STEPPING UP FOR A CELTIC DANCE TRIBUTE PORTSMOUTH ENSEMBLE SALUTES `RIVERDANCE'

PORTSMOUTH -- Nowhere is the pulsating, exhilarating joy of Celtic music made so visual as it is on stage with traditional Irish step dancing, much as it was popularized with the 1994 show "Riverdance" that revolutionized public perception of this ancient dance form.

Saturday at the Music Hall, the New Hampshire Academy of Performing Arts and its Seacoast Civic Dance Company will present "Celtic Rhythms: A Tribute to Riverdance," in its largest fund-raising concert.

A cast of 45 tap and soft-shoe dancers -- including the Seacoast Civic Dance Company dancers, ages 13-18, and Elite Petite dancers, ages 10-13 -- will present the poetry of Irish music and dance in 14 classical ballet, lyrical and step-dancing numbers. They will be accompanied by Celtic music masters Steve Schuch on fiddle and David Surette on guitar, bouzouki and …