Tap, tap, tap. Clap, clap, clap. Clink, clink, clink. Translation? Riverdancers. Audiences. Money. It's no exaggeration to say that millions of people have now come in contact with Riverdance either by seeing the show live at one of its worldwide touring locations, or on video or from hearing Bill Whelan's now-famous music. And that doesn't even include what turned out to be the prequel to it all - the Eurovision entertainment slot that became a new definition of "overnight success".
Riverdance is currently running at the Point; one of three productions of the show now tapping its way round the world. For the last few weeks, Irish audiences have been boomeranging down the quays to see the show, with full houses and standing ovations the norm. The run was scheduled to end on August 19th, but there will be one extra performance the following night, for an anti-racism benefit.
So what, if anything, does the reason for the benefit mean to some of Riverdance's performers, who are themselves not from Ireland? Among the cast currently at the Point, there are Russian dancers, Spanish flamenco dancers, African-American tapdancers and a Bulgarian musician. Backstage at the Point, atop large crates, the Russian dancers pose for pictures with professional grace. They create a swift group sculpture, look at the camera as one and smile. They look like a huge flower; each body a petal. These people, it is instantly clear, have seen a lot of cameras.
They are all members of the Moscow Folk Ballet Company. Irina Masslenikova is from Siberia and Yury Yustyugov from the Urals, but all the others are originally from Moscow. None of them had ever been to Ireland before joining Riverdance and knew nothing about it. "I could only say `Hi!' and `Bye!' " explains Svetlana Kossoroukova.
When Moya Doherty and John McColgan devised the idea of their international dance show, they went to Moscow, looking for performers. A member of the Irish diplomatic corps in Moscow alerted them to the Moscow Folk Ballet Company, her favourite, and nothing was ever going to be quite the same again for the dancers who were then selected.
A few dancers are travelling with spouses and children, but the rest cite missing friends and family as the toughest things about being on tour. "We phone a lot," admits Ekaterina Chaimratova.
"And the caviare. I miss caviare," Ilia Andreyev says wistfully.
Unlike ballet dancers, their hard shoes - despite a fair old battering - do not wear out too fast. They show me shoes that have lasted three years. "I lost a shoe once in the States," confides Kossoroukova. She stands up and demonstrates a high kick, a position from which her shoe strap broke open and said shoe flew into the audience with the velocity of a small cannonball. "I heard it hitting someone, we could hear the person when it landed. And the shoe was old and smelly! I had to dance the rest of that scene with only one shoe."
All the dancers are a bit stymied about the idea of a benefit show for an anti-racist cause. Kossoroukova was in Ireland five years ago with the show: "It's very strange to hear about this racism," she says. "Is it sudden? Five years ago, I didn't see any Romanians here."
They all want to know which nationalities are coming to the country, and why, and why there is a hostile reaction to them from some elements of the population. Every attempt at a reply evokes another question. Since there is no quick answer to these questions, by the time I leave the Point, I reckon I've spent about half the interview time talking myself - which has never happened before. "Maybe all the Catholics don't like the idea of other religions coming to Ireland, especially Muslims," suggests Andreyev.
Further down the corridor, in the tapdancers' dressing room, a carved jade chess board is on the table, the property of Danny Wooten. The trio of tappers has played games all over the world on this board. Rolo Hendricks is from Saint Louis, and Toby Harris is from New York. They are both African-American.
"Of course we've noticed racism here," Harris says. "I've had plenty of mean looks and nasty comments. Kids shouting things out windows." Hendricks comments: "But we're not surprised to see it here. It's all over the world, right? I come from Saint Louis, and they're racist there too. I get called names in my own home town. But everywhere you go, some people treat you different. You just let them know you're aware of them, but you don't confront it. I just walk away from it."
Like the Russians, both men want to know when non-nationals started arriving in this country in significant numbers and why their arrival has been controversial.
"Look at Riverdance," Hendricks says. "It opened here a few years before people from other countries started arriving, right? And it has Russian dances in it, Spanish, black American tappers - it's not like Irish people didn't know other people have a culture of dance that they're proud of like the Irish are proud of theirs. Or that they weren't aware of other cultures. So I don't get why there is this fear thing, this hostility thing."
They both say that before they came here, they were aware of Ireland's recently acquired reputation for being less than welcoming to some non-white faces. "I heard about it in the States before we started this run here," Hendricks says. "It was helpful to know. I made sure to check out what sort of areas wouldn't be too welcoming. It's like anyone going to any city in the world - there are always parts of it that are rougher than others, right?"
"Ireland was never tested before," Harris observes. "And now it's being tested. And it's just as racist as everywhere else. Why are people surprised?"
Next Saturday, Riverdance will be giving 1,000 matinee tickets free to refugees, asylum seekers, members of the travelling community, and members of other ethnic minorities, as a symbolic gesture of inclusiveness. Tickets are being distributed to relevant organisations through Comhlamh, the Irish Association of Returned Development Workers, tel: 01-4783490.
On Sunday, 20th August, there will be a benefit performance to support Le Cheile, an anti-racism education programme being organised by Comhlamh. Le Cheile - Together: Artists Against Racism in Ireland will be launched the same day. This project was developed by Riverdance, together with Comhlamh. Tickets from usual outlets. The Point box-office is on: 01-8363633.