Since my last blog, the Moy Company has been travelling intensely through the Christmas season. We have encountered some culturally engaging moments that I have hopefully captured for you visually.
Firstly I will delve into my experience at Ciqikou in the very large city of Chongqing. This was one of my favorite days of the tour so far. Walking down alleyways and streets with vendors, surrounded by a preserved historical setting. I felt like I was on a movie set depicting Ancient China.

Riverdance embarks on a 10 week tour of China, performing to an expected audience of 86,000 people across 24 major cities. A Chinese language website www.riverdance.com.cn has been launched to support the tour.
The tour includes performances at the world renowned Beijing Exhibition Centre Theatre and the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre.
Riverdance will also perform in a large number of newly constructed; state of the art venues on this tour and in a number of instances Riverdance will have the honour to take part in the official opening of these new venues.

While the show is leaving America, it has tours planned for Belgium, New Zealand and Australia. The show is also going to India in October and plans a 10-week tour of China. There are also dates set in Argentina and Brazil, which excites Erskine because “Riverdance” hasn’t been farther south in the Americas than Mexico before.

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

Julian Erskine, the Irish senior executive producer of the musical sensation Riverdance, knows he’s done a good job if people dance out of the theater after a performance.
That was how he felt when he came to China with Riverdance.

Welcome to China with the brand new Bann Company. Riverdance will tour 12 cities in China including Beijing and Shanghai from December 2009 to February 2010. We begin the tour with 6 shows in Shenzhen.

Opening night went very well. We sold out for the entire week in Beijing and there was great energy among the cast. In attendance to the show were the Irish Ambassador of China and the Irish Olympic Boxing team. They took time out from their vigorous schedules and were able to see the show and meet the cast afterwards.

Recent tourists to the Great Wall of China must have been amazed to see a long line of girls and boys dressed in glittering Broadway costumes performing extracts from Riverdance along this ancient wall.