Farewell to the 'Dance

Comments (0) By John Freeman Thursday, Dec 3 2009

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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it some sort of involuntary muscle spasm? No, dear friends, it is the incredible, unexplainable phenomenon known as Riverdance. Spawned at the superstar-creating Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, this Irish song and dance sensation quickly spread across the globe faster than a potato famine. With its combination of traditional Celtic music and Irish step dancing, Riverdance is a crowd pleasing display of physically improbable dancing and pure athleticism. If you one of the 12 people on earth who has never seen this done, it mostly consists of lines of dancers rapidly moving their crazy dancing legs while their upper bodies and arms are held almost perfectly still. Whether or not you like this sort of thing, it is hard to deny the sheer athletic virtuosity involved. It is quite an awe-inspiring sight to see dozens of black clad dancers skittering spider-like across the stage while the flutes and fiddles pulse in the background. Now, almost 15 years after its first theatrical performance, Riverdance is on its farewell tour and blessing Fort Worth with a whopping eight farewell shows at the Bass Performance Hall. Go get your Irish up. Riverdance is at the Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Calhoun streets, through December 6. Visit casamanana.org for tickets.
Dec. 1-6, 2009