Kane Young www.themercury.com.au

Riverdance- Maria Buffini and Padraic Moyles perform in Hobart Photo: Kim Eiszele

Thousands of Tasmanians are tapping in to the power and grace of Riverdance, which made its long-awaited return to Hobart last night.

After thrilling millions of people over the past 17 years, the celebration of Irish music and dance is touring Australia for the last time.

When Riverdance last visited Hobart in 1998 it sold more than 16,600 tickets in two hours, an Australian record for the show.

The production rolled back into Hobart on Tuesday, with the touring party including 24 Irish dancers, two tap dancers from the US, a Spanish flamenco dancer, a four-piece band, 15 backstage crew and three shipping containers of equipment.

The task of wrangling the cast, crew and gear falls to company manager Laurie Small, who said “ We may yet see a ‘‘revitalised and revamped’’ version of the show. ‘‘It has been a very successful format that has worked very well,’’ he said. ‘‘We find that although we’re doing a farewell tour in one place, another market opens up somewhere else – we’re now very popular in China, and we’re also off to South America for the first time. ‘‘So while it’s a farewell tour here, it’s still going on in other places.’’

The Riverdance Farewell Tour is on at the Derwent Entertainment Centre at 8pm on 10th and 11th May and 2pm and 8pm Saturday 12th May and 1pm and 6pm Sunday 13th May

Tickets are $65 to $130.

Phone 136100 or go to www.ticketmaster.com.au for bookings.

youngka@news.net.au

Read this on the Riverdance website: Final twirl in Tassie

Where: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St, Chicago.

When: 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday March 17 and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday March 18

Tickets: $30-$85. Book Now

Box Office: 800-775-2000 or Ticketmaster.com

Read this on the Riverdance website: Riverdance in Chicago – St Patrick’s Day Performance

The two-hour “Riverdance” show is loosely based on the story of Irish culture and mass immigration to America, the story woven through music and dance styles including flamenco and tap. Most of the dancing is drawn from traditional Irish step dancing, in which the arms and body move little while the feet create the sound and action.

Erskine attributes the show’s success to the fact that it isn’t a cookie-cutter experience. It wasn’t pulled together to make money, but to blow the dust off Irish folk music and dance, he says, and that purity of creation shines through. Plus, the sound seems to touch a very human part of us.

“That pounding out of rhythms I suppose is quite primal. That goes back into all our cores, no matter where we’ve come from. The beating of drums is how we first communicated,” he says.

The show has lasted despite losing original stars Jean Butler and Michael Flatley, who also was co-choreographer. Flatley went on to create his own shows, “Lord of the Dance” and “Feet of Flames.”

Moyles suspects that although “Riverdance” is pure Irish, Americans have embraced it so strongly in large part due to their own immigrant heritage. “Many of them have their own folk dances. They probably see their own heritage within ‘Riverdance,’” he says.

The final North American tour will take the show to such Irish-heavy cities as Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Boston, and will conclude at Wolf Trap National Park in Vienna, Va., which will represent the 14th time “Riverdance” has played there.

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.
“As we are saying goodbye,” he says, “we are also saying hello.”

Read this on the Riverdance website: “As we say goodbye, we are also saying hello.”

Riverdance Troupe. Final Farewell Tour of North America. Photo credit: Jack Hartin

When Julian Erskine last saw the American touring company of Riverdance he had to smile.

He was in the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on an October night in Costa Mesa, Calif., watching the high-stepping cast electrify the crowd once again despite more than a dozen years crisscrossing the nation.

“To be at the back of a hall with the audience jumping to their feet at the end of the show after all these years, it’s just so gratifying and just so pleasing,’’ says Erskine, the show’s senior executive producer, by phone from Dublin.

Even so, the end of the road is nearing. Riverdance is currently on an 82-city farewell North American tour that’s winding across the U.S. and Canada and ends in June. This month, the show left Texas, hit the Southeast and next goes to the Plains.

“It’s certainly emotional to be saying goodbye,’’ says Erskine.

The show has been touring continuously in North America since 1996, sometimes with two companies simultaneously. While organizers insist there’s still interest in the U.S., new markets beckon in South America, India and China.

The touring company includes six principal dancers, 18 troupe dancers, a live five-piece band, flamenco dancer and two American tap dancers, one of whom is also a baritone soloist.

Padraic Moyles, one of the principals, is dancing with a heavy heart. He joined “Riverdance’’ in 1997 and fell in love with his co-star and now wife Niamh O’Connor while in the show. While he has performed elsewhere, he says American audiences are special.

