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Riverdance has been running non-stop since 1994, captivating over six million spectators worldwide, more than attended last year's Coupe du Monde in Paris! The phenomenal "Riverdance-The Show," which opens here this month, goes to prove that the luck o' the Irish is not just a bunch of blarney. What started five years ago as a brief seven-minute version of dynamically stylized Irish character dance and song televised throughout Europe as part of the Eurovision Song Contest has evolved into a two-hour show featuring international dancers divided into three touring companies booked solid through the year 2000. Composer Bill Whelan and show biz wizard Moya Doherty, who initially came up with the project, cleverly decided to incorporate talent from other countries which have strong dance traditions involving fancy soft-shoe and hard-shoe footwork. The current "Riverdance" show now includes 13 independent "scenes," divided into two "sets," and is structured very much like the once celebrated Ziegfield Follies (only clothed and family-friendly). The first nine numbers, featuring brilliant soloists Joanne Doyle and Beandan de Gallac, and bearing titles such as "Reel around the Sun," "Women of Ireland," "Caoineadh Chu Chulainn (Lament)" and scene nine, aptly called "Riverdance," reveal that happy-go-lucky Gaelic heart and mystical Celtic soul. The show, full of joie de vivre, draws on our collective memories that go back to the worship of nature and pagan ritual. Seeing "Riverdance" probably makes the Irish proud to be Irish. It certainly makes those who aren't Irish wish they were! The second set, which is more international, includes "American Wake," "The Harbour of the New World," which highlights American tap dancer Walter Sundance Freeman and flamenco artist Yolanda Gonzalez Sobrado, and the grand finale "Riverdance International." So just what is the magic that's catapulted "Riverdance" into a planetary sensation? Like popular regularly-revived musical comedies such as "West Side Story," "Hair," "Jesus Christ Superstar," or the world-famous Russian character dance companies such as the Moiseyev Ballet Company, that have become solid-as-a-rock institutions, surviving world wars and political upheavals since the '30s, "Riverdance's" only objective is to dazzle, entertain and inject a shot of adrenaline and hope into audiences. Focusing equally on choreography and song, most of "Riverdance's" music has been composed by Whelan, who's also worked with U2, Van Morrison and Kate Bush. In a few short years, the project has produced a Grammy Award-winning CD (1997), a video of the show that's sold several million copies and a video documentary, not to mention "Riverdance" t-shirts, posters and, of course, "Riverdance-The Website." "Riverdance-The Show," Apr 14-17, 8:30pm; Apr 18 at 3pm, Palais des Congrès, 2, pl de la Porte Maillot, 17e, Metro Porte Maillot, tel: 01.40.68.00.05. |
