Jig

Jig is a fun, compelling, and entertaining look into the personal lives of a handful of Irish dancers from around the globe. Lots of interviews with the competitors, their parents and coaches interspersed with clips of their practices, leading up to the big showdown... the World Competition. Although I'm not particularly a fan of Irish Dancing on its own, I do enjoy documentaries about the human experience, and I can appreciate the hard work, technical difficulty, and artistic flair that come together as the components necessary to be successful in this realm. I really only had one major gripe with the documentary content: the film is in desperate need of subtitles. I realize that everyone is speaking English (mostly- a bit of Russian and Dutch were thrown in here and there), but the various accents of people from around the world were really difficult for me to sift through. For large portions of the movie, I really couldn't understand what people were saying, and I, frankly, gave up trying and just tried to piece it together from what I was seeing on the screen, which made for a confusing movie. English subtitles would have taken this documentary from good to great, and I would have given 5 stars.Similarly, I have one technical gripe with this viewing: the closed captioning was not synced correctly with the movie! I streamed the movie on my computer, so perhaps the dvd is correct (if it's even closed captioned), but for me, the closed captioning started about 10 seconds after the first person spoke, then it ran so slow that by the time the credits ended, the cc was still showing words from the final scene... more than 2 minutes after they'd been audible in the movie! How thoroughly disappointing... the cc was useless... and it would have been so handy sorting out all of those accents! I don't know if this technical issue was the fault of the documentary makers or a technical function of Amazon.com itself, but I do hope that this is corrected ASAP for future viewers.

This is a very interesting view of the highly competetive world of Irish Dancing. We watched young dancers aged 10-20 as they train and travel to competions around the world. The dedication and talent of these children and their teachers is impressive, and equally impressive is the support of their families both emotionally and financially. I would guess that after years in this tough disciplined life at the top of their chosen art/sport these young people are well prepared for anything life offers. They have to learn to take criticism and disappointment along with the glory!

I love Irish dancing. Not being Irish, I was introduced to the art form when RiverDance hit the scene (I've scene the live show 6 times!) -- and have watched the DVD dozens of times. That being said, this documentary gives you an up-close-and-personal look into the world of Irish step dancers: those young folk who, with their beloved stage moms and supportive dads who invest countless hours and dollars to give life to their dream. It's an unbelievably grueling commitment, much like figure skating, dressage, gymnastics -- you get the idea. But the amazing skill and joy demonstrated in this video just makes me appreciate the dance form all the more. The film itself could move along fairly slowly for anyone not already "into" Irish step dancing -- but if you love Michael Flatley and could ever imagine him as a kid, learning and working his craft, this film will stupify and amaze.

This dvd is great if you're an Irish dancer or passionate about Irish dance. However, I'm going to be honest - if you're just looking for a documentary to watch, this may not be your thing. I have a couple of gripes about the dvd:1. Not just the dvd but the film in general - there really should be more explanation about the World's scoring. This was extremely confusing, even for an Irish dancer (though one that hasn't been to Worlds). When I showed it to friends, they kept asking 'what's going on? What are they talking about?)2. The dvd comes with nothing. Zip, zero, nada. If you want the special features, buy Blu-Ray. I wish I had paid attention to that fact when I bought it, but I was already grimacing at spending the money on a basic dvd.My friends that know I love Irish dance, watched the movie with me. Some seemed to enjoy it, some just wanted to humor me. Those that did other types of competitive dance, liked it for comparison, and to laugh (or compare) to the intensity of it all. I really do like it, and would watch it again, but I want to provide an honest perception for those who may not have an Irish dance background. I'm all for supporting our dance and our art, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.

My daughter loves this movie! She's 6yrs old and has been dancing now for 4 years. Every night she goes to bed watching this. Her goal is WORLDS and this is a great motivator. I love how it shows that hard work, lots of practice and truly loving what you do....you can teach your goals. 🍀

How can one resist rewarding with stars these young, lithe bodies dedicated heart and soul to a very demanding style of dancing?Note: It was very annoying for a sport where precision is its essence, for the subtitles to be totally out of sync with the spoken word. As a minimum, the culprit should be drawn and quartered. One star off for this infraction.

This is a well thought out and factual contemporary portrayal of the competitive Irish Dancing scene. It was unfortunate that not all the Russian competitors were allowed entry into the UK. I do not think the same thing would have happened had the World Championships been held in the Republic of Ireland. I would have liked to have seen a more complete view of a Ceili Dancing Competition included in this video. In general, the story is a true one and honestly shows the ambitions and determination of the competitors and how it shapes and affects their lives.

If you have experienced the real Irish dance world than this is a movie for you. It captures what really goes on at competitions and the emotions of the dancers. Some great live footage.

We've watched it dozens of times and always see something new. Great film!

My daughter has been Irish Dancing for 5 years and loves everything about it. However she is at the stage where she can carry on as she has been or needs to really get involved to move into the Championship level. We watched this film and thought it was put together really well, showing just how much effort is required to get to the top in Irish Dancing. It also showed that just competing in the worlds is a fantastic achievement. The dancers all work hard to get to where they are and it was so interesting seeing that Irish dance is popular all over the World. Its a great film to watch just to see the inside of Irish Dance which I believe not many people have seen before or understand. A great film/documentary - well done to the makers and the participants of the film. It was a great motivator too for all levels of irish dancers.

This is a must to anyone not just the irish dance fans or the superb dancers or the beginner dancers. It is a great film to show the determination of the dancers and their teachers to achieve what they want in life which should inspire everyone else in any sport or job or education.I have watched the dvd 3 times my grandaughter has watched it 5 times so far and loves it she wants to win her championships as she is an irish dancer too she is only seven years old and has a few years to go before she can enter the world championships for irish dancing but look out for the next edition of JIG maybe she will be on it trying to win her dream.

Bought this for our granddaughter as she does Irish Dancing. It was a fascinating insight into the highs and lows of competition.It arrived promptly and well packaged.