Sometimes it is worth studying the qualities of a logo. It can sometimes tell you more about the soul of an artistic production than anything else. The new Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games emblem glints like a metallic nameplate that wouldn’t look out of place on the bonnet of a Chevy or Buick truck – hard-edged, shiny and macho.
But what about the show? First of all, it has to be said, the dancers in this latest embodiment of the Flatley brand are faultless – you wouldn’t see better drill routines on Horse Guards Parade. Not a foot wrong all night, steel toecaps tapped out fabulous patterns like coordinated machine-guns. And in these orgiastic displays of rhythm it is easy to find the ex-Chieftain’s passion for this Irish art form. The dancers have clearly undergone assessments that would have weeded out the good leaving only the excellent. In his insistence on perfection Flatley is known to have turned the lights out during rehearsals so that the performers could better focus on micro-managing their taps.
Dangerous Games is a simple story of good versus evil. The Puck-like ‘Little Spirit’ has a dream in which the Lord of the Dance (Morgan Comer) and his Chieftains take on the Dark Lord (Tom Cunningham) and his disciples. Along the way the Lord’s devotion to his true love Saoirse (Nikita Cassidy) is threatened by the seductress Morrighan (Andrea Kren). In between scenes 17-year-old Rachel O’Connor (a star from The Voice) sings in the guise of Erin the Goddess, and acts as our tuneful narrator for the night.
The plot is really only a skimpy excuse for parading phalanxes of hoofers doing their thing. And individually and collectively these young athletes were fabulous. The music is piped, not live, apart from the two very able and always smiling fiddlers Giada Costenero Cunningham and Eimear Reilly. The sound track always ran loud with some sound effects that would have been at home in Mad Max, Fury Road. Dancers were variously kitted out as a robotic army, Barbie Girl babes and a fascist male army, as if sexual stereotypes needed further reinforcing. The ‘Little Spirit’ played by Jess Judge was a welcome delicate touch in a production that sought to impress with overbearing production values.
The stage was kept clear apart from a single flight of wide stairs leading up to a higher platform and the entire back wall served as a screen for back projected film and other visuals which nullified the need for scenery changes. While mesmeric at times – an enormous full moon riding above billowing clouds for example – other treatments needed to be filed away in the ‘tat’ box. Landscapes glowed with clashing colours turned up to the max with electric green, pink and turquoise hurting the eye, while faux waterfalls and a rather stiffly animated unicorn over-egged the ‘mystic’ landscape. Deceased leprechauns would be spinning in their graves at this portrayal of the Emerald Isle.
When asked in an interview about his extraordinary wealth and success, Flatley alluded to what really mattered most to him – the simple desire to dance. While Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games is further evidence of his unquestioned prowess as both performer and choreographer, there is a worry that Flatley’s past encounters with Disney and Las Vegas in particular have turned his head in the wrong direction. Yes the hits keep coming, but this latest extravaganza more than dips its toes in glitz, cliché and some extremely cheesy visual effects that undermine his stated desire to breathe new life into an ancient Irish form. ★★★☆☆ Simon Bishop 13/05/15.
Photo – Brian Doherty
