The Fox Theatre, Detroit

From Saginaw to Syracuse, between easter eggs and new fiddle players, It is only now I’ve had a minute to come up for air and share with you some more stories from our life on the road. We have come past the half way point of our final farewell tour and things are still as exciting as ever! Indulge in my tales from our home away from home.

La Crosse, WI: Thank you DeWitt Flemming for a wonderful 2 weeks performance and we welcome back Jason E. Bernard. Our massage therapist, Susan Luger takes some time from the tour to return to Fort Lauderdale, FL. One of our tour buses’ transmission acts up so the troupe all pile onto one bus. Squashed sardines anyone?! The glorious weather in La Crosse took the edge off our Chicago blues.

MARITA + FIONA INDULGE IN LOCAL HANDMADE ICE-CREAM

South Bend, IN: An onsite visit from a local chiropracter who volunteers his services backstage. Dancers and crew alike line up for a bit of back and neck ‘cracking’!
It’s officially summer; as I pay a visit to shoe carnival across from our hotel and invest in my first pair of summer sandals for 2012. (The first of many!)

Wabash, IN: We are faced with one of our most grueling days of tour today. With a journey of just under 100 miles we are faced with the prospect of a matinee and an evening performance at 3pm and 7pm. This was certainly a twilight zone-of-a-day! I was never happier to crawl inside my bed at the Holiday Inn Express that night.

East Lansing, MI: Our muggy, humid days come to an end as we are greeted by rain, rain and more rain. Thankfully the Wharton Centre where we perform is cosy, has high speed internet and thus offers minimal distraction from the misty weather conditions outside. Our loyal masseuse returns to us!

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario: ON the morning of Wednesday, 28 March we made our first crossing of the border into the Maple Leaf State. It’s good to be back Canada! I’m not a fan of the cold, biting east wind you bring but the sight of our very won Cadbury Chocolate candy bars and familiar certain foodstuffs to us Irish soften the blow a little. The individual fireplaces acting as the focal point in our hotel rooms also offered a warming welcome as we settled nicely into our rooms at the City Centre Travelodge.

Sudbury, Ontario: Happy faces and full tummies for us all as we board the bus to Sudbury the following morning. The friendly cafe at the Travelodge offered us warm, homemade bread, eggs and hot pots of tea for breakfast. It tasted so good I felt like I was sitting at my kitchen table at home. That toast certainly called for another cup of tea, Now we were ready to brave the sleet and cold temperatures of Ontario! Nicola Dempsey, Steven Brennan and I all enjoyed a leisurely swim at the Radisson Hotel on our arrival. It’s not often we get to duck and dive in an 8 foot deep swimming pool.

Barrie, Ontario: A lovely afternoon was spent in a local coffee shop as five old friends caught up on life. Niamh O Connor, Padraic Moyles and I were whisked away for the afternoon by former principal dancer, Deirdre Hamilton and her fiance, Lazlo Pekar. We spoke about life on tour since they both finished touring after the UK tour in May 2010. How quickly time goes by. Deirdre and Lazlo are happily teaching dance and pilates in local studios in Barrie. We put our best foot forward for both of them as they watched the performance from the audience for the first time in years!

North Bay, Ontario: Although the stage in the Capital Centre had smaller dimensions than usual, the cast and crew of Riverdance worked hard to make the show happen. The hard work paid off as the house cheered us not once but twice when the curtains went up at 4 and 8 o’ clock.

Kingston, Ontario: We said good bye to our very talented fiddle player, Miss Rose Duffy after a fantastic 6 weeks of performing with our company. We thank her for her hard work. Having big shoes to fill, especially those of Patrick Mangan’s is not easy but Rose slipped right in. She will return to work as an occupational therapist in Chicago. We have since welcomed veteran, Niamh Ni Charra back into the Shannon company. This is the final change to the band list as Niamh will remain with us until the end of tour in the Wolf Trap Filene’s Centre.

Syracuse, NY: What else can I say only March Madness?! We here in the Shannon Company like to indulge in a little petty gambling frmo time to time (as previosuly discussed in my former blogs!) This time we had bets put on teams for the College Basketball Playoffs. Each member picks a team out of a hat at the cost of $5 per team. Whoever’s team won the final won the grand total of $150, that lucky winner being crew member Danny Erskine! We all sat around in a cosy sports bar in downtown Syracuse to cheer on Kansas and Kentucky. Personally, I have never watched so much basketball in my life. Maybe I’m a converted fan now!

