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The Scotsman, UK - Aug 10, 2006
TURN ON THE TAP
I thought I'd left my Fred Astaire days far behind - but I couldn't possibly turn down the offer of a dancing lesson from the world's fastest tap-dancer.
By Andrew Burnet

IF YOU'VE seen me tap-dancing (and a few people have, as it happens) then you'll know it's a singularly unpleasing spectacle. My arms flail like pre-industrial farm tools; my legs skitter like those of a newborn giraffe; the sound produced is akin to a hyperactive child with a drum. I thought I'd left my Fred Astaire days far behind - but I couldn't possibly turn down the offer of a dancing lesson from the world's fastest tap-dancer (official).

Irish-born James Devine, who is now based in Edinburgh, took the record in 1998, with an astonishing 38 taps per second. (That is not a misprint - I said 38 taps per second.) His feat was duly recorded in the 2000 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, and remains unchallenged.

There is, however, a bone of contention with Michael Flatley, the astonishing American dancer who found global fame as the star of Riverdance, the smash-hit Irish dance spectacular, and who previously held the world record, at a mere 35 taps a second. Devine, 30, has enjoyed an amicable rivalry with Flatley since 1996, when he appeared in Flatley's show, Lord of the Dance. "He used to call me Jesse James, the fastest gun in the West," chuckles Devine, "so I suppose he always recognised that I had some tap-speed."

In 1998, Devine was in Australia, where he had been invited to create a similar show called GaelForce. On television, he witnessed Flatley announcing his new record, and heard the sound of a gauntlet being thrown down.

"He said, 'I'll take my hat off to anyone who can do more than 35 taps in one second'. So, I was smiling to myself, thinking about that. A few weeks later I felt I was getting very fast with the feet. The timing seemed right, and I thought - I'll go for it." He succeeded in creating a new world record, yet it seems Flatley may have been a little reluctant to doff his hat to that achievement, because until very recently, the website for his current show, Celtic Tiger, still laid claim to the record. (When we put this to Flatley's publicity team, they declined to comment on it.)

Devine, who has launched his own new show, TapEire, at the Edinburgh Fringe, finds this a bit irritating, but he's certainly not spoiling for a fight. "Michael was great to work with," says Devine, generously.

"And it was great to be part of Lord of the Dance. When I left the show, [Michael's] words to me were: 'I know one day I'll see you on the stage doing your own solo stuff.'"

Flatley wasn't wrong. With Devine as its choreographer and star, GaelForce became a huge hit, which toured Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America and Germany, ultimately selling out 5,000-seat theatres. Undoubtedly, its success was partly due to the massive international appetite for Irish dance generated by Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.

But Devine believes his show was more credible, because all the tap-dancing was live as opposed to pre-recorded.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the Irish dance shows are pre-recorded," he asserts. "Which to me is, to be quite honest, selling out big time. I was part of Lord of the Dance and all the taps were taped. It's very obvious at moments, like when 34 dancers are dancing in a line and the lead dancer, Michael, is louder than the 34 dancers, which doesn't really add up. It was the same for Michael's solo stuff - that was all pre-recorded."

"When I went into GaelForce that was my first requirement - I was like: 'We are not doing pre-recorded taps.' We had to drill a bit harder, but we were trying to make a bold statement - and it really worked."

After three successful years, Devine left GaelForce in 2001, and found opportunities thin on the ground. "For a couple of years I was doing one-off gigs and television appearances - but nothing that could sustain me like a full-time job." At 20, he had turned down a part in Riverdance to complete a degree at the University of Limerick. He now returned to academia, taking a one-year course in multi-media design.

"It was a way of diversifying," he says. "I was always into graphics and I wanted a website of my own. People were quoting crazy prices and I was like: 'I'm not paying £10,000 for a website!'"

With his new-found skills, he built his own site, which he now uses to maintain his profile and publicise his activities. These include teaching at Dance Base in Edinburgh, where he has lived for the past year. "I like the energy of the city - it's very vibrant," he says. "And dance is getting big in the UK. There's a market here for tap to come alive again."

Having spent a year at the Broadway Dance Center in New York - where he went to study but quickly became a teacher - he concedes that the scene here is less diverse, but views this as a healthy challenge: "I've introduced my style of tap to a lot of dancers here, and they've really embraced it."

Which brings us back to my lesson. I have warned Devine that my tap is running rusty, but we persevere. He shows me a "paddle and roll", one of the standard steps. Recognition begins to flicker in my ankles, and I'm just getting the hang of it when we switch to another step. Ominously, it doesn't have a name; "it's just a move I do". Tap-heel, tap-heel, tap-step-heel, tap-step-heel. Easy.

Actually, it's not as tough as I'd expected. "It looks very complicated," says Devine.

"But I can break any rhythm down to a simple beat. If you do this step at double time or triple time, it looks really impressive."

He does it at double time, then triple time. It looks really impressive. It also looks fiendishly difficult. To distract him, I ask him about his favourite subject: his new show, TapEire. He'll be performing as a solo dancer, accompanied by live fiddle, percussion and multi-media projections.

"It takes its audience on a rhythmic and musical journey through the various forms of Celtic culture," he explains. "It starts with the sean-nos - that means 'old style' - which dates back to the 1200s. At that time the dance was very raw and freestyle. Then we move on to the feis form, which is for competition dancing. That kind of took the fun out of Irish dancing, because it became all about rules and regulations.

"Then we progress to the transition to theatre that everybody has been so amazed at over the past decade or so. And the last section of the show is really about letting it rip: there's the floor - do what you want with it."

Devine is well equipped to lead this whistle-stop tour because it's in his blood. His mother was an award-winning dancer, until a brain tumour robbed her of the use of her left leg. She taught her son by using the finger-tapping technique beloved of all Irish dancers and, by the age of 14, Devine had won the Grand Slam of competition titles: World, American, British, All-Ireland and Munster.

"My mother is a huge inspiration," he says with a big, affectionate grin. "And my biggest critic. She's been there every moment of my career, and it's nice to have that sort of support, because a dancer's road can be quite a tough grind."

His father, too, has been solid. "He's got two left feet, but he was great for driving me everywhere," says Devine. "He's been supportive in a way most fathers wouldn't. He would come in and watch me dance in a competition, whereas a lot of dads would have sat in the car or gone to the pub."

His parents also saw him through his teenage years, when he took a fair amount of ribbing from his peers. "I used to love playing football and I was fairly good at dribbling - and quite fast, obviously, with my feet," he recalls. "But I used to get slagged: 'Oh look, he's dancing with the ball again!' or 'You should be wearing the kilt now!' or whatever."

So much for the past. Devine's focus now is on the immediate future. TapEire may be a small-scale show, but he has big plans for it. The Fringe is a good marketplace, and international promoters are already booked to see the show. Devine also has his eye on a transfer to London's West End. He relishes touring more than ever, not least because these days his girlfriend comes with him.

Meanwhile, my lesson has come to an end. I'm unlikely to find myself sharing a stage with Devine again but, if I did want to become a tip-top tapper myself, what advice would he give me?

"Honestly?" he says. "Just practise, practise, practise. You've got to become totally familiar with your moves and your rhythms and your feet. Your language is your feet - and you're trying to communicate with them."

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