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The New York Times, United
States - November 12, 2007
IRISH SHEEP HOOF-TO-TOE WITH
HIP-HOP
James Devine combines classic
tap, hip-hop and step dancing.
By Roslyn Sulcas
No article
about the Irish tap dancer James Devine has failed
to mention that he is the fastest tapper in the
world, so let’s just get that over with: He
can do 38 taps a second. Yes, a second. But from
an artistic point of view that’s not much more
interesting than learning that someone can eat 38
hard-boiled eggs in a minute.
Luckily the Irish-born
Mr. Devine can do more than just tap fast, and his
“Tapeire,” which opened at the New Victory
Theater on Friday, is a charmingly low-key production
that goes some way toward allaying fears aroused
by the conjunction of the words Irish and tap.
Mr. Devine, who
performed in “Lord of the Dance,” has
moved away from the thrills of drilled tapping en
masse. In “Tapeire,” an exploration of
the heritage of Irish dance, which is geared to
children as much as adults, he is the sole dancer,
surrounded by three delightful musicians: a fiddler
(Ashley MacIsaac), an electric harpist (Phamie Gow)
and a percussionist (Paul Jennings).
After a brief opening
solo for Mr. Devine, with a video image of his miked
feet projected onto a large screen behind him, the
show moves into a loosely historical format. Each
section is prefaced by short films or photographic
stills and a voice-over offering potted histories.
It’s all rather endearingly basic, as if Mr.
Devine and his collaborators just gathered a few
archive pictures and took a few scenic snaps themselves.
(Sheep and graffitied walls feature.)
Nonetheless we
learn about the Sean-Nos, gatherings for music and
dance to which people brought their own instruments;
the 17th-century dancing masters who traveled from
village to village; the rules introduced by dance
competitions; and finally the transition to a theatrical
setting. Each section provides Mr. Devine (who looks
rather like a younger Kiefer Sutherland, hard as
it is to imagine Jack Bauer tapping) with an opportunity
for a spirited solo accompanied by one or more of
the musicians.
The mood is playful;
much of the staging involves Mr. Devine matching
a musician’s rhythms. (At one point Mr. Jennings
uses a typewriter as his instrument; at another,
spoons, pots and pans.) Mr. Devine’s relaxed
upper body and his dazzling mix of step dance, hip-hop
and classic tap look halfway between Fred Astaire
elegance and Savion Glover hunkered-down brilliance.
Most important, this mix looks like him, and his
easy, unforced pleasure in performance and in his
art is a delight.
“Tapeire”
runs through Nov. 25 at the New Victory Theater,
209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan; (646) 223-3010
or NewVictory.org.
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