Producer/ director Duncan Heather told David Hennessy about Emerald Storm the new show that combines Irish and tap dancing and is about to hit the West End.
Emerald Storm will be the latest dance show incorporating Irish dance to come to the London stage.
The show is co-written and co-choreographed by world renowned tap dancer and West End star Adam Garcia (The Bodyguard, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, A Chorus Line).
The show also boasts big names such as Britain’s Got Talent’s Tom Ball, with New Zealand dance sensation Bayley Graham, and Lord of the Dance’s Olivia Graydon.
Emerald Storm, an electrifying new dance show that combines Irish Dance and modern tap for the 21st century, plays a limited run at The Emerald Theatre from next Tuesday 2 September.
The show brings together traditional Irish and modern popular music with lighting footwork, set to a soundtrack of some of the most famous Irish bands of all time.
Producer and director Duncan Heather told The Irish World of the show’s journey.
Duncan Heather told The Irish World: “I created it originally in 2017.
“I was approached to do a corporate event and it was a Celtic theme.
“I got the cast of Once to come and do some stuff and they wanted to finish on an Irish dancing piece that wasn’t bringing in Riverdance or Lord of the Dance so I said, ‘Well, we can create something’.
“My wife Sam, who choreographs it, was in Spirit of the Dance for many years amongst other big dance shows so she had some experience with Irish so I said, ‘Look, we want to create something different’.
“We wanted to steer away from the traditional looking side of it like Riverdance, the Lord of the Dance because you just can’t compete with them.
“They’re just so fantastic, still going strong so we created Emerald Storm.
“It was a bit more urban, a bit more grounded, loose arms to pop and rock music.
“Slightly edgier, I guess.
“It was just a 20 minute piece and then from there at that event me and Sam just said, ‘Look, let’s just see if we can develop it further and create a full show, see if we can take it to theatres’.
“And that’s what we did.
“We did our first tour in 2018.
“It was sort of narrative driven.
“It was a bit mystical.
“The dance and the choreography spoke for itself but the flow of it was just not quite right.
“Then it went dark for a bit and then obviously COVID hit.
“Adam Garcia was really interested in the show so I reached out to him post COVID and said, ‘Adam, you still interested in being involved?’
“Obviously tap is his passion.
“He said, ‘Yeah, absolutely’.
“So we sat down and we discussed how we could then change it and bring in more rhythm tap to go alongside the Irish tap and that’s what it’s now become.
“It began narrative driven and it’s now just a feast of dance celebrating all noisy dance.
“There’s a loose narrative along the way but what they’re going to see in London for the week is an immersive night of dance.
“We have a band doing a pre-show to get all the audience going as they enter.
“We do a tap jam afterwards so people can bring their tap shoes and join in and make rhythms with the cast on the stage.
“It’s a whole immersive night now rather than trying to be too clever with it.
“We’re just celebrating that style of dance whether it be rhythm tap or Irish dance.”
You have quite the team. You mentioned Adam Garcia but how pleasing to also have people like Tom Ball, Bayley Graham and Olivia Graydon..
“This is it.
“The good thing about the show is you can bend and mould it to whether it’s a two hour theatre show or 25 minute corporate or 75 minute straight cruise ship show.
“It’s our debut in London.
“We’re going to do a week just to test the waters a little bit but we said, ‘Let’s get some people in’.
“Mike, one of our producers, knows Tom really well.
“Tom’s been looking for his West End debut and his voice is just unreal and he’ll sing our material really well.
“We reached out to Tom.
“It’s obviously tap driven so in terms of bringing tap to the young masses, Bayley is just the master at the moment.
“He has got 220,000 followers on Instagram.
“He’s making it really cool and approachable.
“I spoke to him and the thing is people just want to work without people like Bayley, want to work with Adam in terms of tap dance.
“He is just the master and he’s still really present.
“He’s in The Bodyguard coming up.
“He’s just toured Chitty so people just want to work with him.
“And then in terms of the Irish we reached out to Olivia.
