one day, a nice little take off on the popular iPod advertisements, I thought it was cute.
The Irish dance is usually put into categories of céilí/set and stepdance. Céilí dances being a more social dance in groups or couples, very typical at social gatherings such as festivals or even friendly nights at the pub, less technical and along the lines of a square dance. Stepdancing is more along the lines of the competition circuit though still practiced in non-competitive manner. Riverdance the show encapsulates both of these styles of dance which I believe gives a fairly well rounded view of the Irish dancing. Along with the dancing there must be music and all in all I think Riverdance music is quite exceptional in the Celtic sense, sure enough there are different types of Irish music ranging from the more theatrical sounds of Riverdance, all the way to the Chieftains, Dubliners, and then the songs of the Clancy Brothers.
Anyways It's seems as though some people hate on Riverdance for its success, simply because of it being so renowned and widespread that In their eyes it must be faulty and subjective to the masses and changed from its original roots. This seems the case because ones have stated that Celtic/Irish music or dancing is not bad but Riverdance is. I suppose it is judging what one does not know but I surely know I have been guilty of that in the past. Either way, I suppose people just really don't understand the greatness of Irish stepdancing. It's technicality and rigid movement, you will see dances from around the world that are running and moving all of the place, doing impressive movements with their bodies. But with Irish stepdancing it is all about structure and posture. Standing up straight and tall, hands down your sides, with only your feet moving like lightning holding your chin high and proud in the air. The greats have said that you should be able to dance on the surface around of a dinner plate, further proving how controlled and technical the footwork must be.
I suppose the argument for such things like Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance because it's less strict to the principal rules of the dance being the posture and foot work rather than ballet. Though there has been some comparisons to Riverdance that do not fit the part. For instance, comparing Riverdance to musicals such as Rent or Cabaret which I just think is totally ridiculous and unfounded for in those musicals and others there is a specific story line and dialogs between main characters. As for with Riverdance yes there is a mild story line but there is no dialog between any of the performers nor are their and specific characters, there are no names....all there is, is music, dancing, and mild plot of the Irish emigrating to America. So on those facts alone I would not consider Riverdance to be a musical on the same comparison to the greats like Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Or Oklahoma.
Here is an image that I found surfing the web one day, a nice little take off on the popular iPod advertisements, I thought it was cute.
Some people think this program isn't so great in the regards of much larger name artists; such as Bono of U2. Even though he is well known for his charity much like the rest of the Irish community, some still think it's going a bit too far for him to not pay taxes on his millions.
