The Big Jig on TLC

My original idea for this post was to write out a whole synopsis of the hour-long special that aired on TLC nearly a month ago.  I realized after many attempts to sit down and actually transcribe my notes into something coherent that I simply do not have the hours in my day to do so with my teaching schedule.  The good news is I was still able to further condense my notes to give an overview of the show as well as my reactions below.  The bad news is that those dancers who are unable to watch the show due to being overseas still do not have a minute-by-minute blow of what went on.

I would like to first say that this show was very loyal to sensational TLC television.  There was lots of high drama, and I'm sure a tad bit of acting for the camera.  As far as an Irish dance documentary goes, there was nothing "new" so to say that Jig or Strictly Irish Dancing hadn't covered.  Honestly to me, they are all beginning to blur together, especially those which have been edited to show on TLC.

This show chose to focus on some new dancers: a hyperactive u10 Mid America champ Grade Wright, sisters Emily and Julia Marino, and Marina Flatley-Griffin.  And of course Julia O'Rourke who we have met before in Jig.  Grace and Marina dances under TCRG "Scary Gary" Healey, who the show played up as intimidating.  Grace is an active child who's mother Gary describes as a new parent who tries too hard.  Marina is of course trying to uphold family name, as her uncle is after all Michael Flatley himself.  Mom puts lots of pressure on her to do well.  Emily and Julia Marino are introduced in a montage of them practice at home in their garage with mom acting as dance coach for the moment.  The show really played up these sisters being rivals, even though they are in different age groups.  This was possibly misleading to non-dancers viewing the show.

The show as a whole really upped the ante for drama, adding sound effects in the editing phase.  One example that sticks in my mind is of one of the Marino sisters rolling her ankle at practice.  The editors adding that horrible crunching sound effect, as well as slowed it down and zoomed in.  This one act was also replayed four times.  I counted.  As the recipient of two grade three sprains in one year, this was cringe-worthy for me, and the injury shown was not that serious.

Another "high drama" part of the show occurred when Marina F-G was dancing her heavy round on stage at worlds.  Unfortunately, she collided with another dancer and it appeared on stage like she hurt her knee, but in reality only received a bruise from hitting the shoe of another dancer.  To me, the most annoying part was that The Big Jig spent many minutes on the collision.  I wish that less time was spent on the issue.  Yes it happened, move on, she still recalls and still places 14th overall.

Of all the little clips in the show, I was most impressed with the was the girls handled themselves at the awards ceremonies.  Specifically with the way Grace handled the computer glitch in the placements that resulted in her placing 14th instead of 9th.  To quote, "I was sad, then I Gracified it, and it was better."  Julia Marino also receives a lower placement than what she was expecting, and after a close up of her dramatic single tear at the results announcements, she states that, "I don't want to me the brat that cries."  Her mom is still proud, and believes that is what makes champions.  Julia O'R was happy that she was the top placing American in her group (4th), and said that, "If you've danced your best, you've already won."

Many clips of the show can be watched by following the links below to the TLC website:
Opening montage
Emily and Julia Marino
Marina Flatley-Griffin
Bumping into competitors

What were your thought on the show?  Did you think TLC remained true to the Irish dance world?

Goals: Stamina practices

Days till Os: 37

Strictly Irish Dancing on TLC

Strictly Irish Dancing premiered on American TV this evening at 10 EST (and now, midnight, if you missed it).  Like Jig (which aired on TLC in Janurary), I had seen this show before.  Shortly after this two-part documentary aired on TV3 in Ireland, some kind soul posted it in seven parts on Youtube so the diaspora of Irish dancers could see what the buzz was about.  Again, like Jig, I wanted to watch it on TLC to see how they edited it to fit in an hour, and what parts of the documentary they chose to focus on, and what was deemed as not important.  And also again, if you're looking for up to the minute account of the show, check out On My Toes!

The good things: 

• TLC chose to focus on the stories of four dancers: Catie Foley and Jessica Hindley, Jack Quinn, and Claire Greaney.  By whittling the show down from it's original length, TLC was able to focus on more of the drama and the back story of the dancers for maximum TLC drama.  The show did leave out explaining all the technical aspects of dance and the historical context which is honestly probably only interesting to those involved in Irish dance.
• The editors did a good job of explaining the way competitions work, as well as quickly explaining things in a vernacular that non-dancer's should understand.

And the not-so-good:

• The show seemed to skip around a lot.  The introduction of the dancers felt rushed.  The amount of skipping around with the editing seemed confusing, and I'm an Irish dancer who has seen the documentary before!  I understand the reasons for doing this (time constraint), but it really devalued the reasons of why I liked this particular documentary over Jig. (see below)
• TLC chose to play up the rivalries between dancers, specifically Catie and Jessica, which in actuality was not present in unedited documentary.  The main reason why I was more partial to this documentary (other than I was there) was simply because it focused more on history of dance and costuming, etc. than Jig did.  Jig chose to focus on dancer rivalries and it worked.  With this show edited to be something similar, it felt bland, but that could have just been the voice over. (see below)
• The male announcer voice-over sounded like a generic go-to guy for any TV show.  I know the "hidden world of Irish dance" needs to be explained to the people who are not familiar, but couldn't we have had an Irish voice-over announcer?  Or maybe tried to explain some Irish dance terms? (I'm looking at you, 'call back'.)

It's great that competitive Irish dancing is still getting spotlight on a popular TV station.  Hopefully this show keeps inspiring young and young-at-heart dancers to love and appreciate this sport.  TLC's interest in Irish dance shows is all set to culminate in their eight-part "Irish Dancing Series"  to premier in 2013.  Is this the Irish Dancing Tweens we all cringed about and hoped would never happen?  Or is TLC going to move more in the direction of Jig and Strictly Irish Dancing?  Only time will tell...

Goals: Sleep...

Days till Os: 169

Quick Update

1. Saw Jig this past weekend in Maryland with my boyfriend (who I think enjoyed it...). It was awesome as well as inspiring.

2. Strictly Irish Dancing: if any of you fellow American dancers haven't seen it, there is a link on the Drake school's website. It is a lot like Jig, but gives more background on the history of Irish dance, costumes, etc. rather than the focus being solely on the dancers.

3. My first feis of the fall is coming up this weekend (Rhythm of Ireland). My hopes for this feis will be to place higher than second to last (because that's the highest I've placed at a feis ever in open champs), and to make it through all my steps without having any major stamina issues.

4. I have decided my big focus before the Oireachtas will be on crossing my legs, for two reasons. One: because it needs work, and two: when I'm crossing m legs, my turnout is better and doesn't look as terrible.

5. My 4-year anniversary in Irish dance passed this past week. Expect a post on that soon!

6. As for STFU (Shut the Feis Up), expect that first post coming up this week!

Goals: Stamina, cross

Days till Os: 53