The Show
What would be of this fanlisting without a proper and in-depth explanation of what Riverdance is all about?
Riverdance is a world-known act of traditional Irish step-dancing with some Russian dancing, Amrican tapping and Flamenco in-between. It started of
with a 7-minute intermission piece during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest where Michael Flatley first performed Riverdance.
In 1995, Riverdance was fully performed in Dublin and among the cast was Irish Dancing champion Jean Butler. The show ran for five weeks
during which all performances were sold out. It was performed again for sell-out crowds throughout six weeks and later performed in London, again,
to a sold-out theatre.
Following this success, Riverdance was performed at the Radio City Music Hall in New York in 1996. It sold out eight times.
On March 5 of 2002 the show celebrated it's 5,000th performance.
Currently, there are three production companies performind Riverdance around the world. Each company is named after an Irish river. Currently there is the Boyne, in the United States, the Avoca, in Europe, and the Corrib in the Far East.
The Scenes
Reel Around The Sun
The sun brings life and light and fire, the opening dance sequence celebrates this benevolent masculine power. The sun is the light of morning, exuberant and clear.
The Heart's Cry
There is also that other primeval mystery, the salmon swimming upstream, the blind urgings of nature, heart yearning to heart. We need and sustain each other; we keep this knowledge in song since the beginning of time.
The Countess Cathleen
Sensual, nurturing, independent and fierce, the power of women as they celebrate themselves, as they challenge men in a dance of empowerment.
Caoineadh Chu Chulainn
A lone piper mourns Cú Chulainn, the implacable Bronze Age warrior, the great hero of Celtic myth.
Thunderstorm
The brute power of elemental forces, beyond human control, beyond human understanding.
Shivna
The myth of Mad Sweeney, Suibhne or Shivna, haunts Ireland since mediaeval times. Driven by forces inside of himself, outside himself, a man dances desperately in the power of the moon. The powers are cruel and arbitrary, female and savage.
Firedance
In ancient Ireland fire and pride and beauty come out of the south, from the land of the sun. The power of the sun invests itself in the passion of the dancer.
Slip into Spring - The Harvest
The wheel of the seasons turns slowly, from harvest through dormant winter into the miracle of spring. New growth, exhilaration, the world turns and is made new again.
Riverdance
Our story begins in the evocation of the Riverwoman, it moves through the dawn of history as the river moves through the land. As the power of the river grows, as the barren earth becomes fertile, as men and women grow in their sense of themselves, our story rises until it floods the world in a vital, joyous riot of celebration.
American Wake
War, famine and slavery shattered the ancient bonds between people and place. Forced dislocations marked and altered the histories of the native peoples. As we came into history we learned to guard what we valued, to accommodate ourselves to others, to learn new ways of being ourselves, to embrace new kinds of courage. Cast out and momentarily orphaned, we learned to belong to the world.
Lift the Wings
While those souls who were forced to emigrate were faced with the heartbreak of separation, their human spirit was often lifted by a defiant hope at the prospect of a new life.
The Harbour of the New World
The music and dance that forged a sense of identity are now exposed to new and unfamiliar cultures. Ultimately, in the blending and fusion that follows, the emigrants find that the totality of human experience and expression is greater even than the sum of its many diverse parts. *consists of 5 parts listed below
Slow Air Tunes/Heartland
Always the child of the emigrant feels the tug of the homeplace; always that child feels the urge to return. What she or he brings there is a sustaining knowledge: we are who we once were, we are who we have become.
With newfound confidence and pride, the child of the emigrant carries treasured memories home to their birthplace. A long journey ends under a native sky, a new and richer journey has taken its place.
Riverdance Finale
We are one kind. We are one people now, our voices blended, our music a great world in which we can feel everywhere at home, Ní neart go chur le cheile, together we are strong.
Harbour of the New World
As stated above, the scene The Harbour of the New World consists of 5 parts.
1. Heal Their Hearts - FreedomFrom the darkness a lone voice sings and is then joined by other immigrants, reflecting the universal yearning of the dispossessed wherever they make their home.2. Trading Taps
The wealth of the poor is in song, dance and story. Under the street-lamps in the new cities the dancers perform with pride in their heritage, curious to see what other traditions bring, struggling to bridge the gap between old dreams and new realities.3. Morning in Macedonia
Meeting the new, what we learn first is that there is something familiar in what is strange, something strange in what we had thought familiar. A tune from another place, another lifetime, can turn and haunt in the heart.4. Oscail an Doras (Open the Door)
In the flight from famine and poverty, musical instruments were an unknown luxury. "Mouth Music" often used by the Celtic nations was now revived as a substitute dance accompaniment and also as relief from the tedium of manual labour.5. Andalucia
In the cauldron of the big city, the pulsing energy of the streetes is reflected in the fiery Latin dance rythms.
The Avoca
Touring Europe.
