Riverdance was where the 'revolution' of Irish dance all began. The original Riverdance was a seven-minute segment created as the interval act for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. Ireland had won the competition in 1993, so was the host nation in 1994, and RTE (the Irish National Television Network) was in charge. Producer Moya Doherty and her husband, Director John McColgan, were assigned the task of organising the event and coming up with an interval act to showcase Ireland. Apparently, the thought of having to do something with Irish dancing was so unappealing (a normal reaction for the majority of Irish people at the time) that Moya almost turned down the assignment. However, the previous year she and her husband had produced the Mayo 5000 Concert at the National Concert Hall, the show of Irish song, music and dance to celebrate the opening of the Visitors' Centre at the Ceide Fields in Mayo, a 5,000 year old archaeological site. That concert, performed for an audience of Ireland's elite and most cultured people, and attended by the Irish President, Mary Robinson, had included a new musical work by composer Bill Whelan, choral pieces by the choir Anuna, and starred Irish dancers Jean Butler and Colin Dunne (who danced together), and one Michael Flatley.

Michael's performance had taken the concert hall by storm. Renowned within the Irish dancing world as an outstanding World Champion Irish dancer, Michael had been touring with the Chieftains for some years, and had performed dazzling routines with them at the opening ceremony of the Paraplegic Olympics in Dublin in 1987, and at the Spirit of Mayo concert Ireland witnessed for the first time how electrifying his unique style could be. Already, even in film footage from the 1987 performance, moves and style that would become Riverdance are clearly evident, and in the footage of the so-called 'Mayo 5000', not only footwork but also Michael's unusual choice of costume and shoe style (in black and white) give glimpses of future creativity, some of which would only blossom fully in 2005 in Celtic Tiger.

The reception given to Michael at the Mayo 5000 made him the perfect answer to the problems of Eurovision. After the Mayo 5000 show, Moya had asked him what he wanted to do with his dance, and he had spoken of his dream to create a big show fit for the world stage, with a big line of 30 or 40 dancers, all dressed appropriately and backed with full orchestra and choir. So the scene was drawn right there, ready to go. All it needed was BIll Whelan to come in and work with Michael and create a special piece of music, and the choir Anuna to be the choral element. Their approach to choral work was fresh and different, of the highest quality, and their members had a 'look' that was unique and ideal for the stage. For a female dancer to dance opposite Michael, Jean Butler, the svelt Irish-American dancer from the Mayo 5000, with her glorious tumbling copper curls, was the obvious choice. Since the Eurovision was to take place at the Point Theatre, on Dublin's River Liffey, Moya wanted to use a theme that took that location into account, hence Bill Whelan came up with the name 'Riverdance', and a great classic was born.

SEVEN MINUTES THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

Eurovision 1994 took place at the Point on Saturday April 30th 1994, and was broadcast across Europe to an estimated 300,000 people. It has been referred to as 'the seven minutes that shook the world', so great and unexpected was its impact. In Dublin dancing circles, for weeks before the event, rumours were rampant that Michael was going to produce something revolutionary, and many were quite anxious about the outcome. Irish dance was a precious and strongly preserved tradition, bound up in strict competition rules laid down decades before by the governing body, An Comisiun na Rince Gaelige, and to find that an American born Irishman, even though a World Champion through An Comisiun, was going to significantly 'bend' some of the rules and present in public a modern 'showdance', was shocking. As close as hours before the event, people were begging Michael not to risk the wrath and not to challenge the boundaries as he intended, but all who had seen rehearsals had been stunned by what they saw, and loved it, and Michael himself had no doubts that what he was doing would work and be successful. He also held passionately belief that Irish dance needed, and deserved, to be allowed to grow as a vibrant, world class art form. He went ahead, Moya luckily having decided on live performance and not a recording, and at the end of seven minutes the 4,000 people in the Point were on their feet, some in tears, so forceful was the impact of Riverdance. Outside the Point, all round the country the nation was equally impressed, and that night became one of those rare, strange moments in time when everyone knows exactly where they were and what they were doing. Even people who did not see it, either live or on television, know how or why they missed it. It became a key moment in Irish cultural history. All across Europe, the reaction was unprecedented.

