It’s the last dance for ‘Riverdance’

May 13, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Over the years, there have been plenty of acts that have threatened retirement only to reconsider a few years later when the money was too good to pass up.

Considering organizers of the famous Irish dance sensation “Riverdance” have spent the last three years promising the show will be ending its 16-year American run next month and will not return, the production’s Tuesday show at Covelli Centre takes on a greater significance.

Whether or not the show is truly finished in North America remains to be seen, but one thing that’s true is people love “Riverdance,” which has been performed more than 10,000 times in front of 22 million-plus people across the globe.

“It’s winding down,” said “Riverdance” principal dancer Alana Mallon.

“They said four years ago it would take three years to finish, but it’s been extended because it’s selling out a lot of places. Right now we’re coming back to a lot of smaller towns.”

Just like many of its fans, Glasgow native Mallon remembers falling in love with the Celtic dancing celebration as a teenager. However, she was able to parlay that fandom into a career as one of its dancers. Now at age 31, an age when many of her peers pack in their dancing shoes, this performer isn’t ready to call it quits yet.

When the American run ends next month, she’ll jump onto European and South American tours. When she ever does retire, she plans to teach dance.

Or perhaps she could write her own “Riverdance?”

“I think people have tried to do that and failed,” Mallon said. “It’s hard to try to copy the show because it’s so original. It’s quite hard to try to replicate it.”

Over the past decade and a half, “Riverdance” has been updated to include a few different numbers and dancing routines, but the heart of the show hasn’t changed. An emotional rollercoaster of excitement and drama featuring more than 25 stomping feet, the production features music composed by Bill Whelan with most of its choreography provided by original cast member Michael Flatley.

More so, “Riverdance” is a spectacle — an innovative and exciting blend of dance, music and song. The show draws on Irish traditions and the combined talents of the performers propel Irish dancing and music to the present day capturing the imagination of audiences across all ages and cultures.

Speaking to the power of “Riverdance,” Mallon said audience participation remains high with even the most ardent skeptics being converted by the show’s end.

“The show really motivates people,” Mallon said. “You’ll see kids jumping around in the front row, but I think it makes people really happy. Still, there are a lot of people who haven’t seen it before and are overwhelmed seeing it for the first time. They didn’t think it was the show that it was. And the husbands will be like, ‘My wife dragged me along, and I didn’t want to come — and I loved it.’”

She said, laughing, “So even the husbands were quite surprised and enjoyed themselves.”