LORD OF THE DANCE:
The lightning that couldn't strike twice

(Lord of the Dance has now been performed worldwide for more than ten years, by multiple troupes all owned by Michael Flatley's own company Unicorn Entertainment. During those years, under his direction, the show has undergone many evolutions in costume and set, and different lead dancers have put their stamp on the various productions. For the purposes of this study, it is the original version of the show that will be referred to.)

When Michael was fired from Riverdance the Show in October 1995, he disappeared from public view for several months, maintaining a dignified, stoical silence amidst a barrage of unbridled attack through the media. What the public did not know was that he was immediately fighting back in his own steadfast way, by creating a new show, this time one wholly and singly focused, with Ireland 'standing on her own two feet', undiluted by foreign dance disciplines. On December 30th 1995 he first showcased a prototype of the dance 'Warlords' with a group of male dancers, as an entertainment act during the Irish TV awards show at the National Concert Hall. The dancers all in black T-shirts and pants, dancing acapella, it transmitted as an extension of the 'Distant Thunder' dance from Riverdance the Show but already showed marked choreographic progression. It was announced as being part of Michael's new show Lord of the Dance. Michael said in a radio interview in June 1998 that no-one wanted to know him that day, no-one shook his hand as he headed for the stage, and only his two longtime close friends, radio presenter Gerry Ryan and Point Theatre owner Harry Crosbie stood loyally by him. So the rapturous audience response to the number, showing a strong wave of support for him personally and a ready appetite for more of his work must have been a life-giving tonic.

As publicity grew for the new show, many said 'Lightning can't strike twice!' There could never be another Riverdance, and especially not stretching the Irish content to be the entire show. However, as Michael said, they could not possibly know the vision he had or have any idea of all the wonderful developments he had still in mind for Irish dance. The July 1996 opening at the Point proved a shock experience for all those packing the theatre, so different was it to what they expected and to all that had gone before, yet still rooted firmly in the traditions of Ireland. On the surface the show presented a charming fairytale of a little child's dream, swathed in fantasy and myth, colourful costumes and updated, rock-oriented music, and connoisseurs of the dance marveled at the technical quality of the dancers Michael had trained and reveled in the superb choreography, this time unarguably Michael's own from beginning to end.

However, Michael himself admitted in a couple of interviews that Lord of the Dance could be read a thousand different ways and he intended it to be so, and close study of the numbers, beyond the dancing, reveal a depth to the show and cultural details of provenance to which many who see it are oblivious. Those details are not only of interest to those who enjoy watching the shows from a more intellectual standpoint but also constitute an important part of the reason the Flatley shows stand alone amid all their many competitors. Some other shows have used a storyline, either traditionally based or newly invented, some have quality costuming and pleasing set, enjoyable music score, yet none to date has succeeded in being in the same league as a Flatley show, and given that many of the same skilled dancers move from show to show, the answer has to lie elsewhere. Now, since Michael has become 'the Billionaire Dancer', it is all too easy to put the difference down to being financial - Michael can spend whatever he wishes on the production while others barely scrape together sufficient funds to stage their shows professionally at all. With Lord of the Dance that certainly was not the case and yet with that show Michael created a classic of such strong global appeal that it can still sustain multiple visits to the same cities across the world after a full decade, and despite subsequent masterpieces, it remains the favourite of many showgoers.

FLATLEY and HARDIMAN

At the core of Lord of the Dance's impact is the great partnership that is 'Flatley & Hardiman', which must go down in history as securely as Rogers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Lowe, Astaire & Rogers and Torvill & Dean. When Fate put together the successfully established Dublin-based composer Ronan Hardiman and Michael, a great friendship was formed and two creative minds connected that would work with total understanding of each other's vision and in perfect tune. Each had immense knowledge of the Irish traditional roots on which the show needed to draw; Michael was a Champion Irish flute player and highly educated in all aspects of traditional music and rhythm; Ronan had studied the sounds of Irish dance rhythms by recording the taps at sessions in Digges Lane Dance Studio.

