Irish dancer rises to principal lead

The 34-year-old Irishman has been on the tour since he was 18 and now is a principal lead dancer, but he doesn’t see himself stopping soon.

“I still get a big buzz out of performing,” he explains during a recent phone interview from Jacksonville, Fla. “I know that a career like mine has a shelf life, but I’m not going to think about that. I’m enjoying the new version of the show.”

	If you go WHAT: “Lord of the Dance” created by Michael Flately WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 25 WHERE: Popejoy Hall, UNM campus HOW MUCH: $35-$65 at www.unmtickets.com, www.popejoypresents.com or 877-664-8661 or 925-5858 and at select Albertsons locations

“Lord of the Dance,” developed by Michael Flatley in 1997, blends traditional and modern Celtic music and dance. It helped catapult Irish dancing into the global spotlight and has been seen by 60 million people worldwide.

The story is based on mythical Irish folklore as Don Dorcha, Lord of Darkness, challenges the ethereal lord of light, the Lord of the Dance. Battle lines are drawn, passions ignite and a love story fueled by the dramatic leaps and turns of dancers’ bodies begins to build against a backdrop of Celtic rhythm.

The action is played out over 21 scenes on a grand scale of precision dancing, dramatic music, colorful costumes and state-of-the-art staging and lighting.

Cunningham says this version of the show has brought new spark to the show and its dancers. The show was revamped about two years ago and the group has been performing the new dances for 18 months. It is being presented by MagicSpace Entertainment and Global Entertainment Group.

“The entire show has been revisioned for the 21st century. It feels like an entirely new show,” he says. “The way we work everything is that we all rotate as dancers so it doesn’t get boring and we have to constantly prepare for the unexpected, and the managers want all the dancers all healthy.”

Growing up in Carrickmacross, a town in County Monaghan, Ireland, Cunningham was exposed to Irish dancing by his mother at the age of 5. Like other boys, he tried out for sports but found that dancing was his passion.

“I was dragged to dance classes by my mother, and looking back now I have to give her a big thank you,” he explains. “I wanted to gravitate towards football but dancing had a stronger hold on my life.”

Cunningham went on to win major awards including several Ulster, British and North American championships as well as runner-up spots in the All-Ireland and World championships. And at 18, he got the gig dancing with “Lord of the Dance.”

“When I first started I was only familiar with competition dancing,” he says. “There’s a big difference between competition and show dancing. When I got signed on for the touring show, I had to be trained in acting because there is a lot of that with what we do.”