Riverdance, which is now a widely popular Irish step-dancing show, started out as a small production. The first performance was actually only a seven-minute intermission act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland. The crowd loved it, and six months later the troupe began a five-week sold-out Dublin run. Since then, Riverdance has evolved into an Irish sellout phenomenon worldwide.
The show, which comes to Louisville March 9-11, features step dancers tapping together to Irish music and keeping their upper bodies stationary despite their rapid leg movements, akin to Appalachian clogging. “There is no doubt that the percussive music and the synchronized tapping of the dancers is thrilling for an audience,” says Julian Erskine, Riverdance’s senior executive producer. “To see 30 dancers move their feet very fast and in perfect time with each other is something that will always amaze.”
Michael Flatley and Jean Butler were the original lead performers. Although neither was from Ireland, Erskine thinks this actually helped the production. So did the duo’s tremendous tapping skills — in 1989, for example, Flatley’s 28 taps per second set a then-Guinness Book world record. “Both Jean and Michael brought a freshness and an excitement to Irish dancing,” Erskine says. “No one in Ireland had ever seen or heard anything like it, so it allowed the show to take off in Ireland first and, subsequently, to leave Ireland and travel the world.”
By 1997, Flatley had moved on to his own show, Lord of the Dance, and Butler had left too. But in that short amount of time they had already helped Riverdance achieve international popularity. It has remained successful for more than 12 years, and Erskine doesn’t envision a change anytime soon. “Riverdance seems to cross all boundaries — geographical, political, cultural, social and even age,” he says. “The show appeals to audiences everywhere it goes.”
Riverdance runs March 9-11. Showtimes are 8 p.m. (March 9); 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. (March 10); 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (March 11). Kentucky Center, Whitney Hall, 584-7777.