He composed in his own custom-designed computerised sound studio, complete with big television screens as he often worked on film and advertisement soundtracks, so was accustomed to creating his music from a very visual standpoint. Michael had worked out every moment of Lord of the Dance in his mind and was so articulate in recounting it that as he spoke Ronan could see the scenes in his mind and immediately hear the music needed. Michael wanted to take Irish dance to a worldwide and young audience, so needed the score to give Irish traditional music a rock feel for lively youthful appeal, and Ronan loved to play with the colours and rhythms of other music styles mixed with tradition. Then on a personal level they 'clicked' as friends from their first meeting, sharing cultural background, similar childhood familial experience and a strongly Irish sense of humour. The teaming of the two men established an ideal partnership.

The score that Ronan created for Lord of the Dance became an instant classic, a brilliant fusion of tradition with modern sounds and colours, and rhythms so strong and clear that his is the top favourite music for many Irish dance teachers as well as for listeners worldwide. Every piece of Hardiman music is very different, and pieces encompass many styles from ballad to uptempo, classical to rock, yet there is an indefinable underlying quality that is very distinctly Ronan's music. As with Michael's dance, although much imitated, it remains unique.

Much modern music that is created with use of electronic sound rather than all live instruments results in lack of depth, but the Lord of the Dance score utilises computerised elements and live music with great success. Opening with haunting echoed cries and chants, followed by the tolling of bells in a scene of mysterious darkness, it grips the audience in hushed anticipation in the first seconds. Hooded and masked figures emerge from the darkness on the stage, some standing like sentinels beneath half-lit 'stone' archways, suggesting ancient time, and also perhaps, already the presence of sinister spirits.

In their midst a little gold-costumed pixie-like child figure, 'The Little Spirit', (petite Dubliner Helen Egan), plays on her whistle the magic melody of the traditional Shaker melody 'Lord of the Dance', then wakens the dancers with her sprinkle of fairydust. She is the little child whose dream journey through space and time the show will take us on; she also represents the mythical Irish past from which so much of our history came, and she is also illustrative of Michael's own 'child's heart' which remains so clearly present and continues to contribute greatly to his creativity.

The fairydust spread, the first group of graceful female dancers, dressed gorgeously in short, darkest midnight blue lace dresses, perform a dainty softshoe routine to the sweet melody, but then the sound of drums and flickering lights scatter them from the stage, which is momentarily immersed in vibrant fiery red light, and as the mists of dry ice clear, we see that Michael already stands at the back of the stage, arms outstretched, waiting to erupt across the scene in the role of 'Lord of the Dance'. Dressed simply in sleek dark blue pants decorated with small accents of glittering gold embroidered Celtic interlace, and fitted black-gold T-shirt top, as the red light changes to blinding white for a split second, he makes characteristic explosion into movement for his first solo, significantly titled 'Cry of the Celts'. The choreography is dazzling even beyond Riverdance, energy charged and electric, using breakneck speed and intricate, highly technical footwork, but this is a very different creation to his earlier solos. Gone is the fresh exuberance of previous solos; instead of the joyful dancer here is a fighter, his feet rocketing across the stage with ultra masculine power. He is the warrior gone to war - the mythical warrior of the fairystory, yes, but also the Irish survivor spirit fighting for its destiny, so true to our history, and of course, indisputably Michael himself, defending his own credibility, 'getting back up off the canvas' and showing himself beyond any doubt the true creator of the Irish dance revolution.

The troupe that joins him on the stage seem to be in higher and more forceful gear as well, their taps louder and more aggressive, the energy level set much higher than in earlier work, in keeping with the bolder statement necessary to capture a larger world stage. With the arrival of the troupe, the stage is dressed from above with the unfurling of five long cloth banners, richly painted with Celtic motifs, not random designs but authentic symbols taken from the book of Kells and other illuminated manuscript sources. The central banner bears the outline of a unicorn, which is not only Michael's chosen logo for the show, but in mystical terms the most highly symbolic of all mythical creatures, signifying the absolute, yet fragile power of purity, strength, justice, love and peace. Also, by strange coincidence, the unicorn is, in Celtic astrology, very fittingly, Michael's own birthsign. 'Cry of the Celts comes to a climax with Michael and the troupe dancing with triumphant vigour, lifting the mood of the scene, and at the end of this opening number, on opening night the entire audience in the Point theatre rose to their feet in startling and unprecedented gesture to give a unique standing ovation. Interestingly, the audience shots of the end of the number used on the video are not from that night, and in fact most of the video footage dates from a night several days later when an extra performance was added to the week's run specially to film the video. Although only advertised during the opening night for the first time, that show also was completely sold out.

