Just offer the notion that she's an athlete and Alana Mallon says "absolutely!"
She and her Riverdance colleagues are long-jumpers without the sand, sprinters without the blocks, high jumpers who set the bar high every night. Mallon is one of six lead dancers in the Boyne Cast of Riverdance, the North American company that is making it farewell tour.
After this season, the Riverdance road show will play only in China, Europe and the UK. MSC OPAS brings three of these farewell shows to Rudder Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Riverdance began 15 years ago as a simple interval act between contestants of the 1994 Eurovision Song Competition in Dublin, Ireland. It turned out to be the show stealer, starring Irish dancing phenoms Jean Butler and its choreographer Michael Flatley.
While certainly its draw has always been the torrid-paced Irish dance, music and song, Riverdance tells a story of Ireland and its people's journey into and out of their beloved land. But even if you're not up for the history lesson, the constant visual splash of costumes, sound and energy may just find you tap-dancing back to your car at show's end.
Mallon had dance trophies on her shelf before her fourth birthday, winning contest after contest in Ireland and the UK. She endured the typical teen years of lost interest, considering dancing as mostly a hobby she was good at but with little long-term ambition.
But her parents kept exposing her to dance and she looks back now as fortunate they did. At age 29, it's her career.
Mallon was in the insurance business when she was offered a role in Riverdance -- On Broadway at New York's Gershwin Theater. Then it was on the Riverdance road to Europe, Australia and the Far East before winding up in the North American touring cast.
She says that while Riverdance has its roots in Ireland, its reach is global.
"We've got the Spanish and Russian dancers and the live band and the singers so it's definitely multi-cultural," Mallon said last week from San Antonio, where the cast played a week at the legendary Majestic Theater -- riverdancing near the riverwalk. "There is something in the show for everyone."
She calls the Irish style of dance unique. "If you do tap, ballet, modern, hip-hop and Irish, the Irish is something that most dancers will always come back to."
Just watching Riverdance will require a measure of stamina, and that's where the athleticism comes in.
"Some have compared this style of dancing to a football match," Mallon said. "That's the sort of energy and effort we put in. And we normally do eight shows per week."
Mallon is one of six leads in the Boyne Company, along with Craig Ashurst, Marty Dowds, Padraic Moyles, Melissa Convery and Caterina Coyne.
The stage will also feature the two dozen members of the Riverdance Irish Dance Troupe; the Riverdance Singers with soloist Laura Yanez; flamenco dancer Rocio Montoya; the Moscow Folk Ballet Company of Anja Brovkina, Sergey Bukreev, Igor Karpenko, Natia Rtveliashivili, Evgeniya Starodubova and Yury Zhivoglotov; Riverdance Tappers Jason E. Bernard and Kelly Isaac; and baritone soloist Michael Samuels.
Tickets for any of the three nights of Riverdance are available by calling the MSC box office at 845-1234 or online at www.mscopas.org.
Final performance
The Texas A&M department of performance studies with aid from the departments of computer science and engineering and the Texas A&M dance program will put a wrap on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream today at Rudder Forum. The 2 p.m. performance is the last of eight shows.
Directed by performance studies assistant lecturer Amy Hopper, with involvement by numerous faculty and staff, this is one of the Bard's more popular works.
"With A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare gives you so much to play with," Hopper says. "The play is set in Athens, with Greek heroes Theseus and Hippolyta, but Shakespeare throws in a set of lovers from the Italian Renaissance, mischievous fairies from English folklore and a group of bad-acting working-class yokels. The freedom to create and explore within this play is endless."
Not your typical Shakespeare production, this show uses flying robot fairies, compliments of the computer science and engineering folks.
"The idea of flying robot fairies was one I had early on, as soon as I heard about the possibility of a collaboration with the department of computer science and engineering," Hopper said. "What's great is that they have been a part of the production from the beginning and the robots seem more and more like characters that have always been a part of the story. To see them flying, spinning and bouncing through the air just adds to the magic and mystery of the world Shakespeare created."
The Texas A&M dance program is the fourth and final campus group involved in making Midsummer the memorable experience its creators have envisioned.
Faculty member Carisa Armstrong choreographed three dance pieces for the production.
"That helps to frame the world of the play and the dream-like state we enter in the forest," Hopper said. "Along with professor Armstrong, a handful of dance students joined the production as members of the fairy ensemble. We are so lucky to have all of them join us as a part of the show."
Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students, and are available at the MSC box office.
Save the date:
* Sunday: Texas A&M Department of Performance Studies presents William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2 p.m., Rudder Forum (845-2621)
* Sunday: Brazos Valley Flute Choir presents its Premiere Concert, 3 p.m., A&M United Methodist Church, free (696-7607)
* Monday: Navasota Theatre auditions for In His Light Players, 5:30 p.m. (navasotatheatre.com, 936-825-3195)
* Monday-Nov. 30: Arts Council of Brazos Valley presents a Holiday Artisan Bazaar, Texas Gallery (696-2787, acbv.org)
* Tuesday-Thursday: MSC OPAS presents Riverdance -- Farewell Tour, 7:30 p.m. (845-1234, mscopas.com)
* Wednesday-Jan. 31: Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History presents "From Earth to the Universe" (776-2195, www .brazosvalleymuseum.org)
* Dec. 4-6: Navasota Theatre Alliance presents The Baddest Angel Band (navasotatheatre.com, 936-825-3195)
* Nov. 22: Concerts on Carter Creek presents Robert Leslie in "The Psalmody of John Calvin," 6 p.m., First Presbyterian Church in Bryan (fpcbryan.org, 823-8073)
* Dec. 10: Navasota Theatre Alliance presents its Annual Membership Drive Christmas Gala (936-825-3195, navasotatheatre.com)
* Dec. 12: Brazos Valley Chorale presents its Christmas Favorites Holiday Concert, 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church in Bryan (www.bvchorale.com, 776-1776)
* All month: Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley offers various programs, including Monday Madness, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (779-5437, www.mymuseum.org)
* Tom Turbiville is The Eagle's arts columnist. He's also sports director for WTAW-1620AM Radio. E-mail him at tom.turbiville@ theeagle.com.
RSS
Mobile
Daily Emails
Twitter
Facebook
