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Lord of the river dance

Its brilliance seemed to emerge overnight. But behind closed doors, it had been taking shape for decades.

The international phenomenon known as Riverdance arrives tonight at Centennial Hall and continues through Sunday. Although it appeared to gain international fame almost instantly, the artistic style presented in Riverdance has evolved over many years. Since the 60s, singers such as U2, Van Morrison, Enya and Sin­ad O'Connor have become mainstream in the United States. But what happened to all the dancers?

Although Irish dancing remains something that has yet to integrate itself into everyday life, dancers from around the globe heeded the call for Riverdance performers. In 1994, producer Moya Doherty collaborated her performance ideas with the music of composer Bill Whelan and Riverdance was born.

Dedication is not something unknown to the members of the Riverdance companies. According to Merle Frimark, the North American press representative for Riverdance, the company closes its show on a Sunday, travels on Monday and heads for the next performance venue on Tuesday. The dancers do a final technical rehearsal before the actual opening performance on Tuesday evening.

"Because all stages are different, the performers have to judge distance ahead of time," Frimark said in a phone interview. She also mentioned the "amazing length" of the stage the dancers cover.

The show currently includes three international companies: The Lagan, Lee and Liffey companies. Each company is named after a major river in Ireland. The majority of the Lee company will be opening Riverdance's first Broadway show in March 2000. When they finally do hit the stage, their company name will change to Shannon Company, the longest river in Ireland, signifying a plateau in Riverdance performance.

The Lagan company will be performing here in Tucson with key dancers Michael Patrick Gallagher and Niamh Roddy. Both dancers boast rich backgrounds in Irish dancing since they were small children. Roddy, along with many of the other members of the company, has been dancing since the moment she learned to walk.

In addition to these principal dancers, there are approximately 35 Irish dancers in the troupe, not including those involved with the musical, ballet or singing aspects of the Riverdance show. Members of the group come mostly from Ireland, but others come from North America, Canada, and Australia.