CHANGING COLOURS: SHADES of LIGHT and DARK

Contrast is a key element in all Flatley shows. There is light and dark throughout, the contrast of male and female, hard and soft shoe dance, uptempo and tranquil rhythms, good and evil, traditional and modern, constantly changing and all steadily building the drama of the show toward its climax. After the energy of the opening number of Lord of the Dance, total calm and traditional beauty fills the stage with the first soprano solo, Siul A Riun. Anne Buckley, portraying the classic Irish fairy queen as Erin the Goddess, lent special elegance to her part with her model's figure, porcelain features and fabulous red hair. She would appear three times through the show, wearing basically the same emerald velvet gown and cloak costume (finances were, after all, severely limited), this first time having the hood of the cloak draped over her head, for the second appearance having the hood thrown back to reveal her glorious traditional Irish tresses, and the third time leaving aside the cloak to showcase her graceful figure in the elegantly cut medieval style velvet gown. Whatever the financial constraints, the quality of this costume was superb.

The vocal is followed by 'Celtic Dream', which begins with one dancer (Fiona Harold) playing a wind-up doll that has to be 'woken' by the Little Spirit - the show's pivotal character, who returns at intervals throughout the evening - turning an imaginary key in her back. Her first moves are stiff and jerky, like the doll figure in the ballet Coppelia. Gradually her movements become fluid and she joins the troupe of female dancers that float onto the stage in soft rainbow shaded costumes and soft shoes, to the sweet strains of one of Ronan Hardiman's loveliest melodies. The decorated hanging banners blend brilliantly with the colours of the costumes and lighting, heightening the mythical aspect of this dream sequence, and at the end of the dance they cascade to the stage, a moment that could be interpreted to signify that the lighthearted time is now done and the dark forces are about to make their entrance. 'Celtic Dream' also gives the first principle female solo, as the incomparable and exquisite Bernadette Flynn graces the stage dressed all in gold, portraying 'Saoirse the Irish Colleen', the 'good girl' of the story. It is significant that her name, 'Saoirse', is also Irish for 'Freedom', as it gives much deeper meaning to her role. Her purpose in representing also the freedom of the Irish spirit and specifically the freedom of Irish women would become apparent in a later routine in the show. Dressing her here in gold renders her both fairytale princess and symbolic of the purity of goodness in the display of good and evil spirits. In this dance her character is very much the fairy heroine as she tiptoes through the swirling lines of dancers with balletic grace and poise, and the whole dance is very much visualisation of what all that Michael's own 'Celtic dream' and his unshakable belief that Irish dance should, and could be, the colourful, free and joyful expression of a beautiful traditional art form well able to capture and entertain on a world stage.

'The Warriors' is the next number, introducing 'Don Dorcha, the Dark Lord', our villain, and his evil followers. The music is in sharp contrast to the sweet melodies just heard, and the masked dancers in black costumes with only one simple, bold motif of Celtic knotwork across the chest, have a dark power as they pound out an army drill routine to the Dark Lord's command. Are they the same masked characters whose faces we glimpsed beneath the hooded cloaks at the show's opening? If so, the dark forces have indeed been present all along. For Daire Nolan, portraying the character of the Dark Lord was a new experience in his dancing career, as now he had to add dramatic acting to his complex footwork. It was a task at which he quickly became a true master, much loved by audiences around the world. His enemy troupe execute the steps of their military style formations with a very definitely warlike harsh sharpness, and they fit the multiple interpretation of the show's storyline perfectly, being readable equally as fairytale demons, foreign invaders from history, or personifications of evil. At the end of the dance a touch of humour is added as the Little Spirit runs onto the stage to cheek the Dark Lord momentarily before he scares her off the stage. Her game is a dangerous one and hint of the trouble she will fall into later.

