The recording, which was number one on the Billboard World Music Chart for more than six months, has sold more than two million copies world-wide, and is certified Platinum in the United States. The video has become the best-selling video in UK history. And then an explosion of shouts and whoops as all that air bursts out in a wave of wonderment. Response to that brief segment was so overwhelming that the creative team was inspired to develop a lavish, full-length production of Irish music and dance. Composer Whelan describes the development of the score in reverent terms.
Traditional music holds a special position in Ireland.
To many Irish people it has a defining role culturally and provides an authentic and eloquent link to their past. So, when you find yourself in and around music that has such a long tradition, and such delicate associations and nuance, it can begin to feel like being in a church. We dreamed that by doing so, these dances would mingle and spark off each other so as to create a performance with its own identity. It would be a performance rooted in the folk memory and arts of the Irish people, yet fresh, unique and exciting, and accessible to people everywhere. McColgan found his confirmation months later, in New York's Radio City Music Hall.