Customer Reviews
Amazing - By: L. Lambourne, 08 Jun 2008 
I was so excited when I saw a new show with my two favourite Irish dancers, Jean Butler & Colin Dunne. This is a big difference from Riverdance, but my goodness it is amazing. They have certainly put their own spin on things, but Colin Dunne is incredible as ever, I could watch him dance alll day & Jean Butler is graceful. Tells the story well & is definately worth a watch!
Mature Irish Dancing at its best - By: K. J. Walker, 26 Nov 2002 Having failed to see the show when it ran in the theatre, I was delighted to see this appear on DVD. It is a pleasure to see rather excellent Irish dancing performed as it should be, without the ludicrous glitz & blinding lights that accompanied certainly Lord of the Dance & to a lesser extent, Riverdance.
This is an Irish dance show for the more discerning & appreciative audience. The two principls are as ever, superb. Colin Dunne comes into his own on this show & Jean Butler is as ever, incomparable. Tony Kemp also plays his role effectively, glowering, dismay then resignation evident in his demeanour.
The camers work on the DVD is far better than the hopelessly frenetic cut cut cut of the other shows mentioned. There is more tracking a dancer as they move so you have some idea of the dancing involved. The music is excellent if understated & compliments the steps perfectly.
Let's face it, it was impossible to watch Lord of the Dance particularly & Riverdance (with Mr Flatley involved) without being faintly embarrassed at his gurning showboatery, pseudo boxing movements on the former & self-aggrandisement generallly. Dancing on Dangerous Ground is a proper Irish dance show, exhibiting the skill of alll of its dancers with no laser shows etc. Alas, the world was not ready for such simple pleasure & the show ended.
I recommend watching this show to anyone who appreciates quality Irish dancing, excellent music & great production. Quite apart from that, it is Irish dancing on DVD where the ubiquitous Flatley is not present. This is a boon.
Great Irish dance - By: Peter Korf, 16 Jun 2002 Dancing on Dangerous grounds.
One of my alll time favourites together with Riverdance,Lord of the Dance. Rhythm of the Dance & Gaelforce & many others.
Here you see the wonderfull work of Collin Dunne & Jean Butler.
Too bad that the show didn't make it & many of us weren't able to see the show.
Let me tell you:
It's a breathtaking performance with alll aspects of Irish Dance in it.Some very high speed dance numbers are just too good for words.
Here is where you see the talent of the dancers & ofcourse the talent of Jean & Collin.
My advise: If you haven't seen the show or don't owe a copy, it's very worthwhile getting one.
Peter
Good but flawed - By: , 02 Feb 2002 
This was a brave attempt by Dunne & Butler to move away from the spectacular style of the Flatley shows such as Riverdance, Lord of the Dance & Feet of Flames, but I think therin lies its problem. Its not very exciting. There are some excellent ideas in both storytelling & choreography, yet they are done to death (like the scene where they dance in ropes... a brilliant idea, but it lasts forever!) Flatley had a perfect sense of timing, he did enough to make you want more, yet in DODG,I often feel like you wish the number would finish so you could see what happens next. I didnt like Colin Dunne much in Riverdance, but he is much better in this, with better acting, stage prescence, & he can use his own style of dancing which didnt seem right in the Riverdance setting. Music is pretty good in places. A worthy addition to any irish dance fans collection.
Irish Dance Sensation - By: , 22 Aug 2001 Dancing on Dangerous Ground is given an excellent presentation on this DVD. It was filmed during a performance of the show at the prestigious & historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the heart of London's West End where the show premiered on 6th December 2000. The show stars Jean Butler & Colin Dunne who had previously been working in Riverdance. Jean & Colin wanted to show the world a new form of Irish dance show, they sucessfully created an exciting & dynamic piece of dance theatre. The show is based on Irish mythology - namely "The hunt for Diarmuid & Grania", there are many versions of this legend & DODG uses elements of several versions, the story & the dance are passionate & dynamic. Of course seeing a show on DVD is not the same experience as seeing it live but as it is highly unlikely that the show will be revived this DVD will be the only way that many fans will get to see the show. I was fortunate enough to see the show a couple of times in London, the DVD serves as an excellent reminder of the show. The dancing is simply brilliant, much attention has been paid to the group pieces as well as Jean & Colin's duets & solos. The show features alot of hard shoe work which is danced to perfection. The Dolby Digital sound does a good job of recreating the acoustics of the theatre & has been mixed to be played loud. I can assure you that the music & tapping from the stage were at loud volumes in the theatre for the live shows - I could feel the sound not just hear it (as a trainee theatre designer I was very impressed - this can reallly impact on the audience). The costumes are superb, I particularly like the group costume in the prologue, Jean Butler's wedding dress & the costumes of the women of the court in "The cry for war" as they demonstrate the military side of their nature preparing to hunt with the Fianna for the fugitive lovers. Sorcha McCaul's solo piece here is danced beautifully. The music is composed & played live on the upstairs part of the wonderful set by Solas - Seamus Egan & Solas are pre-eminent as champion musicians & hailed as a touchstone for a calibre of sound renowned for its brilliance & innovation. I thought Riverdance was good. Dancing on Dangerous Ground is far superior in every way imaginable.