The evil elements continue to build with the next dance, a solo for the other female lead, Gillian Norris, as 'Morrighan the Temptress'. Here the dominant colour is red, in the rich lighting and in Gillian's unadorned crimson dress, which is a perfect contrast to her pale skin and black gypsy hair. The choreography of this dance, titled 'Gypsy', was apparently very much her own, and certainly the steps danced by subsequent dancers to the same music in the show varied considerably. Many have interpreted the dance, and to great effect, but none will ever surpass Gillian's subtle portrayal of the role. Some would make it more sophisticated, some more openly sexy, some more gymnastic, but her version of it was the definitive combination of innocent youth thinly veiling the emerging darkly sensual woman, and at the same time conveying a hint of mischief which ensured the piece had no sense of sleazy nightclub undertone. She also captured the true, free spirit feel of the title 'Gypsy' as no other dancer has.

ROCK CHICKS!

'Strings of Fire' provide a musical interlude that holds the tempo of the show high but lightens it once again, with two Champion Irish fiddlers, Mairead Nesbit and Cora Smyth, dressed in punky rock style with shiny black leather-look slinky pants and mini-skirt. They rouse the audience with their exciting duet of updated Irish traditional tunes, and at the time their style of performance, which was all part of Michael's development of Irish music and dance for a young world audience, was highly innovative, having choreographed moves around the stage instead of the musicians simply standing and playing the music. The style has evolved greatly since, has become a cornerstone of the Flatley shows and is much imitated, and numbers like this are guaranteed to draw audience participation, having many clapping along to the beats and some rocking in the their seats. Interestingly too, the reaction is similar in every part of the world and no matter how little known our music is in any particular place, it makes connection, and the same has proved true of our dance in its 'new' form.

FREEDOM

The fiddle duet is swiftly followed by another female troupe number, 'Breakout' , rich in colour and brightly choreographed. The troupe is led again by Bernadette as Saoirse, this time clad in white lace and with her hair knotted on her head. They dance a neat traditional hard shoe routine, then Gillian enters as Morrighan again, still in her gypsy red, circling Saoirse in clearly mocking comment at the formal dance. Her derisive attitude mirrors the view of Irish dance held by many outsiders at the time. Briefly, she dances a step with Saoirse, and the two women challenge one another a little warily, then Morrighan makes a final sarcastic gesture of her hand which is the final straw for Saoirse, who answers the gesture with a quick movement of her hand and strips off her lace dress in unison with her troupe stripping off their costumes, all revealing slick black shorts and cropped tops. The neatly restrained hair is also shaken free as Morrighan departs the stage in disgusted defeat, and the troupe complete the number with a polished sequence of modernised steps. The dance is filled with mischief and fun but is also highly symbolic on various levels, showing not only a setting free of the Irish spirit from the bonds of its past but also, particularly in this original version of the dance with no Celtic emblems on the costumes, it is representative of the emancipation of women. The basic concept of a strip routine using Irish dance was not unprecedented, having been used by the famous Irish comedienne, Maureen Potter, as early as the 1960's in a Dublin Christmas Pantomime stage show, however Michael's version still raised eyebrows and strong murmurs of disapproval, especially among the critics. Audiences, of course, loved it.

At the end of this dance immediately follows the famous 'Warlords' number, Michael arriving on stage in the midst of the girls as our hero 'Lord of the Dance' again, now clad head to foot in black leather, in youthful 'rebel' style, with shortcut bolero style jacket and no shirt, and the intriguing accessory of black thong headband, long tails dangling from his head. He flirts with Saoirse, following her to the side of the stage, from where she watches while he returns to organise and drill his troupe of warlords in his first acapella routine of the show. As they tap out their scene-setting rhythms he wanders among them, finally coming to the front of the stage to perform an electric solo that was to become a Flatley classic. The sounds of the gunfire style taps on the video are very distinctive, coming as they did from a line of microphones set across the front of the stage and clearly visible in many shots. The quality of sound is quite different to that captured by more recent live recording techniques that use microphones attached to shoes.