“She toured with us in 2023 and because it’s not a Lord of the Dance/ Riverdance piece, it has to be somebody like Olivia that is trained and can do the other styles because she needed to be able to lose all of that Lord of the Dance in a way, loosen those arms up a bit but have amazing feet.
“She’s assisting Sam, the choreographer, and the Irish is just as impacting as the tap so when they combine, it’s incredible.
“We had to pull out the stops for London, I think.”
Olivia Graydon has the Irish dancing pedigree..
“That’s right and that’s important because it’s all feet driven.
“Whether it be the tap or the Irish, the feet have to be technically accurate but she’s also wonderful as a performer.
“She’s the Irish lead.
“Bayley’s the tap lead, she’s the Irish lead and they battle against each other in an amicable way.
“You need to be able to connect with the audience and Tom, Bayley and Olivia can do that so the feet are world champion level but also performance wise, they’re just great on stage.”
Is there a number of dancers with that similar background?
“Yeah, the importance of the ensemble is to have Irish experience but definitely trained in other styles because the way that the piece flows there’s some flamenco in there, there’s a moment where the girls take their Irish shoes off so they have to be trained in other styles.
“Actually sometimes when someone has been the lead in Riverdance, they find that really hard to loosen their arms.
“It becomes really difficult to do.
“It becomes almost a new style completely.
“Even though their footwork is amazing, they have to be grounded and urban so it is a reasonably tricky show to cast but we’ve got a great, really strong cast for London.
“We’ve pieced together something really special here.
“I think we’ve got the best of the best this time.”
What have the reactions been? I can imagine people getting really excited and whooping, hollering..
“That’s the plan.
“That’s why this venue is so good.
“I don’t know whether you’ve come across the Emerald Theatre before.
“It’s just a perfect space for it.
“The 2023 tour was a national tour and people sat and watched.
“They joined in and they clapped and they stood up at the end but it was very much a tiered seating watch the show, and it works.
“It worked in that environment but this way, we’ve decided to really rip it up.
“It’s in a round so people are going to be on all sides of the cast.
“We’ve got a live band pre-show so as they’re coming in, we’ve got a fiddle and a cajon and a guitar player and they’re going to get everybody going building right up to curtain up so that the audience is going to be going before the curtain even rises.
“And then the tap jam after continues that flow because they’re going to be loose and they’re going to be relaxed and you’re going to be having a laugh with us, there’s a connection.
“People can bring their tap shoes, come up on stage. It sort of extends to like an after party of celebrating tap.
“So you’re right. We want that interaction. We want that crowd connection and this venue is perfect for that.
“It’s more of a theatre cabaret space than it is going into the Drury Lane and watching it and staying sat in your seat.
“You’re absolutely right and that’s what we’re going for.”
Speaking of people bringing their shoes and getting a chance to dance, sounds like it could almost become like an Irish house party vibe..
“That’s exactly it because the narrative, albeit very loose now, Emerald Storm is basically the bar.
“You come into Emerald Storm to have a night of entertainment.
“That is the point of it really.
“The way that the Emerald Theatre is laid out, it feels like you’re in it.
“The whole thing is Emerald Storm so you’re coming in to have a drink, to have a laugh but it’s very family friendly. I think it’s 7+ for the matinees and 10+ for the evening show so it’s not based around an adult drinking environment but it’s very much a fun family Irish pub environment especially when you walk in and there’s a fiddle player and a cajon. That’s kind of what you get when you walk into a pub in Dublin.
“It’s just a fun celebration of that dance but that it’s important that that environment isn’t stuffy.
“I think in London the venue, the pre-show, the style that we’ve approached this with, it’s just going to, from the word go, just be a really fun night.
“Samantha Heather’s Irish choreography is actually groundbreaking.
“It’s amazing so the feet are amazing but it’s also very urban and very loose so that combined with the fact that we’ve got Adam Garcia, probably one of the world’s most renowned tap dancer’s choreography, when they combine, it’s really, really special so hopefully we’re going to play on the tradition a little bit.