New Philadelphia, OH: I treat myself to a bunch of beautiful purple and yellow cut tulips on our lunch stop. Anything to brighten up a hotel room!

Easter in Detroit:
Beautiful weather, a local baseball game, Easter Sunday plus a day off makes the Shannon Company a very happy Shannon Company. It’s always a pleasure to a return to the wonderful Fox Theatre on Woodward Avenue. Now there’s a reason why Saturday night in Detroit has ring to it! Tapper, Jason Bernard’s old friend who is also a trumpet player happened to be playing at the jazz club near the Fox Theatre so we snapped up the chance to hear some live music.

Jazz Bar Cliff Bells, Detroit

This was followed by a fun evening of continued music and dance at a very authentic Greek restaurant en route back to our hotel. A spectacular night was had by all. Saturday night’s festivities paved the way for plenty of Easter treats and not just in the form of chocolate. We were spoilt for sports choice whereby many of the crew and some dancers went to see the Detroit Tigers in action in the nearby Tigers Stadium ( formerly known as Navan Field and Briggs Stadium). Sunburned faces puts it mildly; an unexpected extra long baseball game in the direct sunlight made even the sallowest look Irish! Others chose to relax in the snazzy hotel bar and opted for watching the golfing Masters via TV! For those looking to make the very most of two consecutive days off (which is rare with such a tour) some took a trip to The Big Apple on a brave 6am flight and spent the time off visiting various Broadway musicals and such. Needless to say, everyone made the most of the Easter break!

The Amish farmhouse:

I don’t know about you but I have always had a deep curiosity about the Amish people and their way of life. Amish settlements simply do not exist in Ireland where I come from so I made sure I satisfied my curiosity and paid a visit to one of the local Amish farmhouses. Lancaster, PA has a highly concentrated Amish population and I was so excited to get the privilege to walk through one of their own-built houses. My partner in crime, Miss Nicole McKeever decided to accompany me on my touristy trip and off we set early one morning. To get to walk through an almost 300 year old farmhouse was more than I bargained for. We were given a guided tour around the 14 roomed house including wandering the upstairs bedrooms. We were educated on the various typed of dress codes and color significance in the women’s attire.

Apparently we’re not the only curious typed around. The house has even attracted the very glamorous ‘Vogue’ magazine who did a spread on the clothing of the Amish society! It was moving to say the least to walk about the farm grounds. What once stood a spectacular 1,000 acre farm site has now been reduced to a mere 15 acres with the Lancaster-Philadelphi turnpike cutting past the goats pens and blacksmith sheds.

Although we have bid farewell to Michigan and Pennsylvania, we leave with heavy hearts but sweet, sweet memories. We look forward to making many more. Now raise you glasses to a successful fourteen completed weeks of tour and join me on my adventure with a continuance of tales from the lovely Boston and Canada.

Fiona’s style file.

Fiona wears …

Vintage, mustard, pleated dress; Kensington Avenue  boutique, Toronto
- Brown framed sun glasses; Betsey Johnson, Hawaii
- Black capezio tights; Capezio.com
- Black ballet pumps; American Eagle, Vancouver
- Black ‘bowling’ handbag; Lululemon Athletica, Chicago

This bag is part of my new Spring Collection. I treated myself to this on St. Patrick’s Day as a reminder of my trip to Chicago. It is ideal
for all the traveling I do. It has a built in padded compartment to store my laptop. the back small pouch is perfect for quick access to my cell phone!

Fiona

Read this on the Riverdance website: A busy time in Detroit

Tapper Jason Bernard at Butterfly Museum, Houston

Seventeen years ago final preparations were being made for the opening night of ‘Riverdance – The Show’ in Dublin. Now in Dallas, Texas the same meticulous approach is still being practised as we gather on-stage for a full run-through followed by detailed notes from our executive producer, Julian Erskine. A few hours later, we are warming up; stretching, skipping, core strengthening etc. The tapping of fibre glass rings loudly as we prepare to embrace the stage. As the first few notes of ‘Reel Around the Sun’ begin, I can only imagine how those dancers felt as they stepped out to an eager and unassuming crowd. Exactly two hours later, the exhilarated Dallas audience are on their feet, uplifted by what evidently remains a top class show.

After a quick cool down and the essential discomfort of icing, it’s straight to bed in preparation for the first matinee of the tour. We are brought in a little earlier for a review of the previous nights show and with a few minor tweaks, the second show of the tour gets underway. This is a particularly exciting show for one of our troupe members, James Greenan as he prepares for his first lead performance and what he describes as “the pinnacle of my dancing career”. Leaving his hugely successful performance and Dallas behind, we embark on the first of many “travel show days”.

