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.
We had two groups traveling to Huntsville, Alabama, with one leaving early in the morning and the other leaving in the afternoon. We had to take two flights, so I was pretty lucky to be in the afternoon group. It was a rather long day, but we all arrived safely to Huntsville. We were staying in an Embassy Suites, so the rooms were nice and big, and another perk of this hotel is the manager’s reception that is held everyday.
Well we finally made it to the last week of tour, and its also the very last week of the Corrib Company so we tried to make it one to remember.
We have had a good deal of split weeks this tour, so we were glad to be in Raleigh, North Carolina for an entire week. Flying into Raleigh went rather smoothly and we were at the hotel early enough to enjoy the evening. The hotel was located right in the middle of downtown, so we were close to lots of restaurants, shops, and of course a couple of nice pubs to enjoy!
….another busy week for the Riverdance workshops, where members of the Riverdance troupe coach local Irish dancers and Irish Dance schools in Irish Dancing as the tour travels troughout the UK.
Anthony, Chris, Laura and Donna undertook a workshop with a large group of dancers from a local Southampton Irish Dance school.
We were very excited to get to Oxford – there is so much to see and do here. The famous University and its grounds, The famous Hogwarts Hall from Harry Potter, the Jamie Oliver restaurant and many more restaurants and shops.