In fact, the Eurovision Riverdance was still a very traditional dance segment, and that it was adds to its value and makes nonsense of the protests that Michael's innovations 'bastardised' Irish dance. After a mystical introductory choral entry and sweet soprano solo, it used a graceful slipjig for Jean, who represented the personification of the River Liffey, dressed in a short, elegant, softly flowing black lace dress, and only moved her arms minimally. Then came a solo for Michael, whose role symbollised the Earth, based in traditional hornpipe rhythmn and incorporating true traditional steps. However, his entrance was a magnificent explosion across the stage with expansive leap to rousing drums, and he did move his arms, also accelerated the footwork dramatically, playing dueling duets with the drummers, and included superb athletic leaps and high kicks over his head, at the same time using his whole body and face to add electric energy, expression and passionate joy to the whole solo. This was Irish dancing as no-one had ever witnessed it before! Then, the audience mesmerised, his long dreamed-of line of dancers in sleek, simple black costumes, worlds away from the stiffened, over-decorated and coloured feis costumes, stormed across the stage hammering out the energy-charged rhthymns, joined once again by Michael and Jean for the thunderous finale. What has been called 'the Flatley revolution' had burst into life, and Irish dancing could never be the same again.

Riverdance was first made commercially available as a charity release only weeks later, due to public demand, a short video released in aid of the famine appeal in Rowanda. It simply presented two runs of the Eurovision dance, and of course was an instant best seller. BIll Whelan's music too became a huge hit, overshadowing the Song Contest winner of the year, which happened to be Ireland one more time,(our sixth of seven to date), with the wonderful Brendan Graham song 'Rock 'n' Roll Kids' sung by Charlie McGettigan, and one Paul Harrington, who was to enjoy well deserved worldwide stardom in Celtic Tiger.

EXPANDING THE DREAM

The public were not satisfied, however, and it became clear that Riverdance had to be developed. Argument ensued about whether or not Irish dancing, even with Michael creating the choreography, could possibly hold an audience for a full show. Such was the general view of Irish dance as a stiff and stuffy folk tradition Michael could not convince anyone of his belief that 'Ireland could stand on her own two feet' on the world stage, and in the event Riverdance the Show became an international review show, although in its original form predominantly Irish. BIll Whelan's memorable music score helped keep it so, as in many of the foreign dance segments there is a strange sense that by the end of the numbers the dancers in very subtle way are doing a version of the Riverdance.

Michael always wanted to tell a story with his dance, and had a deep and learned interest in Irish history, which would be unveiled more and more prominently in years to come, and those elements formed the core of his work in Riverdance the Show. The opening number was another absolute classic creation, 'Reel around the Sun', suggestive of the ancient Celts and with echoes of the first morning sun at Newgrange. Again, simple costuming was used, predominantly black, although with highlight of rich emerald green and a pure white shirt for Michael. The emergence of the day was shown through lighting that made strong use of shadow and movement, against a backdrop image of a huge red morning sun. It was beautiful and original, even if only a small part of what Michael himself wanted. He said afterwards that he had wanted to do so much more, using laser lights and richer setting to create a much deeper and more powerful effect, but all those involved in the show were afraid to go too far. It would be many years before the world would see how far Michael's vision of such an opening could go ('Dancing in the Dark', opening number of Celtic Tiger).

For Irish people in 1995, 'Reel around the Sun', being the first the public would see of Michael and his work since Eurovision a year before, needed to be close to the Eurovision piece, but different enough not to appear a copy of it, and if anything more explosive. No-one at the time could have credited that Michael could produce a solo for himself more dazzling than his Eurovision one, but his solo choreography for 'Reel around the Sun' showed there was plenty more where that had come from. It is interesting to remember also that it was this dance, and this explosive entrance leap across the stage, which would be the first glimpse of Michael for thousands around the world. For countless thousands over several years, his impact would hit via television broadcast of the Riverdance the Show on video, thus it was this dance audiences would see first, not the original Eurovision piece, which was used in the show to close the first act.

MUSIC of the FEET

The first act of Riverdance the Show included another signature Flatley dance style, accapella. To choreograph without music was something Michael had done since childhood, using the sounds of his taps as his music, and in 'Distant Thunder' the world first saw how spectacular it could be. That dance also presented for the first time an all-male showdance, to become another key element in Michael's shows. In Riverdance he had just six dancers, plus himself, displaying their superbly timed steps against a background of thunder and lightning. Audiences loved it. Costuming was all black, Michael wearing black leather pants, a hint of what would become distinctively his own personal stage style.