FINALE OF ACT 0NE

It is time for a change of mood after this, and the return of 'Erin the Goddess', as Anne Buckley sings another haunting Gaelic traditional ballad.
This stills the atmosphere and provides a quiet interlude before Act One reaches its triumphant climax with the signature piece, 'Lord of the Dance'. In many ways this number stands alone and apart from the storyline of the show, complete in itself as a pure celebration of the dance. The Little Spirit again takes centrestage with her whistle to play the magic melody that brings on the two lead female dancers for a short soft shoe duet against radiant red and gold lighting.

They are briefly supported by four male dancers, but drumbeats and flashing lights soon herald that the hero is near and the stage empties for his entry, this time bursting forth through the air as if blasted from a cannon side stage. This number is all dressed in black and fiery red, from the two girls and their four supporting males companions to the full troupe, and Michael's black leather suit is also decorated with red, glittering red embroidered Celtic knotwork on cummerbund and along the sides of the pants, and in red leather appliqued 'V' on the black T-shirt, (an intentional mark of 'Victory' or simply an accidental abstract design? ), with appliqued red leather knotwork on the bolero jacket he adds to the costume for his return appearance at the end of the dance. The back of the jacket, as we see when he turns to 'conduct' the troupe, bears appliqued red outline of the show's logo unicorn head.

Between his first solo and the finale section the full company of dancers, male and female, fill the stage with a rousing presentation, formal and traditional in footwork and body style, yet full of modern stage impact, accompanied by the best Hardiman arrangement and by dramatic lighting. With Michael joining them for the highspeed climax and leading the trademark long line of dancers, although still only at the halfway point of the show, the success of his fight back is sealed, and on opening night and many subsequent nights, the audience responded with a full standing ovation.

DARKENING ENERGY

Act Two has a wholly different character and colour to that of Act One. We become more aware of a story building toward a showdown, some of the numbers flow one into another without pause and the deceptively simple set, although physically unchanged, develops more sinister meaning. From the beginning, at the back of the stage has been the backdrop of a medieval portcullis, suggesting a castle drawbridge gateway that in the earlier part of the show seemed no more than decoration, along with the moveable 'stone towers' with their Celtic motifs and arched openings. Now, with dark lighting and music of another mood all these elements take on a menacing appearance as our Little Spirit arrives again with her whistle for 'Dangerous Games'. She is here very much the curious child exploring where she ought not to, and her attempt to summon more magic when she plays her signature tune this time produces the evil Don Dorcha and his masked men, who chide her and smash her precious whistle. She finds herself suddenly in 'Hell's Kitchen' and the towers and portcullis become her jail as the Dark Lord and his warriors torment her. As well as the fairytale spirit, she is very much the small lonely child who cannot help being different and cannot help dreaming, trapped in a tough world full of big bruising bullies, imagery that echoes the childhood experience of the show's creator. This little child, however, especially being female and in a fairytale, must have a knight in shining armour to come and rescue her. Her music has, luckily, reached the good spirits she wished for as well as the bad, and as the situation turns nastier the Lord of Dance arrives with his warlords to save the day, taking on Don Dorcha and his warriors and enabling her to escape and run from the stage. This time the Lord of the Dance's costume is even more that of a rebel youth, black leather pants adorned with chain, figure-hugging black T-shirt, studded leather wristbands, and the headband with swinging thong tails. As with Michael's costume for the Warlords segment, there is a look of the James Dean and Marlon Brando era of Hollywood, and in the showdown that ensues between the two 'gangs' of men there is a distinct echo of Broadway's classic West Side Story. Interestingly, the dark, hooded and cloaked figures return with the arrival of the Lord of the Dance, this time bearing staffs with which they pound the floor, beating time as the tension of the conflict gathers momentum, and this time they are not masked, and enough of the faces are revealed to show they are female, not male as before. Of course they must be since there are not enough male dancers in the troupe to have them be male in this scene, but it would have simple enough to mask and disguise them, or simply hood and shade the faces from totally from view, and the decision not to do so has to be intentional, so what is the message? Is it simply to separate them from the Dark Lord's masked men and so place them firmly on the side of the good guys? Is it to contrast them with the earlier sentinels, the dark and light shading of presentation? Is it so that the gentle female presence may balance the scene that is so filled with fighting male energy? Or, as they appeared with the arrival of the good guys, is it to convey that we must remember spiritual beings, shown so darkly sinister at the show's opening, can also be good?

