At 7:55, as the final curtain calls were being made, Jimmy and I made our way into the main auditorium to find our seats (and very nice too – 17 rows back, dead centre.) As we found our seats we noticed a familiar face in the woman sitting next to us… it was a German woman named Cathy (I think) who had told us off earlier for taking a snap of her while she was leaving the stage area (her boyfriend is a sound technician, so this was her 10th show – and that didn’t stop her from being the noisiest member of the audience that night!)
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At 8:00 the lights went down, and the band came onstage and sat in their boxed area at the back. The overture began. Not much happens in the overture, it is mainly a light display, where lots of flashing lights (MUCH too bright) dazzle the audience. The back screen changes colour a lot too (a bit like the overture for West Side Story.) Once the overture finishes, the scene changes for the opening dance – Axis Mundi (The Wedding). Actually, there is no scenery as such, all scene changes are accomplished by the images projected onto the back screen. The lighting is very effective in this scene, and projects an image of 2 church windows. |
For the benefit of those without programmes, there is a pre-recorded narrator
who tells us that “Gaelforce Dance is
a story of love, tragedy and peace… the story of 2 brothers…yada yada yada…”
Thankfully he doesn’t rattle on too much and leaves us to enjoy the dancing for the rest of the show.
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In
this scene, we see the troupe, (girls in white costumes and golden corset
things and guys in black) watching the wedding of the 2 of the main
characters, Cuan (played
by Anton Cronin) who is marrying childhood sweetheart Aisling (Clare Casey – dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress.)
Also present is Cuan’s younger brother Lorcan
(Timmy Manners) who is best man. Timmy is dressed more informally
– in a bluish purple shirt. Also
with Timmy is Lorcan’s mysterious girlfriend, Rhiannon
(Christine Robinson – dressed in a green celtic-y dress.).
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 ©JS |
 ©MH |
The marriage goes ahead and all is happy – Clare does a little soft shoe solo, really showing off her wonderful style. Clare is trained in ballet and modern dance, and it really shows here. Her arm movements are very free and flowing. In fact I would say that Clare is one of the finest female Irish dancers in the world. Her dancing is style and grace personified! |
 ©GF |
Anyway, once she’s done, Anton does a little hardshoe solo before to the assembled crowd, before turning to Timmy and begging him to have a go on the dance floor. Reluctantly (!) he agrees – and launches into a FABULOUS solo, called Rhythm of the Heart. This is where the show becomes very unrealistic – NOBODY EVER dances this good at a real wedding reception!!!
Timmy Manners - Rhythm of the Heart
©JS
I
must get something out of the way before we continue… I simply have to say
that Timmy Manners is one of the best dancers I have ever seen in my whole
life!!! He is absolutely incredible!
| This dude is packed with energy and has fantastic stage presence. He has an onstage charisma that rivals Flatley, and a style that is totally different and very entertaining! His dancing is free, bouncy, fast and intricate, and later on in the show he treats us to some superb acrobatics which he incorporates seamlessly into his dance. He used to be in a circus doing acrobatics and you can tell in the way that he does his leaps and somersaults! I have never seen anyone dance like this, it is a totally different style to anyone else! This guy is in a league of his own! I can’t wait to see him on video, he really deserves to be a superstar. |
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I remember when I was watching the webcast on St Pats Day, that the video
updates weren’t working so I couldn’t see what was going on – however I could
hear the music, and I absolutely LOVED the music for Timmy’s solo.
It has a fantastic drum introduction – even better than the ones used
in RD and LOTD – and then it launches into a really fast energetic piece.
Click on the
to listen to an extract.
This is one of my favourite pieces of music, and I imagined that the dance
that went with it would be very similar to Reel around the Sun or Cry of
the Celts – which all follow the same sort of theme for opening a show
(troupe dances – cool drum solo kicks in – lead dancer leaps onto stage and
gets audience into frenzy, troupe storms on and routine finishes.)
But when I saw it live, I was very surprised to see that it was NOTHING like how I had imagined! There is no grand Flatley-style entrance for Timmy, he is just pulled out from the back of the crowd and launches into his solo (which is a bit too short – he really needs more time to shine in this one.)
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Then Lorcan’s girlfriend, Rhiannon joins him, and Timmy picks her up and lifts her clear over his head (this sort of thing happens quite a lot in the show – you always worry that the girls will be dropped or something!) |
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After Timmy and Christine have had their little go, Anton & Clare join in the dance, as do the rest of the GF Trouplings, and they all build up speed to their climax!
©MH
Like
I said, the way this dance is done is very different to RD/LOTD’s opening
dance, nice to see that Richard Griffin has used some original and innovative
ideas and not just copied the winning formula of other shows.
