Irish dancers `step' into South Bend
By ANDREW McDONNELL
Scene Writer
American culture is a shrieking, plaid walrus with a mouthful of radishes. That is to say: a strange and finicky beast. Have we so quickly forgotten the Aust-ralian invasion of the late '80s with the lovable antics of Paul Hogan and Yahoo Serious? What about the French Invasion of the mid-'80s? There was probably one of those. The current Latin pop sensation is, of course, not to be ignored. Yes, this is America, and our taste cruises the globe in a five-tiered jumbo jet, landing and taking-off as it pleases.
However, some trends stay a little longer than others. One culture which has had a particularly fierce grip on the landing gear of our mainstream Jumbo Jet in the late 1990s is that of the Irish. The music of U2, the Cranberries, the Corrs and numerous others have gripped America's attention, not to mention literary works by authors such as Thomas Cahill, Maeve Binchy and every member of the McCourt Family. The evidence of Irish infiltration is everywhere, but one undeniably blazing example was discovered when PBS began airing the phenomenon of "Riverdance."
When "Riverdance" comes to South Bend's Morris Performing Arts Center this week, the local community will be given the opportunity to drink deeply of the zeitgeist and walk away feeling trendily quenched.
"Riverdance" is a dynamic entity and has grown beyond all expectation. It was originally designed as a seven-minute interval piece for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest (the show which coughed up Abba in the 1970s, and a decade later, the bane of my existence: Celine Dion) and eventually burgeoned into its current form. "Riverdance" has exploded from a group of 26 dancers to an enterprise that currently employs over 180 dancers in three companies: The Lagan, The Liffey and The Shannon. The troupe visiting South Bend will be The Lagan, named for a river that runs through Belfast.
"Riverdance" usually conjures up images of an enormous line of Irish step-dancers with Michael Flatley tapping away in the middle, wearing some shirt borrowed off a very large woman. However, the show is much more than that; it is a multicultural event that focuses on Irish step dancing but also includes the tremendous Moscow Folk Ballet Company, Flamenco Firedancers, the Riverdance Tappers, amazing live instrumentals and a collection of singers with unbelievable voices.
Michael Flatley splintered off to his own project, "Lord of the Dance" but his equivalent in the Lagan Company, Michael Patrick Gallagher, is a tremendous dancer, accompanied by the soul-crushingly beautiful Tara Barry - a championship dancer herself.
I was fortunate to catch up with a few of The Lagan company's performers in a couple of local establishments, and am still currently recovering. One such performer, Lorraine Cotter, has been a singer with the group for three years, and Lorcan Murphy has been a dancer for the group since its Eurovision inception. Apparently, judging from what I now find scrawled in my notebook, they shared a few of their observations with me.
Scene: What has been the response to your performances here in the States?
Lorraine: It's just been brilliant.
Lorcan: Even in the cities where you wouldn't expect it, like Grand Rapids, Mich., the audiences have been brilliant. And in Germany, they're mad for it.
Lorraine: And Japan. The Japanese love it.
Lorcan: England and Australia are fairly sedate.
Scene: Are you going to finish that?
Lorcan: Yes.
Scene: Sorry. So Lorcan, you have seen "Riverdance" evolve from its original creation. What exactly was it like when Michael Flatley left the group?
Lorcan: It was exciting. It was like we had to prove ourselves as a group. And actually, the show got better. That's not to take anything away from [Flatley]. It just sort of took off. It was bound to happen.
Scene: Is this yours?
Lorraine: Yes.
Scene: Ohh sorry. So, with life on the road, and moving to a different city every week, don't you ever get tired of it?
Lorraine: Oh sure. There are times when I just want to go home. I just wanna go home. But then I think of the money. Ha!
Scene: What's the hardest part of it?
Lorcan: Boredom. Boredom and contract negotiations.
Lorraine: There's only so much you can do in every city when you're purely a visitor.
Scene: How do you fight it?
Lorcan: A lot of people are turning to books.
Scene: No!
Lorraine: Yeah, and a couple of people are taking correspondence courses. And one girl, Orla, does volunteer work in every city we visit. It keeps her real ... grounded, you know? That's the hardest part.
Scene: But it's worth it in the end, or you wouldn't still be doing it. What has been the greatest moment you've had in "Riverdance"?
Lorraine: One night there was this little deaf girl with headphones on and her dad was there next to her. She was feeling the stage, tapping her leg to the beat of the music. That was brilliant. The kind where you just go ... "Jesus."
Lorcan: One time after a show this man walks up to us, and he says, `I'm 70 years of age, and that is the most remarkable thing I have ever seen.'
Lorraine: And you're there thinking, "geeze, and I did that with a hangover." It's the worst job to have with a hangover.
Lorcan: And you're not even a dancer!
Lorraine: Standing still is just the worst thing to do if you've got the shakes. It's terrible!
Another performer present that evening was the bass player and musical director, Paul Moore. I don't know what it was I asked him, but his reply came in the form of words once uttered by Brendan Behan upon being asked about the difference between poetry and prose. Moore quoted:
There once was a young man of Black Rock
Who worked for Castor and Pollox
He took a walk along Sandymouth Strand
And the water came up to his ankle
"… Now that's prose," said Behan. "Had the tide been in, that would have been poetry."
Regardless, "Riverdance" is not a show to be missed if possible. It is a rare glimpse of the popular world scene right here in South Bend - and some of the best entertainment to touch the campus fringe in many a year.
All Scene Stories for Wednesday, April 12, 2000
