Hello Bradford

October 21, 2014

It’s week 7 here on the UK tour of Riverdance and we have just finished off in Bradford. It was a normal week for us, as we performed 8 shows in the Alhambra Theatre. After travelling from Manchester to Bradford, many of us were tired so we all retired to our rooms on our day off. My day off consisted of washing my hair and watching numerous amounts of TV programs and movies in my hotel room.

In our downtime, half of us travelled to the city of York and another half to the city of Leeds. Leeds was calling me, so a small group of us went and watched a band called the Världens Band. Our fiddle player, David Lombardi had discovered that three of his friends were playing in this band and he invited us along. The concert showcased the talent of 15 musicians from 7 countries (Sweeden, Scotland, England, Tunisia, Columbia, France and India) and three continents. It was an exciting blend of culture with a spontaneous musical style.

This week was also about saying goodbye and hello. We said goodbye two of our lead dancers Lauren Smyth and Siobhan Manson where they will join the China Riverdance Tour this November. We also welcomed Julia Gats to the Irish troupe who will be with us to the end of the tour. I spoke to Julia in her downtime and she mentioned to me ‘how much fun her first week on tour has been…’ and ‘how she is learning so much about about everyone and everything.’ She is excited to see what the rest of the tour has in store for her.

 

We finished off the week with a spectacular firework show in Bradford’s town centre on Sunday night. Thank you to DeWitt and James for organising this. I think one of my favourite moments from this week would have to be our random singing session in the male leads dressing room. In between shows on Saturday a few of us sang a couple of songs to a well played acoustic guitar by William Bryant and Jason O’Neill. We may have not known the words but it was a good laugh.

Our next stop is Blackpool where we will be performing at the Opera House. Keep up to date with the latest news via our Facebook and Twitter pages. You can also follow us on Instagram: @riverdanceofficial

 

 

All photos © Gianna Petracic