On the subject of choreography - Richard’s choreography is very intricate
– you don’t get many occasions where the troupe are in line doing the same
steps, Richard has the troupe move around in different formations, and uses
LOTS of arm movements (some of them very intricate.)
All in all, very good and original choreography.
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The
audience seemed to like it so far, and as soon as it was over the lights go out and Tara Ryan walks
on to sing Men of the Fields. Despite her bad throat she still sang
beautifully. Her voice (and the style of music she sings to) is very
Enya-esque. The choice of songs for Gaelforce is quite good, none of them are
boring or dreary. In fact, out
of all 3 songs in the show, this was probably the weakest (that’s only
because the other two are so good!)
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As Tara leaves, Anton returns with the men of the fields. This scene is set on Cuan’s farm, showing his supervision of the men working in his fields. It’s a hardshoe number with the guys dressed in old-fashioned workman clothes (white shirts, overalls and cloth caps.) Here we get to see some more of Anton Cronin’s dancing, which is very different from Timmy’s (probably choreographed to reflect the different personalities.) Anton is more of a dancer in the Colin Dunne mould, with fast, precise steps and minimum arm movements (although he does do a few original arm movements).
Anton
Cronin - Men of the Fields
©JS - Click above for a larger version.
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After a while the music finishes and after a second’s rest to catch a bit of applause, Anton launches into the requisite Warlords style a capella number. He has some pretty nifty footwork on display, too! Suddenly his wife, Aisling, returns! Clare is dressed in a red costume (I think) and shows of some even faster footwork (drawing much whistling from the men of the fields) then Clare, Anton and the rest start dancing faster and faster and let out a roar at the end. (Gee where have I seen that before?) |
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This
is one of the few times in the show where the choreography allows for really
fast steps. Where Riverdance
and Lord of the Dance’s hardshoe
numbers were designed to deliver maximum excitement and speed, Gaelforce doesn’t
worry about that too much, relying on a more theatrical and narrative approach.
The dance is there to tell a story, and not just to blow your socks
off! The style of the show is COMPLETELY
different to those other shows, and very refreshing and entertaining to watch.
After that is a dance called Ice of Body, Fire of Feet. This starts off with a female soft shoe routine, followed by a brilliant hardshoe solo by Clare Casey, who shows a wilder side to her in this dance. (In fact for a while I thought it was Rhiannon’s solo… just seemed like a bad girl sort of dance!) This time Clare was wearing leather trousers.
©JS
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Her hardshoe footwork is no less dazzling than her soft, and she shows off her wide experience of ballet and modern dance in this too. The music has a definite flamenco influence, and some parts of it are similar to Ronan Hardiman’s music for Gypsy. The other girls join Clare towards the end to finish off this hardshoe number. |
©GF
| One thing I do remember about this was a humorous touch… when the girls left the stage one girl was about to leave, then she turned, kissed the accordion player and then ran off! The accordion player seemed genuinely surprised and baffled, and just shrugged to the audience and to the rest of the band, who were coming onstage for an instrumental number Pinch of Snuff. |
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There
are quite a few times in the show when the band come onto stage to do a number
while the dancers prepare for the next scene. The band are all very good, but Colm O Foghlu
in particular, not only a superb composer but also a gifted performer.
He really has a great stage presence of his own and looks like he thoroughly
enjoys what he is doing onstage.
 ©GF |
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After
this comes After Hours, a really cool hardshoe male number
with Timmy leading. I think it’s set on the streets, with Timmy hanging
out with his buddies and having fun. There’s something instinctively cool
about this dance, the music is very modern (African drum beats with an
Irish top line melody that is very similar to Olive Hurley's Treble Reel music.)
Timmy is very bouncy, free and easy in this dance, and looks like he's having
fun up there.
 ©MM |
Timmy's
costume is very modern as well - hard to describe… he has no shirt on,
but has a sort of black life preserve jacket.
This must be a new costume, as I have seen some recent pictures
from the German tour and he wore a normal black t-shirt. This new costume looks much better. After
Timmy has done his stuff, the music speeds up tempo as Christine Robinson
(playing Lorcan’s girlfriend, Rhiannon, remember?) bursts out onto stage
and does some incredibly fast dancing. Christine is an excellent hardshoe dancer and it really shows in
this dance. |
 ©MM |
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After this
display of frenzied footwork, it’s on to a more calmer dance… Aisling
(The Dream.) As the name suggests, this is Aisling’s
dream sequence. This scene starts off all dark, with Clare lying on the floor, fast asleep. Colm comes onstage and plays a beautiful slow piece of music on the whistle, as Clare rises and dances a soft shoe solo. (Actually it’s not really soft shoe, because she dances this one completely barefoot! Erm, so is this a no shoe dance, then?) |
 The Dream |
The
lights then show Timmy and Anton, standing still on separate sides of the
stage, with Clare dancing in front of one, then moving to the next.
