The effect of 28 dancers rapping out intricate rhythms at high volume generates a real theatrical thrill. Tim Hatley's futuristic marble-and-steel set also creates an ingenious architecture within which the dancers can constantly change formation. Butler and Dunne are without doubt a class act.

THE GUARDIAN, London

Jean Butler and Colin Dunne were the best thing about Riverdance - The Show back in 1996. Now these superlative dancers have returned to Radio City with their own and infinitely more creative spectacle, Dangerous Ground. Congratulations are in order. For what Ms. Butler and Mr. Dunne accomplish through their choreography is exactly what Riverdance does not, which is to channel Irish step dancing into genuine artistic expression. They have come up with one terrific show, filled with a consistent integrity that does not look down on popular appeal. A full house greeted the New York premiere of Dancing on Dangerous Ground, which opened on Wednesday night. As the saying goes, you don’t have to be Irish to understand the narrative thread that weaves so convincingly through the evening. Whether or not you are up on Celtic legends,it is as clear as the crystal-pure sound fo the dancers’ stamping steps that the story line is about forbidden love.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The New York Times pronounced the narrative dance musical ”one terrific show, filled with a consistent integrity,” but Radio City’s packed house of veteran Irish dance devotees was occasionally stunned by the rare sight and sound of something more: the ripening of a folkloric form that had finally escaped the bounds of its cultural identity and competitive customs to enter a realm of great theatrical expression. Whether it was Dangerous Ground’s dynamic ”Prologue” section, which intercut Dunne and Butler’s solos with the full ensemble’s ethereal fourishes, or the dazzling "Training" (in which intricate calisthenics by Mac Cumail’s army included toe-tapping push-ups) and ”Bar Scene” numbers (where terpsichorean flirtations with girlfriends were traded from sitting positions on stools), the sure invention of the show steadily built to Act Two’s impeccably subtle ”Wedding” and ”Seduction” scenes, which sealed the fates of the co-stars lead characters……Butler and Dunne are touched by stateside acceptance of their achievement. "We didn’t know exactly how it was going to turn out", Butler shyly admits, "but we were looking at extending the boundaries of what Irish dance can do. That people in America actually noticed and said, "My God, look what they’ve done", is the best reward.

BILLBOARD