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The Dark Lord and his stormtroopers take on the Lord of the Dance and his dancers Lord of the Dance A Lifetime of Standing Ovations The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham ***** Forget the story, a sort of leather clad rejects from Mad Max locked in a battle of wills, or in this case steps, with our heroes, the clean cut poster boys for healthy living, with the glittering WBC heavyweight crown-style Lord of the Dance belt as its prize; this is a show unreservedly about dance and, more particularly, Michael Flatley’s feet blurring, warp speed version of traditional Irish dance. That is what people, 60 million so far, not all at the Alex I hasten to add, but at some 1,000 or so venues in around 70 countries, come to see – the fabulous dancing bringing an infectious joy to a spellbound crowd. It is said each show manages around 150,000 taps – presumably someone counted - which means with rehearsals and warm ups most of the cast have hit their 10,000 steps a day mark way before the interval. This latest incarnation of Lord of the Dance - A Lifetime of Standing Ovations – has been reworked and revised with new video backdrops, a feature of the show filling the rear wall of the stage, sporting better graphics with everything from dark halls, caves, forest fires and lava fields to real fields and the splendour of Ireland.
It has come a long way since that April evening at Dublin’s Point Theatre, and the 39th Eurovision Song Contest, Ireland having won the previous contest with In Your Eyes. The interval entertainment was a seven minute celebration of Irish music and dance. Few remember the winner that night, for the record Rock 'n' Roll Kids, performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan, Ireland’s unprecedented third consecutive victory, but everyone remembers the interval act filling in between performance and voting, Riverdance. Nine months later it was a full blown stage show, Irish dancing was as well known as Guinness and Jean Butler and Michael Flatley were stars. A dispute over contracts and creative control saw Flatley and Riverdance part company and Lord of the Dance was born. We open with a video of Flatley’s vision, his desire to break the barriers of traditional Irish dancing, an evolution rather than revolution, the result, which might have purists clutching their chests and reaching for the Jameson’s, is grounded in Irish tradition but has added steps and technique that could have come straight from tap and flamenco. He tells of the battles and the journey from traditional dance to his dream of how he wanted to dance it. His heir is Matthew Smith with two All Ireland titles, runner up in the world championship and the rare distinction of being one of only four people who can perform Flatley’s Feet of Flames solo. He shows why he is the current Lord of the Dance. Where it all started in 1994 The Shaker tune from Sydney Carter’s hymn, Lord of the Dance, is a recuring theme throughout the production appearing at the start in the Cry of the Celts opening number played on a traditional tin whistle by the little sprite. Music is part of the show and fiddle music is part of Irish culture so brilliant fiddlers Giada Costenaro Cunningham and Niamh Leahy arrive to pick up the pace while Celyn Cartwright provides the songs of Erin The Goddess, with some beautiful singing, although, to be fair to the delightful soprano, particularly in her first number, the haunting love ballad, Carrickfergus, she was battling with a rather enthusiastic backing track with a hint of Spinal Tap volumes. Back at the narrative Zoltan Papp struts his stuff as the Dark Lord as a nasty heavy with remarkably fast and light feet, and to join the good guys and forces of evil bad boys, we had an all Midlands clash with Birmingham's Katie Coates as Soirse, the good girl and Coventry's Erin McPolin as Morrighan the temptress the bad girl - who not only nicks Soise's man but his Lord of the Dance belt. Around them and the storyline the whole cast create a well oiled, synchronised dance machine. They are mesmerising to watch, drawing you into their fantasy world. Forget the plot, this is just a pure joy to sit back and watch the precise, lightning fast dancers with a light show, an array of costumes full of variety and colour and even an equal opportunity attraction of a more primal nature with clothes discarded at one point to reveal bare chested men and bikini clad women. Traditional Irish dance was never like this. A Lifetime of Standing Ovations could add another ovation to the list after a spellbinding performance to brighten a rainy night and provide a moment of respite in a darkening world. To 06-10-24 Roger Clarke 30-09-24 |
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