Dancers perform a passionate Flamenco number in Heartbeat of Home. Photo: Courtesy of Beijing AcrossChina Culture Co. Ltd

The Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance first clicked and hopped its way into China in 2003, and now a more seductive, more global descendent is stepping its way toward Beijing.

Heartbeat of Home follows up its predecessor with infectious rhythms sampled from Ireland, Latin America, Africa and beyond. After wrapping up its world premiere in Dublin last month, the show will have its Asian debut at the Beijing Capital Gymnasium November 29 and 30, followed by two performances in Shanghai on December 6 and 7.

"Heartbeat of Home … takes the Riverdance experience to the next level. It is modern, athletic, sexy and multicultural," said John McColgan, the director of both Riverdance and Heartbeat of Home. "We are very proud to bring it to China, and we are so confident that people here will also love this show."

'Upgraded Riverdance'

Many in the cast and crew of Heartbeat of Home are Riverdance veterans, including musicians, dancers and the power couple behind Riverdance, McColgan and producer Moya Doherty.

McColgan said despite the new musical and dance styles added to the show, Irish music and Irish dance remain the foundation.

"The atmosphere and the speed of the feet - all these things are the same as in Riverdance," McColgan said.

However, with new choreography, music and talent, he said that it feels impacted by the original show, but "designed for the younger generation."

Michael Flatley, the creative and dancing force behind the original Riverdance production, is widely regarded as his self-proclaimed asserts, the Lord of the Dance. But for the newer Chinese audiences, it's Padraic Moyles, one of the lead dancers of the China tour of Riverdance in previous years, who is hailed as the quick-stepping master.

But for Heartbeat of Home, Moyles is signing on as assistant director, rather than a principal dancer.

When asked about whether audiences would accept the new generation of dancers, Moyles said, "Being slightly older now, and seeing the new generation coming up, I am taking a sense of pride in seeing them delivering the show."

The theater version of Heartbeat of Home debuted October 2 at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin to wild applause from local audiences. Different from the theater version, though, the performances in China will be in an arena. To accommodate this larger, more theater-in-the-round space, the show will include extra new 3D projection screens and choreography changes to better play to audiences seated all around the stage.

"We want to define Heartbeat of Home as an upgraded Riverdance, especially for the gymnasium performances, which are at a higher level," said Zhang Ligang, CEO of Beijing AcrossChina Culture Co. Ltd, one of the main sponsors of the tour.

Multicultural and modern

At a press conference on November 24, the new male lead dancer Bobby Hodges showed off his high-speed dancing in hard shoes while the female lead dancer Ciara Sexton presented an elegant dance in soft shoes.

But Heartbeat of Home doesn't end with graceful jigs and hearty hornpipes. Merging African and Latin dance into the mix creates the atmosphere of a modern global village.

The story line of Heartbeat of Home remains simple in two acts, covered by typical Irish music composed by Brian Byrne.

"When we set out to do the show, we were very clear that we wanted to do our show through Irish dancing, so Irish dancing was the main driving force of the choreography," Bolger said. "The composer Brian Byrne has been working very carefully with the music. I supposed that was a big starting point - to make the music fuse together with a very exciting sound."

The director is not worried about losing Chinese fans who loved the original show. He pointed out that they kept in the elements that are especially popular in China, such as the signature Irish rhythms sounded out in with music and feet.

McColgan said much of the new show is similar, "only better and faster."

Loving relationship

Over the past decade, Riverdance has been performed in China more than 200 times, reaching more than 425,000 people. And millions of Chinese TV audiences got a glimpse at the dance show on the 2009 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. The shows commemorating the 15th anniversary of Riverdance were performed and recorded at the Beijing Exhibition Center in 2010.

"We love touring in China," said McColgan. "We are very well looked after in China. And Chinese people are loving us, so we want to continue this loving relationship."

The performances of Riverdance in 2010 helped Chinese audiences learn what Irish dance was, much like the 1994 seven-minute proto-performance of Riverdance on Eurovision introduced the dance style to Europe, then the US and later the whole world.

Zhang said he was so surprised to find primary school pupils in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, along with housewives in Yubai Village, the southeast rural area of Beijing, learning Irish dance steps through videos.

"So many Chinese people are so in love with this dance. That's why I joined the sponsors of Heartbeat of Home in bringing the show to China," said Zhang.

Doherty, the producer of Riverdance and Heartbeat of Home, said at the press conference held earlier this month that the growing market for culture in China is one of the reasons they selected Beijing and Shanghai as the first stops of the world tour.