‘Riverdance’ making farewell tour with stop in Akron
3/27/2008 - West Side Leader
 |
| “Riverdance” will be performed at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall April 1-3 |
| Photo: Clark James Mishler |
The rediscovery part will be easy. Alana Mallon, who will dance the female lead in this production, said in a telephone interview the show has remained much the same since it first opened.
“A few numbers have changed a bit,” said the 27-year-old Glasgow, Scotland, native. She said basically the dances and other acts “that make up the loose narrative of the history of clog dancing and its influence on and similarity to Spanish flamenco and American tap dance are intact.”
Mallon has been with “Riverdance” for eight years, performing in the Broadway version and in other international touring groups that traveled through Asia and Australia. For the past five years, she has been dancing the lead role. Interestingly, though, she noted that to preserve the wear and tear on her feet and ankles, she dances a chorus or “troupe” role a couple of times a week. The principal part calls for much more stage time, she said, including alternating sections in the famous “hard-as-nails” fiberglass clog shoes and the soft shoes that are reminiscent of dance slippers.
Mallon grew up in traditional Celtic dance. Until she landed the “Riverdance” role, she was mostly into the competition circuit. She has won her share of national and other championship titles.
When asked what she thinks about on stage (since she knows the routines so well and has done them so many times), Mallon said that she can “watch other people more.” She takes the liberty of watching the other dancers perform now, since she doesn’t have to concentrate so much on her own steps. Often, she said, she’ll look at people in the first five rows of the audience and find herself “wondering what they’re thinking.”
In almost every other scene of the production, there is a musical interlude of one kind or another (like a fiddle solo, a magnificent uilleann pipe piece or singing by the “Riverdance” singers). Elsewhere, there are African-American inspired tap dance pieces and Russian-based stomp dances that break the thunder of wobbling Irish heels.
When all is said and done, it is the troupe of 50 or so Irish cloggers and step dancers that captivates the audience in the legendary “Riverdance” section which gets the audience to its feet at the final curtain. The fact that they dance as one pair of feet, with all the clicks in exact time, still has the power to fascinate. The rhythms are intricate, the feet are flying and the effect is mesmerizing.
Tickets range in price from $25 to $55 and can be purchased at the Thomas Hall Box Office by calling (330) 972-7570 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Performances last about two hours and 15 minutes.
Roger Durbin is associate dean and professor of bibliography for University Libraries at The University of Akron and board director of the Dance Critics Association. To contact him, e-mail r.durbin@sbcglobal.net.
More Entertainment News
Calendar of Events
- Breathe II Summer Exhibit - 8/1/2010
- Plein Air works - 8/1/2010
- Figuratively Speaking - 8/1/2010
- Nature Realm Concert Series - 8/1/2010
- Summer Family Film Festival - 8/2/2010
...More Events
