Good dancing makes you want to dance, and Riverdance does that. Not only is this incoming production a chance to see, one last time, one of the defining touring shows of the past 20 years, it’s a chance to pay tribute to a show that, I’m sure, swells the ranks of local dance classes, where young girls and boys turn step dancing from something you simply see into something you do.
It goes without saying Chicago lived up to it’s name. I was determined to fit in as much as possible for the week and went in all guns blazing. I was that annoying tourist that we all see walking down the street in our home towns! The very fact we were in a heatwave, overlapped with visits from friends and loved ones and with St. Patrick’s Day flung into the mix, the week was certainly going to prove eventful!
As a dancer, you tend to concentrate so much on your own performance that you forget the effort it takes from our crew members to set up the show. For such a small group they are faced with the mammoth task of building the stage, lights, sound and costume department on a daily basis. This week, I spoke to a few of them to try and find out a bit more about their job responsibilities and daily routine.
Perfectly timed for St. Patrick’s Day, “Riverdance,” the spectacular display of Irish folk dance, speckled with the arts of a few other ethnicities in its mix, returns for what’s billed as its farewell visit, on view through Sunday at the Oriental Theatre.
Read about Fiona McCabes list of 11 cities visited, competitions won and more from behind the curtain.
In this weeks tour blog, Irish Dance Troupe member Maeve Fearon gives us a unique look backstage at a Riverdance show. Also she tells us how the company have covered approximately 5,392 miles and stayed in 22 different hotel rooms since the beginning of the tour!
On Sunday night the vice president of the People’s Republic of China was treated to one of the country’s biggest recent success stories.
Vice president Xi Jinping made a special request to see ‘Riverdance’, which is hugely popular in his homeland.
Photography: David Cantwell Photography
WREG-TV Channel 3 – Interview with Riverdance principal dancers James Greenan & Chloey Turner
Join Irish Dance Troupe member Fiona McCabe as she tells us about her trip to New Orleans, some of her favourite cities on tour and gives us another style file.
Even so, the end of the road is nearing. The show is currently on an 82-city farewell North American tour that’s winding across the U.S. and Canada and ends in June. This month, the show left Texas, hit the Southeast and next goes to the Plains.