“We’re going to have some of those moments but we’re trying to break that mould slightly and bring a bit of a fresh approach to it, I think.”
What reactions have you got up to now? Seems like it’s played well to various audiences..
“Yeah, amazing.
“It’s developed over the years, 2018 to now.
“They just don’t sit.
“They do go nuts at the end of it, we’re talking about a standing ovation mid show, things like that which are very not easy to come by so it’s obviously something about the music, the tap, the Irish: The audience reactions are always the same.
“So when it builds up to the finale that we’ve got, because we’ve taken them on a bit of a journey, by the end it’s bonkers.
“So that’s why we’re leading into a tap jam this time because the tap jams are a very old tradition for tap dancers, Irish to a certain extent but especially tap.
“We’re talking about little bars in New York or London or anywhere in the world.
“You get up and bring your tap shoes and just knock rhythms back and forward.
“It’s really old tradition so we’re trying to modernise that so when the show comes down and everybody’s energised, we go into a tap jam and this cast remain and people can swap rhythms with Bayley, swap rhythms with our lead tappers to continue that into an after show.
“That wouldn’t be able to happen if it wasn’t the reaction that we get at the end of our show.
“It’s energised.
“It’s uplifting.
“It’s fun so we’re offering to continue it into the night so we’re really excited about it.”
It is a short run but is the plan to bring the show back?
“Yeah, I think so.
“We’ve got a really good relationship with the Emerald Theatre at the moment.
“It could almost become our London home.
“We’ve got loads of international opportunities.
“It’s so popular.
“We need to focus on getting the level that we need but the plan is definitely to come back to London.
“Ideally this might be our home in and out.
“That could be the plan.”
You mention international opportunities, I bet it is the kind of show that could go down in America just to name one place..
“They would love it.
“But also anywhere.
“We’re talking to Dubai.
“We have to thank Riverdance and Lord of the Dance for it.
“Irish dance is just very, very popular, very popular still.
“And ours is definitely different.
“We’re definitely breaking that mould.
“It’s appealing because you could have ours and Riverdance or Lord of the Dance in the same season and it wouldn’t actually really matter because ours is very tap driven as well, even our Irish is urban and different so it just feels like they’re getting a bit of tradition and culture along with a more modern way of thinking about it.
“I think the world’s our oyster really.
“I think London is going to really put the show on the map.”
Would you like to bring the show to Ireland, has that come up?
“It has come up.
“We’ve always been a bit tentative just because we are changing it, we are breaking that mould a little bit.
“It’s gone really well with the Irish community that have seen it ever here and I think especially now Adam’s involved.
“Loads of our comments say, ‘When are you bringing it over to Ireland?’
“So I think there’s definitely a market for it.
“I think London is going to open all those doors really, because it’s getting seen, because Adam’s so hot, word is definitely getting around so we’re open to going everywhere with it really especially now we’ve taken the narrative and the dialogue away.
“It’s just driven more in terms of a ballet now where it’s all dance driven.
“There is a narrative told through the song and the dance, but it’s loose. It’s about just celebrating the dance so there’s going to be no language barrier anymore.
“We can take it anywhere and just the choreography speaks for itself.”
It has been described as if Riverdance and Stomp had a baby, that baby would be Emerald Storm. Do you like that description?
“Yeah, I do in a way.
“That’s what people have said because it’s very much celebrating rhythmic, noisy dance like Stomp but we do tip our hat to traditional Irish dance which is why it’s really unique, because that’s never been done before.
“No shows have done that.
“One of our numbers is Shut Up and Dance and we’ve got Irish dance and tap doing their choreography to a modern pop song so it’s very much that, I think it’s a fair description,
“It’s got hints of both.
“So that quote, albeit kind of from us, is a really quirky description of it, I think.”
Emerald Storm is running at the Emerald Theatre from 2 to 7 September 2025.
For tickets and more information, click here.
