Magic of the Dance – Review by Georgia Brown
Although this was the second time I was to see Magic of the Dance, I was extremely excited as the first show had been so varied and professionally staged. I was also interested to see if changes had been made and what sort of reaction I would have to the second performance – much like when you watch a film for the second time and find parts you didn’t notice originally. My friends and I found our seats, eagerly waiting for the performance to start, but I must say that when I looked around, I felt more than disappointed. The theatre had more empty seats than last year and I felt sorry for the dancers who were going to work so hard and have so much more of a challenge to engage such a small audience and keep them interested throughout. I remember mentioning last time that the packed audience didn’t participate as much as the performers wanted them to but I felt a buzz in the small crowd and hoped for the best.
I could remember the stunning, unfolding story written on a backdrop from the last time I saw the show, but this time it was almost as if the projector was out of line, so it cut off the bottom half of the pictures and names. This was quite amusing, as names came up like ‘Christo’ and Magic of the Da,’ I very quickly forgot about it, as my eyes stopped looking at the backdrop and now looked at the beautiful Collette Dunne who captivated the audience with her energetic yet graceful movements. It was a bit of a shock to see black cloaks walking up the isles with fire on sticks! I barely blinked when suddenly all I could see was ‘floating’ sticks of fire against the black back drop, it was a little bit scary as I wasn’t expecting it, but enthralling all the same. The first half of the performance was brilliant; it was really easy to tell the difference between light and dark, good and evil, and how they tried to battle against each other. The staged hatred between the two male characters was easy to tell and it was always exciting when they were together on stage, their movements quick and fiery.
As the first half went on, the dances began to feel quite similar until American dancer, Bryan Berry appeared on stage, and as I remembered from last time that I enjoyed his dancing and humour, I sat back in my seat and enjoyed what I thought was to come. I was right; he pulled off yet another mind-blowing array of tap dancing! I was completely amazed at his talent and style, but he didn’t use his upper body or facial expressions to engage the audience at all, unlike Ciaran Maguire and Dermot Cullen who may not have been as technically brilliant but used their smiles to create stage presence and convince the audience they were amazing! However I do feel that without Bryan Berry, the show would have been completely different and although all of the other dancers were mesmerising in their performances, he was the one I really enjoyed watching.
The second half of the show was without a doubt much better than the first. The use of pyrotechnics and colour was stunning and the use of noises and props were fantastic. Again Bryan Berry showed his brilliance and the entire cast joined in with his New York style choreography. The Irish mystery unfolded with magical scenes and the entire audience were left shouting for more.
A thoroughly enjoyable show. I highly recommend anyone who loves dance to get tickets before the cast move on to another town.
