Riverdance

A few days ago, I wrote a post on Irish dance and now want to come back to the topic briefly because I neglected any discussion of Riverdance.  Riverdance is an internationally-acclaimed Irish dance group that is, to put it frankly, incredible.  I'm not sure how to put into words their skill, so I invite you to watch this video of their performance before I try to explain myself.

Pretty amazing, right?  I am impressed by how quickly and clearly their feet move in those shoes, which almost look like tap shoes (which I'd imagine to be decently heavy).  They also dance for quite a long time.  Can you imagine the amount of energy and stamina these dancers must have?  They show their strength admirably especially by not allowing their torso or upper body to move much at all: this performance is all about footwork, and they do not allow any stray movement to disrupt the magic of their feet.  They hold their composure until the very end of the performance and don't even breathe obviously at the end, which I find incredible.  The hardest part of any dance is the very end, when all the dancer wants to do is leave the stage to finally freely but must remain composed and effortless on stage while taking a bow.  

Above: breaking the world record for longest line on 7/21/2013

1,693 dancers from 44 countries danced continuously for five minutes to break the record