It goes without saying Chicago lived up to it’s name. I was determined to fit in as much as possible for the week and went in all guns blazing. I was that annoying tourist that we all see walking down the street in our home towns! The very fact we were in a heatwave, overlapped with visits from friends and loved ones and with St. Patrick’s Day flung into the mix, the week was certainly going to prove eventful!

This week Maeve Fearon is in Chicago. There are more sites to be seen, a hen party, a visit from Dance Director Breandan De Gallai and a lot of green for St Patrick’s Day.

As a dancer, you tend to concentrate so much on your own performance that you forget the effort it takes from our crew members to set up the show. For such a small group they are faced with the mammoth task of building the stage, lights, sound and costume department on a daily basis. This week, I spoke to a few of them to try and find out a bit more about their job responsibilities and daily routine.

Local audiences will have a chance to experience The Riverdance Farewell Tour, coming April 4 and 5 to the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University Tuscarawas.

Perfectly timed for St. Patrick’s Day, “Riverdance,” the spectacular display of Irish folk dance, speckled with the arts of a few other ethnicities in its mix, returns for what’s billed as its farewell visit, on view through Sunday at the Oriental Theatre.

Read about Fiona McCabes list of 11 cities visited, competitions won and more from behind the curtain.

In this weeks tour blog, Irish Dance Troupe member Maeve Fearon gives us a unique look backstage at a Riverdance show. Also she tells us how the company have covered approximately 5,392 miles and stayed in 22 different hotel rooms since the beginning of the tour!

We’ve returned to tour now for several weeks and have already seen many wonderful sights and explored some illustrious places. However, this week was undoubtedly the most interesting to date.

WREG-TV Channel 3 – Interview with Riverdance principal dancers James Greenan & Chloey Turner

Join Irish Dance Troupe member Fiona McCabe as she tells us about her trip to New Orleans, some of her favourite cities on tour and gives us another style file.