Riverdance

Oh.my.heavens.  I went to see Riverdance last night at the Ohio Theater here in Columbus.  I wanted to start crying and they hadn't even made it through the first song.  I know, I cry in libraries, I cry over really beautiful works of art, I cry at the Skull Session before an Ohio State football game, and I cry watching Irish dancing.  Please don't think me a blubbering fool because anybody who knows me knows I am not prone to crying at the drop of a hat.  But there are just some moments that catch you by surprise and evoke a response that you weren't quite ready for. 

We had managed to get free tickets from my brother's fiance whose friend had given them to her and so my mom and I jumped at the chance to go.  I remember watching Riverdance on VHS as a child all the time.  I would rent it from the library on frequent occasion and watch intently as Michael Flatley did his thing.  I found it to be mesmerizing.  Of course, when you watch things like that, you think "how hard can it be?"  I always think that when I listen to Yanni play the piano.  We somehow think it can't be that difficult and that we can just sit down at the piano and bust out a tune just like he does, or in this case, that after watching one performance of Riverdance we think we can somehow be just like them at the flip of a switch.  Yeah, no.  I'll keep dreaming. 

There were so many pieces of the show that I was fascinated by - the dancing, the guy on the fiddle, the outfits, the drummer, the blonde-haired singer who had a voice to die for, the sheer athleticism of what they do night after night.  The guy playing the fiddle clearly was someone who loved his job.  I didn't think he was ever going to stop smiling.  And talk about the devil going down to Georgia - this guy could wail on the fiddle.  He just looked so dang happy while he was playing.  And it was so intuitive. For someone who is not musically inclined and had a hard time marching and playing the clarinet at the same time while in high school marching band, my hat is off to anyone who can play a musical instrument and make it look like they're breathing.  It was like it was an extension of his body, that fiddle.

Oh, and the tap dancers.  There was one act where they had a tap dancing/Irish dancing duel.  One, it was hysterical because each side mocked the other, but two, I just remember thinking "what a gift."  I mean, these guys' legs are essentially their own musical instruments.  They can control and manipulate sounds just by moving muscles and shuffling a certain way.  I was jealous.   Much like marching band, tap dancing was short-lived for me as a child.  I had what seemed a terribly embarrassing moment on stage when I was a kid and I don't think I opted to stick with tap dancing for long after that.

 

But seriously, if you ever get the chance to see Riverdance live, do it.  I don't care how cheesy you think it is or how girly.  It's worth the money.  And take me with you.  :)