Thread that tugs at Chinese hearts

At the heart of the dance show Heartbeat of Home are, naturally, dancers, carried along by all manner of music, including Latin and Afro-Cuban. That much is obvious to anyone seeing the show, which is now touring China, but hiding in the wings is the story of the huge challenges that producers faced.

The director, John McColgan, says that in bringing to life the show, the offspring of the spectacularly successful Riverdance, it took more than three years, during which audition videos - all 2 million of them - flooded in from show hopefuls from around the world. Out of that looking-through-a-haystack effort emerged 10 golden needles, including the male and female lead dancers Bobby Hodges and Ciara Sexton. With them are about 30 others, including a 10-piece band.

The Golden Globe-nominated composer Brian Byrne wrote the music that threads the show together.