Peta Anderson, Dancer, Irish Dance Troupe, Moy Company

Well the time has finally come, the Australia/New Zealand Riverdance tour has arrived in Oz and I am 30 minutes away from  the hotel where I will meet my fellow cast mates. It feels good that for once it’s not me with the jetlag, because as you can imagine when you fly all over the world from Australia you don’t get the shortest trips, that’s for sure.

I have to admit that it still feels surreal to be part of this amazing show. I was in rehearsals a few weeks ago with the other five newbies and the music started playing.  We all looked at each other in disbelief with our smiles going from ear to ear. What made me realise that I was involved in this major production were very small things –  like receiving my Riverdance luggage tag in the mail a few days before I left home. Obviously it doesn’t sound like a big deal but when it actually happens to you its completely different.

Riverdance 'newbies' enjoying the sun before show Newcastle

The first day of rehearsals in Newcastle  and I feel the nerves kicking in. It’s the first time that I’ve danced within the full troupe.   Niamh O’Connor, the Riverdance dance captain begins rehearsals with a great cardio and stretch followed by a lot of core work.  I’ll have abs of steel at the end this tour!

Those days before our first show flew by and then I was standing side stage for my first press call, just about to dance the number Riverdance.

Adrenalin kicked in and then I finally realised what I’m a part of and to top it off,  in my home state and country…. NSW,  Australia.

It was great to see some local Irish dancers at the press call, showing their love for the show.  The local Irish dancers were given the chance to learn part of the show from some of the talented troupe members. They danced their socks off!

The troupe with some ballet dancer fans in Newcastle

I will never forget how I felt the night after finishing my first show. It was nowhere near as daunting as I thought it would be, and I think that’s because everyone has been so welcoming and helpful. I must admit there has been a fair amount of ‘slagging’ going around as everyone gets used to the accents, especially my Aussie accent.

I’m sure after a week in Australia they won’t even notice my very posh accent…bloody oath, good on’ em!

Keeping you up to date with the Moy Company!

Peta x

Read this on the Riverdance website: A ‘newbie’ with the show

I spoke to the lovely Peta last week fresh from a successful performance at Newcastle as Riverdance begins its farewell tour of Australia. Peta is sad that this is being billed as the farewell tour as she would like nothing more than to be touring with this show ‘forever’.

Peta has some Irish heritage on her Mum’s side but that heritage is generations back so how did an Aussie girl get to be part of the phenomena which is Riverdance?.

It’s a long story and is in part due to Peta’s past foray into Irish dancing in a show that also came to Tassie. That show was Rhythm of the Dance. Rhythm of the Dance, although a presentation inspired by Riverdance is not representative of that show.

Peta’s journey to Riverdance included taking part in ‘Dance Off’ a reality TV program on Irish channel RTE. The program invited dancers from all over the world to send in their DVDs to be one of 35 contestants on ‘Dance Off’ and Peta’s DVD of her performance in ‘Rhythm of the dance’ saw her being among those chosen for ‘Dance Off’.The program included 5 weeks of bootcamp which literally couldn’t be a more appropriate phrase in the case of ‘Riverdance!’ Her success in ‘Dance Off’ saw her take the female lead in ‘Noctu’ a production by Riverdance alumni Breandán de Gallaí’s which dealt with the story of dancing from the viewpoint of the dancers and all their wrestling with insecurities about feared deficiencies in talent versus the desperate desire to dance.

From ‘Noctu’ it was a short step, (pardon the pun!) to joining Riverdance .

I asked Peta about the origin of Irish Dancing and it’s well known position of the dancer holding their arms stiffly by the sides. Peta confirms what I had read by some writers that the lack of upper body movement was significant at a time when the church frowned on and feared a display of such physical activity. One way lovers of dance could indulge in their passion and avoid the wrath of the church and prying eyes at their windows was holding their arms straight to their sides and thus appearing unmoved to what was visible at their windows while their feet danced up a storm unseen.

Riverdance is divided into acts, all of which tell part of the story of Ireland and it’s relationship to it’s culture. and mythology.

The first part of the performance is about pride of a people in their culture. A pride they would keep with them no matter how far they travelled from their home. And travel they did from that first enforced exodus due to nature, in this case the factor of famine. Riverdance is about that natural world and as the title says the story of a river, moving , undulating, meeting and merging with other rivers. It’s migration is a metaphor for the Irish people themselves who migrated to new lands taking the pride of their culture, music and dance with them. Also like the river picks up materials along the way, the people pick up influences from other cultures along the journey and like the river return home shaped and formed by their experience. In their travels the Irish people merged with other cultures and acquired other influences to their dance such as tap and flamenco among others and these are explored in Riverdance .

The multiculturalism evident in the show is echoed behind the scenes of the production with the make up of the cast, which includes artists from Ireland, the US, the UK, Granada and of course Australia with our very own Peta Anderson and some other talented Aussies.

Riverdance will be performing farewell shows at the Derwent Entertainment Centre from the 9 to 13 of May.

Read this on the Riverdance website: Aussie dancers triumphant return to tassie with Riverdance