“Anybody who joins the show from here on out and doesn’t get the opportunity to perform it in America, will be missing something,’’ he says. “I hope that someday, whether its 10 years from now, it does come back so that people get to experience that reaction again.’’

Riverdance opened at Dublin’s Point Theatre on Feb. 9, 1995, at a time of renewed Irish optimism and pride surrounding the onset of the booming “Celtic Tiger’’ economy. Years of relative poverty were disappearing and being Irish had a new cool, thanks to a new generation of athletes and musicians like U2 and The Cranberries.

“The timing couldn’t have been better. We just picked up on a vibe that was happening in this country and we suddenly felt, `Maybe it’s not so bad being Irish. Maybe we don’t have to be the butt of every joke,’ says Erskine. “It couldn’t have happened five years earlier. It just wouldn’t have happened. I don’t think we would have had the courage to have done it.’

It has since been seen by an estimated 22 million people in 40 countries, from Red Square to the Great Wall of China.  It made its American debut in 1996 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and packed the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway for 18 months in 2000-2001.  Not bad for a show that first premiered on the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest as a seven-minute segment.

RIVERDANCE  will play the following US cities

from February to June 2012, FOR THE VERY LAST TIME!

Kansas City, MO  -  Grand Forks, ND  -  Duluth, MN

Mankato, MN  -  Brookings, SD  -  Omaha, NE

Sioux City, IA  -  Davenport, IA  -  Champaign, IL

Springfield, OH  -  Muskegan, MI  -  Wisconsin Dells, WI

Peoria, IL  -  Chicago, IL  -  La Crosse, WI

South Bend, IN  -  Wabash, IN  -  East Lansing, MI

Springfield, IL  -  Saginaw, MI  – New Philadelphia, OH

Detroit, MI  -  Lancaster, PA  -  Easton, PA

Concord, NH  -  Boston , MA  -  Bangor, ME

Glens Falls, NY  -  Richmond, KY  – Knoxville, TN

Salem, VA  -  Greensburg, PA  -  Philadelphia, PA

St. Louis, MO  -  Asheville, NC  -  Greensboro, NC

Raleigh, NC  -  Huntington, WV  -  Charlottesville, VA

Baltimore, MD  -  Augusta, ME  -  Hartford, CT

Salisbury, MD  -  Vienna, VA

 MORE DATE TO GO ON SALE SOON!

Read this on the Riverdance website: Saying goodbye to North America

Read this on the Riverdance website: Good Morning Texas – TV interview with Padraic Moyles and Niamh O’Connor

TheaterJones Performing Arts News in North Texas

by Katie Dravenstott

The lead dancer of Riverdance discusses the show’s longevity and its impact on American dance.

Dallas — Since its first performance in the United States in 1996, Riverdance has been wowing viewers with its fast footwork, original sound and Irish charm. What started as a seven-minute dance segment on the 1994 Eurovision Song contest has become an international phenomenon and Ireland’s poster child.

Produced by Moya Doherty, directed by John McColgan and with music by Bill Whelan, Riverdance takes viewers inside some of Ireland’s timeless traditions through song and dance.

Now, as its 15-year U.S. run comes to end, TheaterJones asked lead dancer Padraic Moyles to tell us what it’s like being a part of this sensational cast, the lore behind the Irish technique and what he thinks the show has done for Irish dancing, especially here in the U.S. The show makes its final North Texas appearance Feb. 7 and 8 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

TheaterJones: What makes Irish dancing different from other styles of dance such as tap?

Padraic Moyles: Irish dancing is actually quite similar to tap dancing. The similarity between the two is the rhythms. Tap dancers do the exact same rhythms as us, so they could copy our set of rhythms perfectly and we could copy their rhythms perfectly. It’s just how we do it is completely different. We’re a lot more strict and disciplined in our artform and American tap dancing is a lot looser. We do have tap dancers in the show and when they’re teaching us moves and we’re teaching them moves it feels really foreign. We’re still dancing and making rhythm with our feet, it’s just a different technique.

What is the significance of holding your arms at your side when you’re dancing?

There are numerous stories as to why that happened. One is that the Catholic Church is very strict in Ireland and it was a sign of needing space for the Holy Spirit. You stay straight and upright and you didn’t touch your partner because it was a sign of respect. The next two stories are the ones I like the most. For a long time Britain had a stronghold on Ireland and during this time social parties were in a sense banned. Well the Irish people are well known for their social parties so they would gather in someone’s house and dance from the waist down so when British soldiers walked by and looked in the window they would only see their still upper bodies. The other one is that the houses were so small that they would take the doors down and dance on the doors to create the rhythm. Well, there wasn’t enough space on the door for everybody so they had to keep their hands by their sides and their backs straight to fit more people on the door.