Timmy
does a bit of hardshoe in this as well, doing his steps on the spot while
Clare dances around in a trance, and acts like a puppet that is under Timmy’s
control. I like this dance a lot!
After that Tara Ryan returns to sing another ballad, As we Journey. This is a fabulous song, and the instrumentation is very, very Enya inspired. Even with her sore throat, she belts this song out regardless!
 ©GF |
Next
up are two of my personal favourites. In a
Single Moment is the show’s love duet.
The music to this is quite possibly the best piece of music I
have heard in years! It’s a
slow, soulful piece (Colm O Fughlu yet again performing brilliantly. On the CD this piece is played on saxaphone but in the show it is
done on flute/whistle.)
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©GF
 Rhiannon betrays Aisling ©GF |
While
Timmy & Clare are all busy holding each other and being lovey dovey,
the music picks up more bass and who should come along but Lorcan’s
girlfriend, Rhiannon? Oh dear! She sees the two of them together, and she
clearly isn’t pleased! She storms
off in a fury, and out of spite informs Cuan of his wifes unfaithfulness,
and she brings him onstage to see for himself.
Anton looks furious… but doesn’t interrupt them just yet… he
is biding his time for the next dance… Storm
Clouds Gather.
For me, this is my favourite of the whole show. The first part of this dance is very original, basically it’s a marital argument told through dance! As the scene opens, Cuan is having an almighty row with his wife. She is trying to talk to him and explain, but he is having none of it, he turns his back on her a lot, then turns on her with very angry steps. In my opinion, Cuan is the least interesting of the 4 main characters (the respectable farm bloke) but Anton certainly gets chance to make the most of his role in this dance! He manages to put a great acting performance on top of his intricate steps, which must be very hard work. |
Suddenly the action shifts from Anton and Clare to another argument…
this time the tables are turned and we see Timmy getting a right telling off
from Christine! The music also shifts
from Cuan’s Men of the Fields theme
tune to Lorcan’s After Hours theme
tune. Very clever and effective. The music to this part of the show is fantastic,
and unfortunately isn’t on the Gaelforce CD (presumably this is one of the
new pieces of music), but I have recorded the whole sequence onto a Realaudio
clip for you to hear. The sound quality
isn’t the best, but it’s better than nothing.
Click on the to
hear it!
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Anyway, where were we… oh yes, Timmy is getting a right ear full from his missy, and he of course has a look of injured innocence on his face as he tries to smart talk his way out of it. At one point Christine snatches the red scarf (from Clare’s dress in the previous scene) from Timmy and waves it around, her body language saying “Oh yeah? Well, where did you get THIS from then?” She runs offstage in a bad mood, and Timmy calls his buddies forward, who line up behind him, execute a few brief steps, then let out a war cry as they stamp with their fists outstretched. There is going to be trouble, oh yes, there is going to be trouble! |
 ©GF |
Lorcan & Co prepare for the fight...
©GF
 "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough" ©GF |
Now comes a Hell’s Kitchen style dance duel between the two sides, but much more intricate, with the music constantly changing from one theme tune to the other, depending on how well the fight is going. There is a lot of pushing, shoving and yelling in this one, and as the fight gets more intense, Timmy and Anton go centre stage and start battling it out, trying to out-tap each other and generally cause trouble. |
"Fight!
Fight! Fight!"
©GF
 "...anything you can tap, I can tap faster... I can tap anything faster than you..." Whoops, wrong show! ©MM |
This whole sequence, from beginning to end, is fantastic, and my favourite of the show! Definitely the most exciting part! Like Hell’s Kitchen there is no clear winner at the end of all this brawling, but you know that the trouble is only just beginning. I thought this would have been a good Act 1 closer, but instead there is one more – but to allow us (and the dancers) time to catch our breath, Colm comes on again for another whistle solo called As the Tide Turns. Very nice. |
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Once that is done it is time for the Act 1 closer, the Black Rose Blooms. This is a dance with Christine and her friends. I didn’t really see what all this was about, but who cares? It looked good. But seemed an unusual choice to end Act 1. (I think this should have been in Act 2 myself.)
This is another great bit of music that isn’t on the CD, so I assume it’s a new, or revamped piece. Luckily there should be a new GF CD coming out in the future. I really liked the music to this one! Colm’s music rules! The only thing I really remember about this dance was that at the very end, Christine puts on a white mask. Strange – but there is a reason for it, but that’s will be revealed later… |
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