The battle dance, superbly choreographed with most of its 'music' being the complex patterns of the taps, ends with an uneasy stand-off between the two principle male characters, as the scene ends with both gangs at a standstill, momentarily frozen in time. They are then sprinkled with fairydust by the returned Little Spirit, anxiously trying to undo her mischief. The Dark Lord and his men reluctantly leave, he still half arguing with the Lord of the Dance, their enmity not resolved, but the Little Spirit needs her hero to solve another problem, that of her broken whistle. In true fairytale style, he takes the pieces behind his back and magically mends them.

As he gives her back the mended whistle he touches her softly on the cheek to brush away her tears. The brief, wordless scene is dressed beautifully by Ronan Hardiman's sweet liquid music, and the poignant emotion strongly acted out, vividly conveying a moment of pure, healing love in the midst of strife. The Little Spirit retreats, almost disbelieving that her hero has put everything right for her.

There will be no rest for the Lord of the Dance however, as immediately the teasing Morrighan appears on the scene. He looks at her only in passing, this time walking away alone to leave her and her companions to play with the returned Dark Lord and his men in 'Fiery Nights'. Their party is a relatively bright affair, still costumed mainly in black, the male costumes unchanged and the girls' black lace dresses only lightened by underskirts of lilac satin. Morrighan and The Dark Lord immediately form an evil alliance and dance off the stage together while the rest enjoy themselves. The dance ends gently, and into the calmed atmostphere the two fiddlers return to play an evocative lament, a message perhaps that even the harsh warriors are people too, with a soft and human side, and coupled with the number that follows it can be read also as an expression of how, despite extreme adversity, the Irish people never lost their sensitivity and ability to create beauty.

MOMENTS OF LIGHT and ROMANCE

'Siamsa' gives a colourful upbeat interlude, the stage taken over by a joyful 'gathering' dance with the troupe in simple, modern costumes. The lighting is as full of colour and movement as the dance, and serves as good illustration of the resilience of the Irish people and their ability to hold onto their spirit of 'craic', that very particularly Irish enjoyment of life. 'Siamsa' is also one of the show's most popular musical tracks, beloved by dancers of all ages. At the end of the dance, while the dancers are still on stage, Anne Buckley returns for her final song, walking onto the stage through the group of dancers, who leave her to sing the lovely traditional ballad 'She moves through the Fair'. This forms the link between the cheerful troupe number and the final section of the show.

In being a ballad tale of romance it sets the mood for the next dance, the key piece 'Stolen Kiss', where, after a brief gathering of the girls in costumes and dance style that echo the earlier 'Celtic Dream', Saoirse and Morrighan both play for the affections of the Lord of the Dance in the classic 'love versus lust' conflict. The two girls are appropriately costumed in white lace and red gypsy dress respectively, the Lord of the Dance appearing as the fairytale prince in white shirt and black pants subtly accented with Celtic embroidered cummerbund and side seams. A classic in choreography, 'Stolen Kiss' became an instant show favourite.

At its end, the thwarted temptress Morrighan betrays the Lord of the Dance to Don Dorcha and he is captured in 'Nightmare'. From this point the story is wholly dark and classic fantasy, the hero apparently overcome and murdered by the evil villain. Although portrayed entirely through the medium of dance the sequence tells the story clearly, and is readable on other levels as depicting the execution of Irish freedom fighters, or on religious level, or even as personal reflection of the near-destruction of Michael as an artist in the time leading up to his creation of the Lord of the Dance show.

