Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Dance is all
in awesome
‘Spirit’

Irish performers dazzle
at Hawaii Theatre

---

By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Talented entertainers deserve to be acknowledged by name. However, the cast of "Spirit Of The Dance: The New Millennium" labors in anonymity. Whoever the three lead dancers were at the Hawaii Theatre last night, they gave dazzling performances. So did the ensemble.

Add a richly layered soundtrack, dramatic high-tech lighting effects and simple but striking costumes, and "Spirit" is a big scale experience that will fascinate anyone with an interest in dance or an eye for spectacle.

Spirit of the Dance: New Millennium: Additional performances 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; Hawaii Theatre. Tickets $25-$45, plus applicable service fees. Call 528-0506 or 526-4400

If only the dancers, or at minimum the three superb leads, were identified; from the stage at the end of show, at least!

The playbill names the production crew and staff members of the presenting entertainment company but not the dancers. Dance is what this show is and yet there is also nothing in the playbill about the Irish, Spanish, American, and Brazilian dance traditions that the troupe celebrates with such power and skill.

So, go simply to be entertained. The dancers are fabulous.

Don't try to make sense of the nominal story that loosely links the segments. The choreography suggests that a woman in white (apparently the titular spirit) is engaged in some kind of conflict with a woman who wears a gold micro-mini and black tights.

The woman in white is the instant focal point whenever she appears and personifies the ethereal beauty of ballet in contrast to the earthier dances of Ireland, Spain and elsewhere. Her "opponent" is the female lead on those and quite impressive as well.

The two have an equally commanding counterpart in the anonymous but tall, handsome and very personable male lead. His dramatic dance as combat interplay with the woman in gold amid wild yet precise work by the ensemble makes "The Ultimate Showdown" a powerful conclusion to Act One.

There are also several vocal numbers and the impression last night was that the voices are part of the pre-recorded soundtrack despite the microphones worn by the performers.

An anonymous fiddler also seemed to be performing over recorded fiddle tracks; her penchant for showing the crowd when they were expected to start clapping got stale fast. Her pretense that she couldn't hear the crowd applaud her was annoying.

Not so the dancers. Their synchronization on the line dances is fast and flawless. Their execution on the Latin and contemporary/jazz numbers creates awe-inspiring displays of strength and grace.

And those three leads were superb last night, whoever they may be.

If you love dancing be sure to see this show.

Click for online
calendars and events.