Riverdance contains both soft-shoe and hard-shoe dancing. Could you explain the difference between the two?

Everybody starts in soft shoe and progresses to hard shoe. The soft shoe you’re talking about is probably in terms of the girls’ soft shoe and it’s a much more balletic style of Irish dancing. And the girls that are doing it today are extremely athletic in what they do. The main difference is in the soft-shoe dancing is the girls are very much on their tippy toes and are very, very light on their feet. They try to portray a very regal stance in terms of what they are doing with their feet and the movement they are creating on the stage. And then with the hard-shoe dancing, it kind of speaks for itself in the sense that it’s all about the rhythm and technique. But technique is very important in both soft-shoe and hard-shoe dancing.

What impact has Riverdance had on the dance culture in America?

The Americans have come a long way when it comes to Irish dancing. They are really becoming a powerhouse. So, it is amazing how Riverdance has probably had a massive influence on promoting the culture here in America. I grew up in Dublin and moved to New York where I have spent most of my life and I was competing in Irish dance in New York 15-20 years ago and most of the time the Americans didn’t do that well. And now, there’s an American world champion!

I think when Riverdance came out it made Irish dancing popular and sexy and athletic and all those terrific things so that a lot of those parents with Irish ancestry decided they wanted their children to learn it. I think Riverdance made a massive push for Irish dancing in the U.S. because if you talk to any Irish dancing instructors that have been around before Riverdance and are still here now they would say their numbers jumped massively since Riverdance came out.

What was the auditioning process like for Riverdance?

My mom won’t be happy with me telling you this but I cut school and went up to Boston to audition for the show. A couple weeks later I got a letter in the mail from Riverdance which my mom promptly opened and we found out I had made the show. I had to tell her what I did but she loves Irish dancing so much anyway and it was her dream as much as I mine to be in this show so it kind of made up for cutting school. They did sit me down and tell me I wasn’t leaving till after I finished high school. I finished out my year and went and joined the troupe. I was 18 years old.

What is it like working with such a large cast of dancers?

Mainly we all get along because we understand where each other comes from. There is no room for egos. And Riverdance does a great job of helping everyone understand that because the only way a show like this works is if the team works strongly together. We all have the same common goal, which is putting out the best product every night.

We also have this environment where we are able to help each other and correct each other in a way that’s constructive. So I am able to go up to people when we come off stage and say “hey guys what was up with our line out there we were a little off. Someone wasn’t moving fast enough.” And right away you will hear someone say “I think that was me. Sorry. I won’t let it happen again.” So it’s an encouraging environment as well. But there’s also that healthy competitive attitude within the show as people try to achieve their own personal goals in terms of trying to get ahead. This is terrific as long as those personal goals never interfere with the team goal.

How do you keep your performance fresh night after night?

Back in 2008 I was getting to a point where I was kind of in a routine and I didn’t want to be in the same routine anymore. So I started to search for somebody who could really help me and I found him in Ireland. His name is Edmund McNulty and he works for a company called Motivate. We have been working together for the last two years and he continues to help me challenge myself. The exercises I was doing no other Irish dancer was doing at the time and now I see loads of people in the troupe doing them. It’s just about continuing to push the game forward and continue to get better and not become lackadaisical in what you are doing.

Now, just because you are doing something all the time it doesn’t mean you are not doing it right. For me, I was going through a routine and I was getting bored with my routine. And then I started to doubt my routine and questioned whether I was doing the right thing or the wrong thing. Edmund really helped me overcome this.

To what would you attribute the show’s longevity?

Simple sophistication. It is classy and it has never lost its integrity. And I really think Riverdance does stand by this. We’re all taught coming in whether it’s by somebody who has been there a long time or by a member of the production team to never look at Riverdance as just another Irish dance show. It is a full-scale Broadway production. And I think this message is passed down to every new person that comes in whether it’s their first Broadway show or their first time in Riverdance. It’s important that every single person that performs on that stage understands what they’re a part of because in terms of Ireland Riverdance is not just a show. It’s a cultural ambassador and with that comes a responsibility. And it’s important that we perform Riverdance every single night like it’s our last night or our first night.

Get your tickets here!

Read this on the Riverdance website: Q&A with Padraic Moyles in Dallas