Leads
Catherine Collins
Joanne Doyle
Alana Mallon
Sean Kelliher (Dance Captain)
Ryan McCaffrey
David Moore
Riverdance Irish Dance Troupe
Donna Marie Boyle, Gili Ben Ari, Stephen Brennan
Patrick Campbell, Maeve Croke, Aileen Cronin
Deirdre Dowling, Claire Doyle, Aisling Drennan
Niamh Eustace (Assistant Dance Captain)
Anthony Fallon, Oliver Gemoli, Charlene Hegarty
David Johnston, Sarah Manning, Darren Maguire
Claire McCole, Alana McCrudden, Dervla McGee
Ciara McGillan, Christina McGrath, Yvonne McNelis
Derek Moran, Laura Mulligan, Rachel Mulvihill
Damien O'Neill, Alan Scariff, David Smith
The Riverdance Band
Zoe Conway - Fiddle
Mikie Smyth - Uilleann Pipes (until Nov 24th)
John O'Brien - Uilleann Pipes (from Nov 24th)
Guy Rickerby - Drums, Percussion & Bodhrán (until November)
Ray Fean - Drums, Percussion & Bodhrán
Sarah James - Saxophone
Kelvin Thomson - Musical Director and Keyboards
The Riverdance Singers
Suzanne Savage (Soloist)
Pam Jolley (Understudy)
Morgan Crowley (Soloist & Choir Leader)
Eoin Cannon (Understudy)
and members of the company.
Flamenco Firedance/Andalucia
Marina Claudio
Moscow Folk Ballet Company
Olena Krutsenko (Dance Captain)
Sergey Bukreev
Alexey Kuksa
Evgeni Tatiyanki Irina Soukhinina
Evgeniya Starodubova
Riverdance Tappers
Ronald 'Cadet' Bastine
Jason E. Bernard
Baritone Solo Singer
'Heal Their Hearts/Freedom'
Ralph Cato
The Riverdance Drummers
Aran O'Malley and members of the company
The Boyne
Touring North America.
Leads
Cara Casey
Melissa Convery
Aislinn Ryan
Padraic Moyles
Marty Dowds
Michael Eustace
Riverdance Irish Dance Troupe
Jessie Baffa, Patrick Barnet, Owen Barrington
David Bellwood, Siobhan Burke Mary Jo Clark
Caterina Coyne, Scott Doherty, Jillian Farmer
Kristyn Fontanella, Jennifer Healy, Kevin Horton
Theresa Ierardi, Yvonne Mahady, Tokiko Masuda
Emily McDonnell, Óisín McQuoid, Laura Minogue
Brian Mullane, Lisa Murphy, Jennifer O'Connell
Niamh O'Connor, Mark O'Loughlin, Justin Ryan, Nicholas Yenson
The Riverdance Band
Alexis MacIsaac - Fiddle
Declan Masterson - Uilleann Pipes, Low Whistle
Robert Geraghty - Saxophone
Steve Holloway - Drums and Percussion
Julian Kelly - Keyboards and Musical Director (until October 24th)
Kennedy Aitchison - Keyboards and Musical Director (from October 24th)
The Riverdance Singers
Kathryn Else (female soloist)
Roisin Sullivan (understudy)
Tim Jay (male soloist)
Mark Fennell (understudy and choir leader)
Flamenco Firedance/Andalucia
Nuria Brisa
Moscow Folk Ballet Company
Anna Brovkina
Natalia Kartavtseva
Iouri Zhivoglotov
Ilia Pankratov
Natalia Tomilina
Oleg Vasiliev
Riverdance Tappers
'Trading Taps'
Aaron Tolson
Walter Freeman
Baritone Solo Singer
'Heal Their Hearts/Freedom'
Michael Samuels
The Riverdance Drummers
Ian McTigue and members of the company
The Corrib
Touring the Far East
Leads
Zara Curtis
Dearbhla Lennon
Siobhan Manson
Liam Ayres
Michael Patrick Gallagher
Joe Moriarty
Riverdance Irish Dance Troupe
Craig Ashurst, Michael Belvitch (co-dance captain)
Maria Buffini, Nicola Byrne, Sean Connolly
Noelle Curran, Maeve Donohue, Alan Fox
Rachel Harris, Taka Hayashi, Christina Havlin
Orla Keane, Timothy Kochka, Sabrina Long
Mairead Masuda, Michael Maguire, Marcus Maloney
Cal Moran, Niamh McDarby, Deirdre McDonnell (co-dance captain)
Sarah McGowan, Carla O'Brien, Jason Oremus, Orflaith Taylor
The Riverdance Band
Niamh Ni Charra - Fiddle & Concertina
Matt Bashford - Uilleann Pipes, Low Whistle
Carolyn Goodwin - Saxophone
Derrick Tallon - Drums and Percussion
Cathal Synnott - Keyboards and Musical Director
The Riverdance Singers
Conor Sheridan (soloist)
Fiona Wight (soloist)
Mary Sexton (Choir Leader)
John Matthews
and members of the company
Flamenco Firedance/Andalucia
Rocio Montoya
Moscow Folk Ballet Company
Carmela Gallace
Igor Karpenko
Lioubov Martchoukova
Kirill Nikitin
Alexei Souharev (Dance Captain)
Margarita Trotsenko
Riverdance Tappers
Corey Hutchins
Kelly Isaac
Baritone Solo Singer
Richard McCowen
The Riverdance Drummers
Gary Grant and members of the company