RIVERDANCE - Irish History found in Dance
Against the Elements
“In Act One, the show deals with themes that are at the heart of a lot of early music and dance, songs in praise of the earth, sun, fire, the moon and other elemental forces that are common to all cultures.” – Bill Whelan
Your journey at Riverdance begins in pre-history, where we worshiped, praised and feared the elements. Written history in Ireland began when monks inspired by St. Patrick, began to record Celtic culture. Before that, the scholar-priests of the Celts, the Druids, looked down upon writing; they kept their histories through oral history; songs, dances, rituals. These were passed down from generation to generation. All cultures sing and speak of this early time, when the earth, sun, fire, the moon and other elemental forces ruled our lives. In Riverdance’s first act, the dancing and music reflect the power of the elements. So the opening dance sequence, “Reel Around the Sun,” celebrates the sun’s great power with a vigorous troupe, in which the beating “thunder” of their feet echoes the power of one of natures’ most dramatic forces. We fear it, but we can’t live without it. In “Firedance,” the lone dancer uses gestures and hand movements to show the beauty and danger of that contradictory element.
Leaving Home
“Act Two tells how the native culture has been forced to emigrate and, by so doing, is exposed to the forms of expression of other cultures, both in dance and music.” – Bill Whelan
Between 1845 and 1850, the time of the Great Hunger, nearly two million people left Ireland for other lands, a great distribution of people and culture. Irish culture spread out around the world, learning new ideas and influencing other cultures. As John McColgan writes, “It is a credit to the Irish that they held their culture heritage so close to them wherever they traveled.”
Most of those who left Ireland during the Great Hunger traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to America. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, 7 million people came from Ireland to the United States. Thousands of Irish people already living in America sent money to relatives for boat tickets to come to the New World. Today 40 million Americans can look back on their family tree and see a link to Ireland.
Coming over to the United States was often a horrifying experience. Journeys could last up to twelve weeks, and disease and starvation were rampant. So many ships had people die on route, or were lost at sea, that they were often called “coffin ships.” In Irish tradition, the term “going west” was another phrase for dying. The Irish who sailed westward for the United States were given parties called American Wakes. And those who left Ireland never expected to return again. The American Wake was at once an event of great joy and a release of deep sadness. Many songs were sung, dances were danced, food was eaten and tears were shed. The American Wake was a way to say good bye to your old life and embrace the new.
Later in the 19th century, when steam ships were introduced, the passage across the Atlantic became easier and faster. Toward the end of the 19th century, Irish immigrants in America began to become organized, helping new immigrants and creating political and social organizations. Many of these were created to help preserve Irish heritage in America. They came to escape hunger and poverty. They came with great determination and hope, looking for opportunity. And many did find that dream, but many more found things even harder than it was in Ireland. Many saw the new Irish as invaders, taking away jobs. Many Irish immigrants came with no skills, some speaking only Gaelic, and so were given the lowest paying jobs. Many Irish Catholics came to America and learned that prejudice against them was not confined to Irish borders.
No wonder many Irish immigrants felt that they were not voluntary comers to America, but that the conditions in Ireland had forced them to leave. They saw themselves as “exiles.” They were disillusioned. “Disillusion” is the loss of a dream, and for many, the dream of a new land was dead.
But the Irish prevailed spreading their culture, and re-creating the cultures they encountered. The politician Richard O’Gorman wrote, “There seems to me nothing in the Irish nature to indicate a worn out, a moribund race. The moment it touches this soil, it seems to be imbued with miraculous energy for good and evil, so that something Irish is prominent everywhere, and you have to praise or blame, to bless or curse it, at every turn.”
RIVERDANCE - SAN DIEGO Civic Theatre
January 5-10, 2010