Chattanooga Times Free Press entertainment reporter Casey Phillips spoke with Alana Mallon, one of three female lead dancers for Riverdance, about being the first Scot to have that position, the physical stress of dancing night after night and her plans once the tour is over.
CP: Were you a fan of Riverdance before you joined the company? 2
AM: Yes, completely. As soon as it came out, it was the first thing I’d seen of Irish dancing, even televised, that was something big. For me, it was something I looked at, and thought, “Well, that’s really, ultimately, what I’d like to do.” I’d never seen Irish dancing done like that in my life before that.
CP: You’ve been dancing since you were three, so how old were you when you first saw the show?
AM: I was 15.
CP: How long did it take you to learn the entire show once you joined?
AM: It was actually really fast. I was sent to the Broadway company in New York. They were down a few girls because of some injuries, so I had to learn the whole show within a week. I was put on a new number every night. It was quite scary. (Laughs.)
CP: How does the complexity of the show compare to other dancing you’ve done? Is it the most complex dancing you’d ever done?
AM: Yes. Well, it’s more repetitive, basic Irish dancing for the troupe, but the leads are a lot more complex, like what we would do in competition in Irish dancing when we’d compete against other Irish dancers. We’d do a lot more tricky stuff, and that’s what the lead dancers do. The troupe dancers are basically more repetitive, which looks really good, obviously, in a line when everyone’s doing the same thing.
CP: When did you join the company, and when did you become the lead?
AM: I joined the company in 2000, and they asked me to train as lead in 2003, so I trained from 2003 to 2004 and was on in 2004.
CP: What was the audition like for joining as a troupe dancer? What about for the lead position?
AM: For troupe, they just had us do our competition steps, like what we would do in competition. They had us do a soft-shoe and heavy-shoe part. For lead … the company manager approached me and asked me if I wanted to do it.
CP: What was going through your head after he asked you?
AM: It didn’t really sink in. It was just kind of overwhelming. It was something I’d never thought about. I didn’t think it would ever happen to me, so it was quite overwhelming. I couldn’t believe it.
CP: Who did you call first?
AM: My mom. (Laughs.) I was in Australia, and I phoned her from my cell phone there. I was like, “Ah!”
CP: What were her thoughts? Since you started dancing at such a young age, your parents must have been fairly involved in your early training.
AM: Yeah, they obviously took me to all the dance classes when I was younger, so it was amazing for them as well to actually get some reward back now that I’ve done so well.
CP: Have they been out to see you on the road or do they only see you when the show is nearby?
AM: No, they’ve been out. They come out all the time. They’ve been to Australia, Canada and all over Europe. They try and come out and see me wherever I am.
CP: You’ve been all over the world with Riverdance. Is there any place that stands out as a highlight?
AM: There are so many of them, you know? I’ve been to so many amazing places. It’s kind of hard to pinpoint just one because we’ve been all over Asia and Europe and Australia. Some of the places we’ve been to have been major cities like Sydney and L.A. and New York and Berlin and Paris. There are just so many big cities. To say that one of them is the best I’ve ever been to or the best time is kind of hard.
CP: Having performed in such major locales, is it difficult when the tour goes to smaller cities like Chattanooga?
AM: No, actually. For me especially, being in America, I’ve wanted to cover the whole of America. I’ve been in this company for five years, so I’m still going different places with the company. I’m still managing to cover more of America. I wanted to cover all the states, so it’s really good even covering all the small areas as well. America is great. I love it here.
CP: What was your first show in New York like when you took the stage in front of an audience?
AM: It was on Broadway for my first time. It was very nerve wracking because I was flown over, and three days later, I was on stage dancing. Doing it for the first time was an ordeal, and being on Broadway was daunting.
CP: Did you make any mistakes during that first show?
AM: No. They had me in practicing all the time, rehearsing to make sure that when they put me on, I was 100 percent.
CP: You mentioned injuries as the way you got into the company. Physically, how dangerous is what you’re doing?
