I think it has done a lot to popularise celtic music, which is no bad thing, speaking as one half Irish, but what strikes me is that now to the uninitiated, all traditional music from the British Isles is Irish! It probably has done wonders for the cultural uptake in Ireland, but it has been felt, I think, much wider than that in that most "non-folk" people here in England seem to think of Irish music when their minds turn to folk, not to their own. This is not the fault of Riverdance. I think it may be a side effect of a truly multi-cultural society, where English tradition is now just one of many. And let's face it, Riverdance as it was first seen came like a bolt out of the blue. It woke me up from my usual Eurovision nap and I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing.

I am, however, put in mind of an episode of "Cow and Chicken" where girls are auditioning for a speaking part in a film, and every one bar our horned heroine is a "Puddledancer" much to the director's disgust.

mouldy