Heartbeat of Home – Piccadilly Theatre

Heartbeat of Home continues at the Piccadilly Theatre, London until 13 October 2019.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

It’s now been over two decades since Riverdance first made its debut after an interval performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. Since then, the show has been viewed as the pinnacle for top quality Irish dancing, critically acclaimed for its intricate choreography and praised for proving Irish dancing to truly be an artform.

Now, hoping to maintain such prejudices, the show’s producers, Moya Doherty and John McColgan, have joined forces once again to create the show’s sequel, Heartbeat of Home.

Although, perhaps describing this show as a ‘sequel’ to Riverdance would be wrong, for Heartbeat of Home proves to stand on its own merit, entirely. Producer Doherty explains “the Ireland of the 21st century is a new place”, and, with it, a “new citizen” has been woven.

As such, the show is not an ode to just Irish dancing, but instead fuses it with components of Latin, Hip-Hop, Afro-Cuban and Contemporary. It is through this fusion that Heartbeat of Home respectfully celebrates different cultures, while also rejoicing in the shared emotions that they bring.

And when this works, it works great, the first and twelfth scenes (‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Fiesta Mundo’) being good examples. It is in these scenes particularly when the different dance genres bleed and weave into one another seamlessly, resulting to a vibrant and powerful performance.

This is massively helped by Brian Byrne’s clever composition. The music fits each individual genre of dance so perfectly, yet somehow all at once. Rhythms of salsa music are fused with the strength of tribal African beats, Spanish flamenco and Irish tunes. It is also wonderful to see a band on stage alongside the performers. The two work in unison so that the dancers are performing to music, but the dancing becomes music itself.

Sadly, Heartbeat of Home is not consistently so seamless. The show is split in two acts. The first (‘Ocean of Dreams’) centres on a Shakespearean Tempest-like voyage, while the second (‘Land of Shared Dreams’) focuses on the emigrants as they form their new lives. Although, this might be difficult to grasp without a programme to hand.

Often the show seems to be made of puzzle pieces that just don’t quite fit together – the different genre mash-ups, although at times brilliantly executed, can often become confusing and distorted, leaving the audience either bored, confused, or a bit of both. Despite often not really having a clue what is going on, at least you can find comfort in knowing that the quality of dancing you are watching, particularly the Irish dancing, is fantastic.

A special mention is due to dance captain Bobby Hodges, who makes it all look so easy. But, be assured, a quick practice during my walk back to the station proved me very wrong. And yet, within a world of turmoil, Heartbeat of Home celebrates the universal home and place of refuge that dance and music will always offer.

Polly Sisley