My Interpretation of 'The Lord of the Dance'

As I already mentioned in my last post, my boyfriend gave me Lord of the Dance tickets as a gift for Christmas.

Lord of the Dance is an Irish musical by Michael Flatley. You have probably already heard of it, as it is very famous. The concept goes back to an old Irish legend and deals with the fight of ‘good’ against ‘evil’.  Actually it is said that it also carries a strong religious connotation and many parts of the musical can be found in the Bible: The Lord of the Dance, who is the main figure, represents Jesus. He comes to the earth to spread Christian faith among people, but he is tempted by Satan, and betrayed by humans. He gets executed but revives and Christianity “wins”. That’s how Christians might interpret the show.

As the meaning of Lord of the Dance is mainly carried through dance, and barely has any lyrics in it, it is highly open to interpretation. I personally am not religious, but I love the musical very much. To me, the Lord of the Dance is the personification of freedom and joy whereas the dark Lord, who wants to steal his title, represents ruthlessness and the desire for power.

In Act 1 the good ones are introduced. The whole stage seems like a mystical dance school. There is the Lord of the Dance who teaches the men. Their dancing makes them look like warlords. The Irish Colleen in the golden dress teaches the girls, who look like elves. Moreover there is the Little Spirit with her flute who represents the joy of dancing. Shortly afterwards the evil figures are introduced as well. There is the Dark Lord who is the commander of a disciplined army. The men don’t seem very happy while dancing, therefore they look like slaves. Moreover there is the Temptress, who performs a sexy and passionate dance in a short red costume. After that the good ones are having a feast. Both men and women are dancing together and moreover two fiddlers enter the stage dancing while they play the violin. Later the Temptress comes into a dancing lesson and challenges the Colleen, who just answers by sending her away and pulling her dress off. Her students do the same and so they show that they have more to offer than the Temptress. Some minutes later the Lord of the Dance and his students enter the stage. He hands a rose to the Colleen and flirts with her. Afterwards he shows his teaching and dancing skills. She is of course very impressed. After the lesson the Temptress and the Colleen have a little battle again and there are four men watching. They lay at their feet in the truest sense of the word.

Act 2 starts at nighttime. The little spirit is sitting one the stage alone, playing her flute. She is raided and captured by the Dark Lord and his army, but the Lord of the Dance comes to save her. His army follows and the fight of good vs. evil begins. Suddenly the spirit appears again and banished all the soldiers from the stage. She is alone with the Lord of the Dance now and shows him that her flute is broken, but of course he manages to repair it. The spirit leaves the stage in joy. The Temptress appears and tries to flirt with the Lord of the Dance, but she fails as he leaves with the Colleen. As all went well, there is a joyful party of the good students again. The Lord of the Dance gets together with the Colleen, but they are disturbed by the Temptress again, who even manages to dance with the Lord, which is a trap. The evil dancers enter the stage and capture the Lord of the Dance. They steal his belt, which is a symbol for his title and the evil Lord executes the good one. But the good Lord of the Dance gets resuscitated by the Little Spirit and he challenges the Dark Lord, so they have an epic one-on-one fight in which the good lord wins. There is a big victory procession. The little spirit appears again and she spreads the joy of dancing everywhere, so in the end both the good and the evil figures dance together and make peace.

This interpretation might seem strange to some of you, but in my opinion there is a reason why so many people watch the show over and over again. It is probably because the musical is not just a dancing show, but also a show ABOUT dancing.

For about 10 years, I have been a huge fan of Irish music and I love to look at tap dancers, because I find it very fascinating how agile and joyful this type of dance is. I have seen the Lord of the Dance shows twice, unfortunately both times without Michael Flatley, as he quit that role in 1998. But the musical was awesome anyways. To be true, I like the evil figures of the musical as well as the good ones, because they are both presented very authentically. My favourite parts of the musical are: The Warriors (18:25), Gypsy (21:55),  The Lord of the Dance (42:15), Siamsa (1:14:30) and Victory (1:35:37). The musical as a whole is always a great experience and even though it’s quite expensive, it’s worth watching it over and over again.

From what I read on the Internet, the 2014 shows contain some alterations to the original, which sounds quite interesting. It’s said that it will even contain new songs. Anyway I hope that it still has the traditional structure and story I love. From what I read, this should be the case.  On the Lord of the Dance homepage it says: ‘With all the visceral precision and thrills of the original, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games features new staging, new costumes and choreography. With 40 of the world’s most outstanding young performers directed by Michael, and new music by composer Gerard Fahy, this latest iteration combines the best of tradition with all the excitement of new music and dance.’ That sounds quite promising.

So all in all there is nothing to worry about. The only thing that bothers me is that it’s still 11 month till the show. I need to practice patience to survive such a long time, but I am sure it will be worth waiting.