If there is any style of dance other than Irish identifiable with 'Flatley style' it is the Spanish Flamenco, and of the foreign disciplines brought into the show this must have been the most welcome for Michael. As far back as the 1987 performance with the Chieftains, Michael danced on stage in Spanish style bolero jacket and Cordoba hat, and incporporated slick, strongly Flamenco flavoured moves into his choreography.

The third appearance on stage for Michael in the first act of the show was with a repeat of the Eurovision number just before the interval, a vital inclusion for the evening. Coming as it then did after the three new pieces of work featuring him, and a further Irish dance number, 'The Countess Cathleen', for Jean Butler and three male Russian dancers, as well as another Anuna song and the wonderful Uilleann pipe solo lament 'Cu Chulain', it is interesting that the Eurovision segment still held as much impact as it had when it stood alone as the only piece of it kind. Even now, well over a decade later, it still stands as a classic and a unique piece of art.

TO THE NEW WORLD

Act Two took the story to the New World, another progression that would be echoed in a future Flatley creation. To the haunting strains of 'Lift the Wings' the backdrop showed a symbolic flight of geese across a misty sky, and at the end Michael and Jean walked briefly across the stage as the bridge and New York skyline signifies entry to America. The second act included little Irish content in fact, concentrating on the American tapdancers, the six Russian folkdancers of the Moiseyev Dance Company and an American Gospel singing group. There was also a Flamenco solo for Maria Pages. The Irish input was confined to another choral number for Anuna, a musical number, and then a grand finale 'Riverdance International', in which Michael and Jean had further solo and duet parts and Michael's big line of Irish dancers filled the stage again with similar impact to the Eurovision Riverdance. In retrospect, the Irish traditional music number is of particular interest, as it featured Michael playing the flute, the first time the public discovered his skill as a musician. It is interesting also that the chosen tunes included a verse of 'The Coolin', which he would develop into his masterpiece solo 'Whispering Wind' a few years later.

The finale dance of the show, 'Riverdance International' brought two more high-charged solos, a soft-shoe for Jean and one more mesmerising hard shoe of frenzied speed for Michael, who held the Guinness World Record for tap speed at the time with 28 taps per second. The most memorable moment of the number, however, was the appearance of the chorus troupe at the end of Michael's solo, as he tapped his way at considerable speed diagonally up a short flight of step across the back of the stage to lead the troupe on, already dancing, down the steps, so well rehearsed that not one even glanced towards their feet.

The encore of Riverdance the Show consisted, in standard style, of all the main performers coming on stage and echoing a few moments of their dances, Jean in lovely white lace dress and dancing a graceful step, Michael in one of his already signature Spanish style short bolero jackets, this one white and richly decorated with black Celtic embroidery. His brief encore dazzled the audience with five consecutive high kicks and another echo of his 1987 performance with the Chieftains, a playful 'moon-walk' backing across the stage. With all the cast finally back on stage, the foreign dancers joined the Riverdance line to reprise the last moments of the original piece to close the show. It would be later that Michael's technique of creating a full 'encore' dance, with even more impact than the finale number, would come into being.

How much more Michael wanted to do with Riverdance the Show will never be known. He has often spoken of quickly having 'Riverdance II' and 'Riverdance III' in his head even as he danced in the opening nights of the show. Doubtless many of his ideas found their way into his own shows later, where he had free rein to make the show more modern in effect with more of a rock show look and sound that would reach a wider and younger audience. His own dance style and steps, though so superb and stunning in Riverdance, would also develop and grow unbelievably, and indeed continue to do so to this day - by his own admission, he can 'do things with his feet that he could not do ten years ago'. Perhaps even Michael himself doe not quite know how he performs some of his steps. As he puts it, he 'becomes the dance' and 'the dance dances him', which is all part of his unique genius as an artist. Yet so much of what was to come is visible in Riverdance that it still stands as a classic piece of art, and watching the video of the show still captures the imagination, constantly reveals new details of interest and holds a timeless fascination.

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