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The tour was perfectly timed to lead into Saint Patricks day.
On stage, things are business as usual.
Im 10 again, very casually taking Irish step lessons at a local dance studio.
(Think bagpipes but make them Irish.)
The cast bows and the spell is broken.
I find myself wondering exactly how one effectively sanitizes 6,000 velvet-covered seats.
Riverdancewas born out of the1994 Eurovision competition, hosted in Dublin, Ireland.
The mix of traditional Irish music and dance went on to become an international sensation.
Ive literally known my dance teacher every day of my life, principal dancerMaggie Darlingtontold Vulture before the show.
Darlington, a California native, has been withRiverdancesince 2011.
Her male counterpart in the show,Jason ONeill, counts 11 years with the company.
As a child in Belfast, ONeill says he got into dance with his six sisters.
They all quit except for him.
Darlington said shed found a few minutes to shower during the day.
Its all good sweat, to remind you why youre here, ONeill, who had not, said.
Darlington compared the show to doing a series of 200-meter dashes.
Were just focusing on the work.
The work, he said, which now includes significantly more hand washing.
The Bowery Presents determines the show programming and the refund policy for the Riverdance engagement.
It is not at the discretion ofRiverdance.
Later that night, Im seated across the aisle from a couple in N95 masks.
Before the show, its announced that 190 United Nations ambassadors are supposed to be in attendance.
Around me, I count several dozen more empty seats, which makes for decent accidental social distancing.
(According to press reps, the performance was sold out.)
I watch the faces of the dancers closely during the first number.
To the casts credit, there are no out-of-place grins.
Darlington appears for a soft shoe number clad in a sparkly purple dress.
She kicks her legs clear above the men on stage around her.
Heres what a sold out Riverdance looked like in New York tonight.
(Ivo van Hove would like a word!)
The women ofRiverdance, however, do not wear wigs.
Thats a piece Id read, a friend with me at the show whispers.
Riverdanceis the show, we do Irish dancing.
At the close of the first act, the entire cast comes together for the last number.
I look over at the couple in the masks.
The woman has taken hers off entirely to give a standing ovation.
