Presented by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions
Reviewed Wednesday 16th May 2012
The Riverdance companies have been touring all over the world since 1995. One of the companies, the Moy Company, is in Adelaide for what is billed as the Farewell Tour. Unless it is reprieved at some later date, this will be the last chance to see it and so, with only a few performances, it is vital to book urgently.
It all started as a seven minute interval performance for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, with music by Bill Whelan of the band Planxty, and it was brought back for the Royal Variety Show (also known as the Royal Command Performance) later that year. Irish dance champions, Jean Butler and Michael Flatley, were the lead dancers and Flatley created much of the choreography. Since then the show has changed a few times, deleting or changing numbers and generally scaling down the size of the production to fit smaller venues.
As an example of those reductions in scale, this production has only four musicians, Guy Rickarby, drums/percussion/bodhrán, Patrick Mangan, fiddle, Martin McCormack, Uilleann pipes/whistles, and Ken Edge, soprano saxophone. There are also a few less performers in this troupe.
There are two types of Irish dancing, the social dancing, which is divided into set dancing, for four couples, and céilí dancing, for groups of various size, and then there is step dancing, for either hard shoe or soft shoe. Some aspects of the former appear in Riverdance, but it is primarily based on the latter, focussing mostly on hard shoe dancing with its fast leg and foot movements and the excitement of the sound of the shoes on the stage.
The show also includes Flamenco dancer, Rocio Montoya, and tap dancers Kelly Isaac and Michael E. Wood, who is also a fine baritone and joins in with the singing to great effect.
When Riverdance first started, enrolments at Irish dance schools the world over suddenly soared and young people also took an interest in Irish traditional music. That high degree of novelty value wore off long ago but, as the large audience showed, the quality of Riverdance still has the power to pack a theatre.
The standard of the show is as high as ever, with all of the flashy technique that we have come to expect from the dancers, and the marvellous harmonies from the singers. The smaller orchestra and ensemble, though, does reduce the impact. There are none of the musical duels that were there before, although there are some very fine musical solos, but absence of a button accordion, a major accompaniment instrument for step dancing, was noticeable. The lack of a huge ensemble dancing in unison also left one feeling just a little let down. Anybody who has never seen the show before, however, will probably be completely delighted with this production and the audience in general were not complaining.
Remember that this is the final tour and your last chance to see this extremely popular and completely absorbing long-running show, so be quick as it is only here for a few performances.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor, Glam Adelaide.
Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide
Season: to 20th May 2012
Duration: 2hrs (plus interval)
Tickets: $60 to $110
Bookings: BASS 131 246 or here
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