MICHAEL FLATLEY was, forced to give encore after encore at the end of last night's opening performance of Lord of the Dance at the Point by a packed audience who began giving standing ovations even before the end of act one, for this show is superbly entertaining.

Like a floor show in its slick sophistication and like melodrama in its conflict between good and evil, using trap doors and puffs of smoke, it grips from the moment the sound of a great wind heralds the gathering of the clans with blazing torches, while light beams rake the auditorium, for Patrick Woodroffe has lit many a rock concert and treats this accordingly.

But it is the dance that evokes cheers for not only is it brilliantly performed but Flatley's choreography has developed Irish dance to a new stage. In Riverdance the impact he made by using his arms in conjunction with the extraordinary dexterity of his footwork was unique. Here the whole cast use his extended vocabulary to create a powerful dance drama with stunning effect.

True this lacks the wonderful music of Bill Whelan and the magic of Anuna, but Ronan Hardiman has created some highly atmospheric sound and the melody of the title song is woven through the show in different guises. And if Anne Buckley's sweet singing is of existing songs like Suil Aroon, Anach Cuan, and She Moves Through the Fair while Mairead Nesbitt and Cora Smyth's excite with their duelling electric violins, the show is still an integrated whole, rather than the variety show that is" Riverdance.

It is brilliantly directed by Arlene Phillips, with striking settings by Jonathan Park. Anne Dudley conducts the excellent orchestra, raised on either side of the stage, but it is the dancers, led by Bernadette Flynn, Gillian Norris, Daire Nolan and the incredible Flatley that will take your breath away.