Our first travel day arrival at hotel

A relatively short journey (2hrs 15minutes) takes us to Longview, Texas. Having offloaded our luggage and freshened up, we make our way to the venue. On travel show days, catering is provided and this provides the perfect setting for relaxing before the official 17th anniversary night. As we perform the final number of this sell out show ‘Heartland’, the audience response is superb! After dancing a show, it is often difficult to wind down so we normally gather to watch DVDs and chill out together. Unsurprisingly, the first pick of the tour is ‘JIG’ – a documentary film about irish dancing.

The following morning, we are on the road to Houston, Texas. Spending the weekend at the plush downtown Hyatt Hotel is a treat. After the show Julian hosts a gathering with food and drinks in the hotel lobby to mark the beginning of the tour. This is greatly welcomed as we are happy to trade our sweaty tracksuits for our finest threads.

Group shot beside sculptures in Houston

On first impressions, Houston is like any other city with a host of various skyscrapers. However, it is surprisingly quirky with much street art, an impressive theatre district including our beautifully structured venue – the ‘Hobby Centre’. In addition, there are an impressive number of museums, including the Butterfly Museum. Since this is a four show weekend, our time is limited and for a mere $8, this is a worthy alternative to the distant NASA space-station.

Hobby Centre, Houston

After nine shows in six days, we say goodbye to Houston and hello to Pensacola, Florida for our first day off. I must admit after a ten hour bus journey and a long few days, we are collectively overjoyed to have some quality free time as we look forward to the busy week ahead.

Maeve

Tip of the Week:
Skipping is an effective method of building fitness. Short, quick bursts are highly beneficial. Take 15mins, using 4 minute intervals with 1 minute break between each.

Read this on the Riverdance website: Dallas, Longview, Houston and Pensacola in one week!

Maeve Fearon, Irish Dance Troupe, Shannon Company

It’s Sunday and my alarm sounds at 5am. Normally I would consider this a ridiculous hour of the morning and sluggishly hit “SNOOZE”. But today is by no means normal. Today, I am about to embark on another exciting tour with ‘Riverdance’. For the next five months, I will be travelling across USA & Canada, to over 80 destinations, performing to thousands of people every week and ultimately living my dream. Needless to say I didn’t even contemplate ”snoozing” this morning!

After saying my goodbyes, which is always difficult, I prepare for the long journey ahead. We experience very bad turbulence on the way, so we are delighted to arrive safely in Dallas, Texas, the first stop of the tour.

Upon arrival, we are greeted by our uber organised tour managers, Ryan and Oran who present us with welcome packs, full of useful information for the first week of tour. Considering I have packed everything but the kitchen sink, it takes a while for me to gather my luggage. Thankfully, our hotel (Hotel Indigo) is just a 20min drive from the airport and after a quick bite to eat at a local Italian, we retreat for some much needed rest.

Our first starbucks of the tour at Newark Airport - Declan Masterson, Dave McGauran, Maeve Fearon & Fiona McCabe

The first day of tour is normally quite hectic but some of the dancers are delayed due to bad weather conditions, so our call is much later than expected. This is good news as it means we can explore the city before rehearsals. Similar to any tourist visiting Dallas, our first stop is of course the famous spot where John F Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. The 6th Floor Museum is a must but I decided to spend my money on something much more appealing – the John Paul Gautier exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. With over 120 designer dresses on display and opening in only two US cities this year, it would attract even the slightest of fashion enthusiasts. My excitement is soon quelled though when we realise it doesn’t open on Monday! Instead, we move onto the Dallas Farmers Market to pick up some fresh fruit, which is essential for staying healthy on tour. Luckily, we find a gorgeous little cafe close to our hotel for lunch (Metropolitan Cafe) and after a quick ‘siesta’, we catch our bus to the “Dallas Music Hall” for rehearsals at 5pm.

John Grimes outside Dallas Museum of Art

Rehearsals are demanding, but there is great excitement in the air and everyone is really looking forward to dancing after our recent break. Due to jetlag, we are pretty exhausted but a fellow dancer Kincaid (originally from Dallas) invites us to his house for some home cooked food. Unsurprisingly we don’t pass up the opportunity but with opening night in mind and an early start the following morning, we soon head back to the hotel. It is worth a mention that one of our new male dancers, James Greenan is performing lead for the very first time in Dallas. This has certainly heightened our enthusiasm for opening night rehearsals and for the week ahead.