AM: It’s very physically demanding. We all get injured, at some point. We do have a physical therapist on tour with us and a massage therapist as well, so we get two massages a week. Obviously, they’re painful, heavy massages; they’re not the relaxing kind.
It’s very hard because we get a lot of injuries. We have a lot of Achilles injuries. I’ve been with the show for 10 years, so it’s overuse more than anything. There are a lot of strains and fractures and torn ligaments. There are quite a lot of things in the company that happen.
CP: With your role being so physically demanding and having to perform it night after night, how do you manage to keep your energy up and be excited about the performance?
AM: Being the leads, we actually rotate. There are three female leads and three male leads. We wouldn’t be doing leads every night. The role is so physically demanding that they share it between the three of us to make it a bit easier on our bodies.
When I’m not dancing lead, I’m dancing troupe, so I’ll be part of the back line. We get rotated in as well. We won’t dance every number every night; we’ll do different spots. It kind of gives you a break and changes it up a bit.
CP: Is it difficult to go from being in the spotlight as the lead dancer to being one more face in the backline?
AM: No. There’s not as much pressure on yourself when you’re not doing lead. You can just kind of fit in with the line and be with everyone else instead of being out there on your own having to give that extra performance. You don’t feel as much pressure.
CP: Do you have a favorite scene to dance as lead?
AM: Probably the Riverdance number, which is just before the interval. I like the way it all starts off. It progresses. You don’t know what’s coming next, and it builds up and builds up, and at the end, everybody’s on. It’s just a nice number. The music’s nice as well.
CP: In addition to being lead, you’re also the first Scottish dancer to have the lead role. What significance does that have for you?
AM: For me, I’ve been dancing and competing all my life. There are a lot of Irish dancers in Scotland, so for me to be the first one to do it is an achievement, really, for me and for Scotland as well, for the Scottish people. There don’t seem to be a lot of Scottish people in the show.
CP: In your company, how many other Scottish dancers are there?
AM: There’s one just now, and I think there’s one in the other company. There have been a handful throughout the years, but there haven’t been that many.
CP: When you’re not dancing, what do you do to relax?
AM: It depends really where we are. If it’s warm, we’ll lie out in the sun. For instance, last week, we were in Florida, so we went to the beach, and I laid out at the pool. Or we’ll go shopping at the mall or basically just go around and sightsee during the day.
CP: What’s your favorite thing you’ve seen while sightseeing?
AM: Probably the Great Wall of China. That was quite beautiful, and we got to dance on it as well.
CP: Irish step dancing is a competitive activity, and there are a couple of moments in the show when two dancers will do really tricky routines in a – choreographed – attempt to show up one another. Is the company a fairly competitive bunch off stage?
AM: No, actually we work as a team together. As soon as you make the transition from competitive dancer to show dancer, you automatically become a part of a team. We all try to be the same as each other. Definitely, in competition, you try and outdo each other, but in the show, we all try to work together to make the show look better.
If you had someone going up every night and doing their own thing, then it would stick out from the line, and you wouldn’t be in unison. We all just work together.
CP: This is the Farewell Tour, right? How long has this tour been going on?
AM: Since 2007. It’s going to take three year to finish.
CP: When is the last show?
AM: The final performance is June 5 in Vienna.
CP: Have you thought ahead to your post-Riverdance plans?
AM: I haven’t yet. I think I’ll just go on holiday and enjoy my summer in America. I’ve applied for my green card and I’ve been accepted, so I’ll need to go and get my fingerprints taken in New York in June. I’m going to do that, and then go on holiday and figure out what I’ll do next.
CP: What’s going through your head as that final show approaches?
AM: I’m excited for the break. This has been a nine-month tour, and it’s very hard on your body, very strenuous. It’s going to be hard to say “good-bye”to everyone and leave the showing knowing it’s actually finished. I’m trying to not think about it. I’m just going to try and enjoy my summer here and then start thinking about what I’ll do in the future.