Lord of the dance, 20.05.2023, Sala Palatului

It was the week of anniversary shows. After WASP’s 40th year tour, it was the turn of Lord of the dance, 25 years of standing ovations. And they got their standing ovations alright. It was a sold out event, with people traveling from other cities to see them and freaking out about every single gesture and moment.

Having grown up watching the VHS of their Wembley representation for, I don’t know, a few hundred times, I was also freaking out about every tiny moment. I almost had tears in my eyes when the show started, it was a very special moment.

The performance followed the same structure as the previous ones. A fight between good and evil, two men competing for the title of the Lord of the dance, the pretty and pure blonde love interest battling the brunette sensual temptress and of course, the adorable little piper sprite. It even featured some of the more memorable tracks from the initial representation, enriched with a few original pieces. The Dark Lord’s soundtrack in particular was absolutely epic at times.

Even knowing pretty much everything that was about to go down, I was in awe. No matter how many times I see them, I’m always admiring their speed, their synchronisation, their technique and their professionalism. And I’m still wondering how they don’t strain their ankles when they do that side to side movement or how they don’t kick each other in the face when doing those dance-fight high kicks. I mean, I know the answer, it’s thousands of hours of practice and rehearsals and a lot of sweat and pain, but it’s still very impressive.

The only thing missing was the brilliant Michael Flatley. Of course, Lord of the dance is his baby and he was present through the concept and coreography, and I thought I was prepared to fully enjoy the show as it is, but honestly, there’s no matching Flatley. His talent, his technique and above all his charisma are second to none and to be entirely frank, the representation just wasn’t as epic without him and his huge troupe. I can’t hide that I was a bit disappointed we only had about 20 dancers in total. But heh, small stage, small country… you get what you can.

In any case, it was beautiful. Irish music is always bound to make me happy, I just love the tunes and joy they spread. It’s impossible to stand still and not have a giant smile while listening to it. The dances are also thrilling, no matter who or how many people are performing them. And it was such a big piece of my childhood, this and Michael Jackson’s first live concert in Romania are two shows I’ve watched until I had memorised every second of them. It was a nostalgic moment, filled with emotion and excitement.