‘Riverdance’ 25th Anniversary Tour Alight with the Energy and Joy of Traditional Irish Dance
Long celebrated and revered, the infamous Irish and Celtic dance and music show Riverdance is spinning into town for a quick three-day jaunt for San Diego audiences at Broadway San Diego’s Civic Theatre.
Riverdance principals spin onstage. Photo courtesy Riverdance.
Leading the 100th show of the tour in its 25th anniversary production, dance principals Fergus Fitzpatrick and Amy-Mae Dolan are a technically dazzling and vivacious duo. Dolan, who won the World Irish Dance Championships, also led the 2020 cinema version of the show. She is fiercely energetic and carries a visibly light and joyous spirit from top to bottom of the production, capturing particular attention in a primal first act solo which features integrated fight and dance choreography. Fitzpatrick, likewise an Irish Dance World Champion, captivates the audience with his confidence and technical skill, claiming the breadth of the stage as his own and catapulting viewers into breathlessness with the speed and accuracy of his footwork.
The production, directed by John McColgan, also stars the Riverdance Irish Dance Troupe (performing the production’s original choreography), musicians and singers, and featured soloists. A variety of international small group numbers have a chance to shine throughout the 18-number production alongside the more traditional Irish jigs, reels, and hornpipes, all of which are expertly performed by the talented troupe. Audience favorite Rocio Dusmet’s Sevilla flamenco in particular is breathtaking and the New York jive tap duo, featuring Lamont Brown and Dharmesh Patel, are charming in their New York “Trading Taps” dance-off scene with a trio of jeans-and-white-tee-wearing Irish dancers. Though I find the Brooklyn scene itself somewhat trope-laden, the performances themselves are spirited and the performers are entertaining, feeding off of the audience energy and delivering it right back in spades.
Riverdance Irish dance troupe performs in a company front. Photo courtesy Riverdance.
And while the production relies heavily on a combination of the technical skill and lyricism of the dancers, the pairing with the aural contributions of the Riverdance band, a quartet playing percussion/bodhrán, uilleann pipes/low whistle, fiddle, and saxophone, is exquisite. Each musician has an opportunity to shine during the production alongside composer Bill Whelan’s stirring soundtrack, including a chillingly moving Caoineadh cú chulainn (lament) by piper Cathal Croke.
This newest iteration of Riverdance has also been amplified with a variety of visual effects and projections, oft animated, which span the length of the back curtain and the two screens behind the band members, as well as a curated set and lighting scheme which help to tell the various folk stories and add context to various thematic vignettes. These have been designed by members of the High Res team. A stippling effect that runs across the audience and is later used on stage to highlight a soloist by fiddler Haley Richardson is especially stirring and effective, as are the cave entrance and lightning sequences.
While the show itself is conceptually simple – a dance troupe performs a series of independent numbers – the elements themselves are gorgeous and well executed, making Riverdance at once a purposeful, dynamic, percussive, and lyrical dance experience. Given this and the catchiness of the tunes, it is easy to see why there are so many repeat attendees.
This anniversary tour production runs at the Civic Theatre through April 13 before moving on to the next stop of the tour.
Read more about the Cast and Creatives online.
Cassiopeia Guthrie is a journalist, educator, and business consultant based in Southern California. Cassiopeia earned her bachelor’s in journalism at San Diego State University, an executive master’s in business administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology, and completed a training in photojournalism/storytelling for impact with National Geographic. She boasts 20 years of success in digital content development, project management, curriculum development, and business leadership across the education, media/entertainment, and communications industries, including running a scholastic journalism program as well as a social media/social PR internship program for a branding agency. Cassiopeia has 12 years of experience with nonprofit theatre management and production and is an Aubrey Award winning actress with numerous credits to her name at a variety of San Diego theaters. Cassiopeia’s writing has been seen in publications including People Magazine, Broadway World, Vista Press, City Beat, Valley Roadrunner, Escondido Times-Advocate, and others, and she has been seen discussing theatre on local television stations including CBS, NBC, ABC, and KUSI.