The Irish dance show, Riverdance, started as an interval act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, and has since grown into an international phenomenon. Read More
The Irish dance show, Riverdance, started as an interval act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, and has since grown into an international phenomenon. Its 30th anniversary edition plays at the Jubilee auditorium in Edmonton from July 20 to 22, and in Calgary from July 27 to 29. Calgary is the final stop
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The Irish dance show, Riverdance, started as an interval act during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, and has since grown into an international phenomenon.
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Its 30th anniversary edition plays at the Jubilee auditorium in Edmonton from July 20 to 22, and in Calgary from July 27 to 29. Calgary is the final stop on this tour, which began in January.
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The original Riverdance’s seven-minute routine is still considered the most well-known interval act in Eurovision history. It was so well received, its creators – husband and wife team of John McColgan and Moya Doherty – expanded it into a full-length show which opened in Dublin the following year. It moved to London four months later, and to New York at Radio City Music Hall the following year.
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Riverdance has played more than 15,000 performances in 49 countries and has been seen live by more than 30 million people.
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McColgan, who directed this newest version, says it introduces audiences to “a new generation of artists, none of whom were even born when the original show debuted. It blends the traditional, which people love, with the contemporary, showcasing the skill and passion of the world-class dancers, musicians and singers in our new Riverdance ensemble. Audiences can expect new, innovative choreography and costumes, state-of-the-art lighting, projection and graphics.”
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Edmonton sisters, Londyn and Olivia Nachtigal, are members of Riverdance’s Irish dance ensemble, as they were for the 25th anniversary edition. Both have been dancing since they were four years old.
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“Our mother enrolled us in dance classes when we were each four years old. Both Olivia and I studied ballet, tap and jazz, but we soon concentrated on Irish dancing, and we’re not even Irish,” says Londyn.
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“It’s not a discipline like the other dances we were studying. The closest to it is tap, obviously, because of the noise that you create when you are dancing. The big thing that distinguishes it from other forms of dance is that you have to keep your upper body and arms very straight when you are dancing. That’s the thing about Irish dancing that people like to joke about.”
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Olivia adds that “the hardest thing for the dancers is to make it look really easy and comfortable, when it’s not at all. It actually takes a lot of practice and effort to get your arms to stick to your side like that. Each of our dances is at least 10 minutes long, so it is taxing. You get used to it because you’re doing eight shows a week.”
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She points out that while the show is two hours long, they’re not on stage the whole time. There’s also a full band, a choir, soloists, flamingo dancers, tap dancers and folk dancers.