CasiNotes: The Trop steps it up with 'Spirit of the Dance'

IF NETWORK television doesn't offer enough programming to quench your appetite for dance, Tropicana Casino and Resort is where you'll want to be.

Through Feb. 19, the gambling den is presenting "Spirit of the Dance," in which a talented corps of dancers clog, step, fling, tap, spin and jump their way through seemingly endless variations of Irish step dancing.

That, of course, is the genre brought to worldwide prominence by Michael Flatley and the "Riverdance" productions. Flatley proved in the 1990s that combining traditional British Isles clogging with American tap results in a license to print money.

Although presented on a much smaller scale than Flatley's extravaganzas ("Lord of the Dance" was his other smash), "Spirit of the Dance," which employs a relatively small cast and prerecorded music, is buoyed by a gifted troupe of dancers and a perpetual-motion format that emphasizes vigorous maneuvers.

The show opens on kind of an icky note: A tableaux that suggests ancient Celtic mythology finds co-star Victoria Hobson crooning a New Agey tune filled with references to "darkness" and "daylight" and a future "where children can dance."

Yuck.

But things right themselves as the show quickly gets down to its real purpose: putting the cast through its impressive and entertaining paces.

"Spirit of the Dance" is ostensibly a survey of global choreography, and indeed, there are segments devoted to flamenco, Scottish flings, salsa and the like. But each sequence is infused with step dancing, identified by the odd, hands-at-the-side, motionless-upper-body posture of the dancers as they tap out rhythms with their feet.

Those who aren't particularly interested in the form may find the sequences redundant. But more tolerant audience members will no doubt enjoy how the basic style is cleverly incorporated into such a diverse range of formats.

Among the program's individual highlights are the aforementioned flamenco and Scottish turns, and an extended "battle-of-the-sexes" sequence that gives the predominantly female cast a chance to show off its athleticism.

As for a good, old-fashioned crowd-pleaser, nothing tops the number in which the dancers sit on the edge of the stage and run through a complex routine using only their hands and arms.

"Spirit of the Dance" is helped along by plenty of eye-catching costuming and sharp lighting schemes. But most of all, what makes it worthwhile is the nonstop energy generated by the dancers, as well as their stamina, discipline and, of course, talent.

Incidentally, the Trop, which has staged a different revue every six weeks or so for the past several years, won't offer an immediate follow-up to "Spirit of the Dance." Instead, the theater will be dark until April, when a new revusical, "Celebration of the '60s," opens.

Tropicana, Boardwalk at Brighton Avenue, 9 p.m. tomorow, 3:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Monday, 3:30 and 8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. $25, 800-735-1420, ticketmaster.com.

play to learn

Cash-game poker players have a chance to get a leg (or hand, as it were) up on the competition this weekend at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City.

The bayside gaming hall is hosting the first World Series of Poker Academy cash-game seminar for players looking to upgrade their games.

The two-day program will feature poker experts - among them Mark Seif and Paul Wasicka - offering instruction in such aspects of the game as how to "read" opponents, how to determine the range of hands they may hold against you, and bankroll management.

There will also be a Cash Game Competition whose grand prize is an all-expense-paid trip to Caesars Palace Las Vegas and a seat at the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions, which will take place just before the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker. *

Tuition for the sessions, which commence at 10 a.m. tomorrow, is $1,899, with $499.75 due up front and the balance paid in three monthly installments. All levels of player are welcome to participate. For information and registration go to www.wsopacademy.com/

schedule/january-24-25-harrahs-

atlantic-city.html.

Chuck Darrow has covered Atlantic City and the casino industry for more than 20 years. Read his blog at

http://go.philly.com/casinotes. Or e-mail him at darrowc@phillynews.com.