Friday, August 13, 1999
'Riverdance' leaves audience breathless
BY CAROL NORRIS
Enquirer contributor
No one danced in the aisles at Wednesday's opening of Riverdance, but almost all 2,500 at the Aronoff were on their feet clapping and screaming.
Riverdance — The Show first visited Cincinnati last August at Riverbend. That outdoor theater's laid-back atmosphere (not to mention its abundance of beer vendors) was ripe for aisle-dancing. This time around the audience was more into the performers than their own bacchanalian urgings, responding heartily to everything and everyone.
Riverdance is big-hearted and eager to please wherever it plays. It offers thrilling dance numbers mingled with melancholy Irish ballads. There's narration (on tape) throughout, but I haven't a clue what the story and dancing have to do with one another. There are dances to the sun, thunderstorms, harvests and fire, some of them more Irish than others.
The premise is to present Irish dancing from its inception hundreds of years ago, its mingling with other ethnic styles and finally its crossing the ocean with immigrants to America. That's all you need to know.
The dancing is straight-backed, with arms held tightly down to the sides and incredibly fast tapping feet. From this simple style, the show builds numbers that leave you breathless, unable to resist the driving Irish rhythms of music and steps.
Michael Flatley was the original choreographer almost six years ago, but squabbles and lawsuits took him out of the picture. No one is credited with the choreography now, but most of it is his original material.
Soloists Eileen Martin and Pat Roddy are responsible for much of their own steps, and the dance champions (partners as children) amaze with their lightness, speed and clarity. They are the same stars who appeared last year and look no worse for the wear after another year on the road. Their fresh-faced innocence establishes what this show is — a sweet treat for the whole family.
Not as confusing this year was the reason for including other ethnic dances. There's a Spanish soloist (Marta Jimenez-Luis) in two numbers (one too many), a Russian folk troupe and an African-American trio of tappers.
Is this a magnanimous, politically correct gesture or grist for filling a two-hour show? Maybe a little of both, but if you look closely, you see the same heel work of the Spanish dancer appear in the Irish. The Russian women mirror almost exactly the soft-shoe dancing of the Irish girls, even though the choreography itself turns into a bag of tricks — big leaps, fast turns, split jumps and so on.
The African-American tappers bring down the house as they battle a trio of Irish — led by Mr. Roddy — in a clear exhibition of styles borrowing from one another. One of the best moments in the show, the routine pleases with a balance of get-down tapping butted against uplifted jigs.
A big hit is Liz Knowles' fearless fiddling. She wears out three violins and probably as many bows. Moving into “Slip into Spring — The Harvest,” she moved into heavy-metal improvisations with bow hairs breaking from the force. Her amazing talents are smartly highlighted and backed by the Riverdance orchestra.
Riverdance, Aronoff Center, through Aug. 22. 241-7469.
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