And Michael Flatley, the volcanic star of the short segment, devised the choreography. All four had a background in television or the theater, which paid off in the show's drive and shrewd pacing. Americans are about to get their first look at this phenomenon. Riverdance was bold from the beginning, owing nearly as much to a Broadway chorus line as to Irish tradition. The production's signature is scarcely controlled energy and bravura.
Legs fly, but arms too are often loose and vividly expressive.
A piece for the male corps called Thunderstorm is a consistent showstopper. It is performed a cappella, the tapping, stamping feet providing the accompaniment. As the dancers traverse the floor, the rhythm they kick up resembles a storm in all its fury, followed by the growls and eddies as the storm regroups. When conventional, cheerful instruments join in at the close, the effect is one of rescue and relief. Since the first SRO Dublin engagement, Riverdance has shuttled between Ireland and London, where it plays at Labatt's Apollo theater in Hammersmith, an old rock palace where the Beatles and the Stones once trod the boards.