The Riverdance Flying Squad were invited to perform at the 8th edition of the Doha Watch & Jewellery exhibition. The exhibition was organised by the Qatar Tourism Authority, with over 450 designers and more than 50,000 people expected to visit.

Columbus is the capital city of Ohio, the home of one of the world’s biggest college campuses (Ohio State University) and the home city of one of the Riverdance greats – Joe Moriarty! Joe has performed with the show for quite some time, performing the lead role for many years.

There will be a last minute rummage for dance shoes, elastics and electrical tape. The likelihood of laces snapping or tights ripping is as imminent as ever. The scent of tiger balm and bio freeze will fill the quick change room. The noise of saxophone scales and constant trebling and tapping will be as loud as ever. It is now ‘clearance’…We all rush to the tepees backstage like obeying children to the sound of a school bell. It’s Showtime……

The Riverdance cast looked forward to a day off due to the super bowl coverage, with some of the cast members venturing out to Chicago only a mere hour away. Some of us stayed in Milwaukee to watch the local team of Green Bay take on the Pittsburgh team on their quest to be Super bowl champions.

To be in the presence of Olympian medalists and performing with them was becoming more and more exciting. Stepping onstage to sing “The Heart’s Cry” with Olympic Silver medalist Sasha Cohen performing a lyrical solo on the ice was equally surprising and unbelievable.

The audiences in Killarney never fail to impress and there seems to be just as many locals as tourists coming to the show! For those of you unfamiliar with Killarney it is predominately a tourist town with breath taking local scenery attracting hordes of tourists from both home and abroad.

The Cast and Crew of Riverdance were recently invited to perform at the prestigious International Festival of Byblos. This fascinating city is reported to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world; it has been conquered by at least nineteen different civilisations and boasts some of the world’s most fascinating ruins, which are literally part of the city. The architecture of the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, the Crusaders and so many more are woven in to the fabric of the city.

This week many of the cast opted to hang out in Toronto for the few days off, some went home for a few days, and the rest of us tried our hand at a few days of gambling. I should have done anything other than gamble, because I lost a couple hundred, but others had a lot more luck! It’s funny how the casino has no windows or clocks and pumps extra air in to keep patrons awake, because it works! Many late nights at the tables and slots made for a few enjoyable nights off!

This week we ventured on our last split week of a nine-month tour! Wow, we finally made it thru them all! It is crazy to think of how many cities we have visited and going to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Greenville, South Carolina this week added two more states to our tour list.