We are dealing with fairytale however, at least on the surface, and the Dark Lord's triumph, as he holds the hero's belt aloft, is shortlived, and as with all good fairytales, the good magic is strongest and the Little Spirit is able to rush in with vital sprinkle of fairydust that allows the Lord of the Dance to reappear, once again clad in his rebel's black leather pants and headband but now bare-chested, rising like a phoenix from the ashes through a cloud of dry ice from a trap door at the side of the stage. The terrified warriors scatter to leave their leader to the final showdown, one on one, with his adversary. 'The Duel' is perhaps one of the most innovative and effective parts of the show, the ultimate 'dance-off' between the two main characters. Their fight to the death has no actual body contact, their 'blows' to one another all conveyed through the dazzling tapped steps and high kicks, yet the power of it as the conclusion of the story is totally believable and 'right'. At the end of it, the Dark Lord has been danced into oblivion and the Little Spirit runs in to receive the hero's joyful hug, followed quickly by his heroine in white lace, arriving for the necessary fairytale ending kiss and embrace.

CELEBRATE!

With our story told, the lights and music burst into celebration. The Little Spirit bounces out and around the stage holding a large white candle torch, followed by a parade of the hooded, cloaked figures who crisscross the stage, all bearing the same large white candle torches. Are they just celebratory party lights, or much more? Carried as they are by the spiritual figures, do they have religious connotation? Are they symbols of the triumph of amnesty and peace, gesture of forgiveness, friendship and hope for the future? Their significance is for the audience to decide, as the stage lights come up and Ronan Hardiman's wonderful 'Victory' music launches the troupe into their brilliant finale. Here, the contrast is of slick traditional choreography and ultra-modern costuming of dramatic black and white, Michael arriving on stage last to lead the conclusion of the dance. He is costumed in matching black and white colours but cut in his signature style with Celtic decorated black pants and superb white bolero jacket richly hand-embroidered with Celtic knotwork on front panels and sleeves, and on the back the trademark unicorn head logo. With this costume Michael's stage 'look' found perfection, and from this moment, the design and quality of workmanship in his jackets became a key element in his unique stage style. Very sensibly, when the show was cloned two years later and additional troupes formed, no attempt was made to apply similar costuming style to subsequent portrayers of the Lord of the Dance role, and the style remained personal to its creator.

The 'Victory' dance displayed beautifully what Michael had always dreamed of, a big spectacular finale full of exciting, vibrant energy and tirumphant joyful spirit, good having won over evil. The audience shared his delight as he introduced the key members of his cast to take their bows. In standard terms, a this point the show is 100% complete, but in keeping with one who always gives considerably more than 100%, Lord of the Dance established what has become a signature feature of Flatley shows, to still have another, even more fabulous number to come, as the show encore.

Flashing and twinkling lights and more of Ronan's wonderful upbeat music clue in the audience to the fact that all is not done, and fill the moments needed for the troupe to regroup backstage, in preparation for the significantly titled 'Planet Ireland'. The dance's title explains the futuristic design of the finale costumes just seen in 'Victory', and the two together tell us clearly that this is the portrayal of the Ireland of the future, her own free identity firmly established and a successful leader on the world stage. After the short introductory burst of music, the main part of the number is pure dance, acapella, the choreographic style of which Michael is the ultimate Master. It is also Michael's final answer to his critics who said 'it can't be done!', the ultimate demonstration that Irish dance could indeed stand alone and not only hold an audience for a full show, but captivate them like nothing else.

With reprises of the key 'Lord of the Dance' theme danced joyously by the full troupe in high spirit and flamboyantly led by Michael, the show is closed in fittingly explosive and sparkling style by the pyro fireworks before the lights go out. Audiences are left, just as Michael always wishes, filled with vibrant energy, their hearts singing and inspired with new hope, and his fairydust must surely have true magical quality, as the show has touched so many people so strongly that its inspirational effect stays with them long afterwards and enriches their lives in extraordinary ways far beyond the realms of entertainment.

Photos on this page courtesy of Caeri MacQuarrie -
Please do not use without permission.

For more inofrmation on Ronan Hardiman and his music visit his official site and interview

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