‘Spirit of the Dance’ lacks legroom at Golden Nugget

Friday, Sept. 13, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

The good news for fans of Irish dance is that it is featured in a show at Golden Nugget's Theatre Ballroom.

The bad news is that it is featured in a show at Golden Nugget's Theatre Ballroom.

"Spirit of the Dance" has been kicking around the world since 1996, a knock-off of the hugely successful "Lord of the Dance." In many ways, "Spirit" is much better than "Lord." It has more diversity, more action -- more spirit, if you will.

In the right place, "Spirit" has the potential to soar.

But when it tries to soar at the Golden Nugget, it bumps its head on the low ceiling above the stage.

Promoters describe the 400-seat Theatre Ballroom as "intimate." That is accurate, if intimate is Gaelic for "too small."

The room is an excellent venue for many kinds of shows. Frank Sinatra sang there and Amazing Johnathan, the ghoulish magician, does amazing business.

The show is good (there are six "Spirit" troupes around the world) and the room is good. But combining them might not be so good, unless the room's physical limitations can somehow be corrected.

When 20 Irish dancers try to share a small stage, the intimacy becomes almost claustrophobic. They need space to breathe, to move, to dance. At the Golden Nugget they seem constrained in their motion -- it's like limiting the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls to a half-court game.

But the smallness of the stage is actually a minor problem compared to the layout of the room. The seating is at floor level, a flat surface that permits only those in the front row to have a full view of the dancers.

Irish dancing requires the artist's upper body to remain rigid, arms stiffly held at the sides -- as all the action is in the feet.

It's all about the feet -- and 99 percent of the audience can't see them. It's almost like watching bobbleheads line dancing.

Even from the tiered seating at the back of the room, it's impossible to have a satisfactory view. One scene is a Scottish sword dance -- but once the swords are placed on the stage, the effect is lost on most of the room.

"Spirit of the Dance" is a spirited show that suffers from physical ailments that are no fault of its own, and the talented cast makes the best of the limitations.

Given the opportunity, "Spirit" could outdistance the long-running "Lord of the Dance," which recently closed at New York-New York after four successful years. (The closure had nothing to do with a decline in the number of fans of "Lord," but rather to make room for another production by Cirque du Soleil.)

"Spirit" does a lot with a little. The music is recorded. The staging is minimal. The costumes are not elaborate.

The focus is on the dance, and at that the show excels. There is a lot of talent onstage -- especially principal dancer Claire Duffy, a red-haired beauty who resembles a young Kathleen Turner, and Scott Gillies, who may be onstage more than any other performer.

Although the production gets off to a slow start, with dancers rising out of a mass of bodies in the center of the stage, it quickly picks up pace and moves rapidly through 75 minutes.

One of the most energetic performers is Simon Painter, who cavorts wildly around the room while frenetically playing a fiddle. He is good, but he seems out of place in a show whose theme is dancing.

While "Lord" is a tribute to Irish dancing, "Spirit" lauds dancing in general by Irish dancers -- with a smattering of country hoedown, flamenco, ballet, tap and jazz.

The Bob Fosse jazz dance finale is a highlight. So is the bit which ends the show, with the cast (dressed in black costumes, black derbies and white gloves) sitting on benches stretched across the front of the stage and doing a synchronized hand-jive number.

Fans will want to weigh their love of Irish dancing with the drawbacks of the venue.

If you do go to "Spirit of the Dance," just be sure you get a front row seat.