Rehearsals in Dallas

Opening night in Dallas - Jason O'Neill, John Grimes, Brian Shinners, Maeve Fearon, Stephen Brennan, Patrick Barnett

Tune in next week to hear all about opening night and for more about our performances in Longview and Houston.

Maeve

Tip of the Week:
To keep your clothes fresh on your travels, place laundry dryer sheets in the interior of your suitcase.

Read this on the Riverdance website: NEWSREEL

Fiona McCabe, Irish Dance Troupe, Shannon Company

Packing

Well this week began with the old ritual of taking down of the suitcase from my attic and since Hawaii wasn’t all too long ago, my case happens to be cobweb-free. (Sigh of relief!)

So I started the packing process with searching for my dance shoes. Since I haven’t put a foot under me since the New Years’ Eve Dublin Performance, I had a spot of trouble locating their whereabouts. So, after a brief self-chastise for my carelessness, I carefully placed my precious dance shoes in first so as not forget all about them when I get caught up with sorting jewelry and evening accessories! Pumps and treble shoes: check. Full steam ahead….

Scarves, scarves and more scarves. The packing continues

Wouldn’t you think at this stage in my life, with all the past experience of travel I would learn to pack quickly and efficiently? Let me tell you however it is not an easy task compressing ones whole wardrobe and personal effects into two not-so-generously-sized cases. Twenty plus weeks, multiple climates, too many states; Being on the road is easier said than done!

Farewells

I estimate I have done close to ten tours since my career in Riverdance began and I am still not accustomed to the farewells. Who is? It doesn’t get easier. Between the festive season, I have done my fair share of galavanting spent the last fortnight meeting up with friends and relatives for a pots of tea and dinners to catch up and to bid my farewells and I am just about drained! A flying visit en route to Belfast brought ex- Riverdancer, Brendan Dorris to Dublin’s city centre. He and I met for a quick rendezvous and we were soon joined by dancers Padraic Moyles and Niamh O’ Connor. Former male principal, Craig Ashurst also graced us wit his presence in between rehearsals for the new show ‘Celtic Woman’. Craig has since left camp Riverdance. He will be sorely missed however we wish him the very best with all his future endeavors. Despite hugs goodbye and distant waves, in this modern world of today, with the blessed skype, facebook, twitter, texting et cetera, who is faraway?

Well I have stashed away enough DVDs and movies on my hardrive to take me into the Summer season of the Gaiety Theatre! Deciding upon which books to bring was another packing obstacle. Those that made the cut have made there way into a neat pile now in my carryon bag. My journey will commence with a fresh reading list of one of the Nesbit classics many of you are familiar with;” The Railway Children”, Jack Kerouacs “On the Road” and a more modern biography of Amy Winehouse. I’m hoping they charm me into their world of imagination and inspiration.

The Last Supper(s)

A brunch in the Powerscourt Centre in the heart of Dublin set me up nicely for a last minute scout around the stores. Organic potato and leek soup cup nestled on the side of my egg salad sandwich on homemade brown bread was enough to make me smile. The evening was met with a mouthwatering homemade beef stew with every vegetable imaginable! Of course I left plenty of room for a slice of the parent’s (premature) birthday cake. Since I won’t be home for the two important birthdays this month I figured why not celebrate early?! Besides, I couldn’t leave without missing out on some of Marks & Spencer’s famous butter icing!

So enough of Dublin’s fair city and quaint Ireland. We shall have to put her on hold temporarily. Here’s to diners and drive-throughs. Join me on my adventure and enjoy my blogs. Bon Chance Shannon Company!

Fiona

Fiona’s Style File

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Photo taken in Shanghai, China.

Fiona wears brown, synthetic bob style wig (Jinyuan Underground Market, Shanghai). Black wool blazer (Patrick Howard Designer). Pastel blue and pink vintage dress (Lucky Exchange, Atlanta, GA.) and satin multi print next scarf ( Courtesy of Ms. Anne Toner).

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Photo taken backstage in our dressing room in The Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington.

Fiona wears black satin dressing robe (Victoria’s Secret) courtesy of Riverdance’s Wardrobe Department. Many of the girls wear robes to protect our costumes from water spills and keep them makeup free! They are very useful backstage in between quick changes. For example running to a massage if under time constraint or awaiting a zip or button to be altered in Wardrobe! I usually wear it over my Capezio black tights and bodysuit if a particular theatre is warm backstage and I do not want to overheat!

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Read this on the Riverdance website: Farewell Éire – Hello U.S.A.