It is perhaps unfair to compare the first night of a new music and dance show that so flagrantly owes its inspiration to the rhythms of global cash registers ker-chinging in the wake of the now highly polished Riverdance, but it is also the benchmark by which it must be judged. As it stands, it has a lack of focus and consistency, and a discomforting woodenness about the first half. But, that said, there are enough moments of excellence to pull it through.
The show's brief is to journey through the notion and history of a communal "Celtic experience" - passion, basically - uniting the world's Celtic nations. It is an idea that, musically, was done better and more comprehensively by Shaun Davey in his Lorient Suite.
The over-riding problem with Rhythms Of The Celts is that, in its first half especially, it swaggers wildly between Celtic rock bombast and Elaine Page-esque balladeering, without the material, cohesion or quality of soloists to make it truly captivating. The result is a kind of Hogmanay edition of Seaside Special, and it may be no coincidence that both director Alan Harding and choreographer Chris Baldock are essentially TV variety show people.
The show's saving grace is its second half, exploring Hebridean and Appalachian traditions. The set piece routines here are both imaginative and impressive, with singer Alyth McCormack quite stunning in the manner of a Gallic Judy Collins. Featured dancer Ira Bernstein, too, all but stops the show and certainly pushes the ensemble routines around him into fifth gear with breath-taking virtuosity and star quality. In a nutshell, if the whole thing was shamelessly reworked around this guy, we'd be talking about a triumph.
Runs until January 3rd. To book phone Belfast 334400.
