St David’s Hall, Cardiff
Friday 27th January 2017
To start the show there was a video of Michael Flatley explaining how the company have made it against the odds and the importance of following dreams. Flatley also states that Lord of the Dance is the biggest selling dance show of all time and, after seeing it, there is little wonder why. With colourful and eccentric costumes and pieces of music with various rhythms, it is easy to become caught up in the world of ‘Planet Ireland’ that the dancers create.
The amount of work that has gone in to the precision of the choreography was evident and every member of the troupe was incredibly talented and executed the story of good v evil extremely well. The dances varied greatly: one involved girls in traditional Irish costumes which were then whipped off Bucks Fizz style and the rest of the dance was continued in underwear! Not to worry, the boys also took their tops off for a few numbers too, though I can’t say I felt either of these displays to be particularly necessary to enhance the show!
The changes from lilting Irish folk tunes to more military style marches allowed for a wonderful change of pace and maintained interest. In fact, at some points, the dances of the baddies were so dramatic I found myself routing for them over the Lord of the Dance. What was particularly telling about the strength of this performance was the level of audience engagement, to the point of booing Don Dorcha, the evil lord, and cheering the Lord of the Dance: this elevated the characters to pantomime villain and hero proportions. There were also two violinists and a singer to accompany the storytelling which gave the show an extra depth. With the addition of some pyrotechnics, the show certainly was hot stuff in more ways than one.
words LUCY MENON