It’s bittersweet as I finish the last step in the last number of the last ever North American Riverdance show. Some 6,000 people are on their feet in the fantastic outdoor arena at WolfTrap, Vienna and boy has it been a long journey!

Our final bus journey

The last two weeks of tour were extremely busy. After the first of three bus journeys in the first week, we found ourselves in the heart of hip Montreal. We were staying in apartments for a few days and most of us bought groceries, enjoying the luxury of cooking our favourite foods. Montreal, one of my favourite cities of the tour was jam packed as preparations were underway for the famous “Grand Prix Montreal Weekend”. I would have loved to experience it but unfortunately we had to move on. For our last Canadian show, we travelled a few hundred miles to Sydney, Nova Scotia. Sydney is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island. Luckily I stayed awake for the last hour of the journey as the scenery was outstanding. It also has a high population of irish people (one in four Nova Scotians are of Irish decent) and a nice little irish pub – the “Governors Pub” to boot.

I was delighted to be performing for my close family in Hartford, Conneticut on Wednesday. I had some free time in the afternoon so I got to visit them at their home in Enfield and I was very grateful for the lovely mug of tea waiting for me when I got there! With just one more show to go in Salisbury, Maryland, the countdown was well and truly on for the last weekend of tour.

My roommate Fiona and I went into overdrive obsessing about the weight of our suitcases. In fact, this was the general topic of discussion amongst us all, and we started our own little charity, compiling bundles of ‘bus clothes’ we had worn to death on the tour to give away.

With many dancers having ended USA tours at Wolftrap before, all of us were uber excited, particularly for the two huge malls beside our hotel. (Eek!!) With hair appointments booked and shopping trips to rival Kim Kardashian, some even rented cars and drove down on Thursday night. I decided it would be safer for my bank balance and arrived on the bus early Friday afternoon. With not much time to waste, I grabbed some food, window shopped in the amazing “Tysons Corner Mall” and caught the bus to the show.

Company at Wolftrap

Wolftrap is an amazing outdoor venue with an auditorium and open lawn. As part of the show experience at WolfTrap, patrons are allowed to sit on the lawns and watch us warm up an hour and a half before the show. As we drove up towards the arena, the place was swarming with people laying their blankets out, sipping wine and eating their picnics in preparation for the show. With a quick make-up and hair fix, I headed for the stage. It was totally surreal having the audience there in broad daylight and with “Beyonce” and the like blasting, ‘the craic was 90′ as we warmed up together. Even more surreal was the fact that we could see everyone in the audience for the whole first half of the show.

John McColgan chatting to cas 

John McColgan, director of Riverdance was present for opening night and made a lovely speech at a champagne reception held afterwards before flying to Dublin for the “Electric Burma Concert”.

Closing Party

After our two shows on Saturday, we also had a fantastic closing party. With ice sculptures, and an impressive display of foods such as fresh seafood, our very own pasta chef and a “Ben&Jerrys” ice-cream counter, we were in our element. Our executive producer, Julian Erskine made a heartfelt speech thanking us all for our hard work and there were a few tears amongst us.

I made an early exit as I was preparing for my second performance of Trading Taps the following day.

Once again, as we arrived hundreds of people were flocking to the lawns and we were totally energised for the show. We were given tour T-Shirts as a keepsake for the tour and the whole company gathered at 1pm for a photoshoot. Trading Taps was fantastic. Unlike other numbers, you really get to interact with the audience and since I was able to see them, it was even more enjoyable than my first performance.

The venue put on a barbecue for us in between shows which was brilliant as we enjoyed hotdogs and burgers in the sun. James Greenan and I had also spent hours during the week preparing a ‘tour video’, a compilation of video footage and photos from the tour. We projected it onto a huge screen and once again there were a few tears as we got ready for the last show of the tour…and what a show it was!

VIDEO : Riverdance Final Nth American show Wolf Trap June 17, 2012 curtain call (video by Merle Frimark, Riverdance North American Marketing/Press Representative )

And so, after 29,500 miles and 133 shows in 27 states, we boarded a flight at Dulles International Airport on Monday night. We’ve had a fantastic few months and yes it has been exhausting at times but we’ve been in some amazing places, all whilst doing what we love!

Troupe photo at Wolftrap

And so, we are back on home soil performing at the Gaiety Theatre for what promises to be a fantastic 10 weeks. It’s always so enjoyable performing to a home crowd and I must say I think I will be avoiding the bus for a little while!

Thanks for reading.
Maeve x

Read this on the Riverdance website: End of the line – Final Shows North America

They conquered North America in hard-soled shoes, short black skirts or slim black pants, this troupe of Irish dancers and musicians. Sweeping the continent by storm with jigs, reels and hornpipes, Riverdance grew into a millions-served phenomenon, resuscitating an interest in Irish culture and big, flashy arena-style shows showcasing dance and music. In its wake, it has left millions dazzled by heartbeat-quickening, Irish step-dance rhythms performed with the precision of a military drill team.

It started as a bit of a lark: In 1994, the producers of Eurovision Song Contest needed a seven-minute filler to bide time while judges deliberated. A composer, choreographer and producer came up with Riverdance, a music-and-dance number. It combined the pinpoint accuracy of a Radio City Music Hall Rockettes line with the heartfelt ballads and spritely jigs of Irish folk music, featuring Bill Whelan’s compositions.

This weekend, the massive North American operation of Riverdance — 60 dancers, singers, musicians and crew — will sing and dance for the last time on these shores. The Dublin-based production company is closing down its North American tour with five performances at Wolf Trap, one of its earliest and most consistent venues.

“We just thought this was a good time to close down here,” said Julien Erskine, who, as the show’s executive producer, is a bit like a general, his office wall plastered with maps filled in with color-coded dots denoting the cities, countries and continents where Riverdance has stepped.

“I think it’s the right call at the right time,” he added. “Nearly 12 million people in over 400 cities have come to see Riverdance in North America. We’re very, very happy with that and we don’t want to spoil it by outstaying our welcome.”

Padraic Moyles (pronounced Poor-ick Moy-ills) has Dublin and Bronx in his makeup — born in Ireland but schooled in the New York borough where his parents moved when he was a child. He grew up watching his mum and dad and their friends socializing on Friday nights in their living room with Irish set dances, which are similar to American square dances.

A Riverdance veteran, currently touring with the New Zealand and Australia cast, Moyles spent the majority of his career traveling and performing across North America, which he insists has the most effusive audiences in the world.

He remembers seeing the show in its first U.S. performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 1996. “I liked dance, but I didn’t love it,” Moyles said; at 16, he was taking Irish dance lessons because his parents wanted him to. “That night I saw Riverdance and it changed everything. I realized how cool it looked up there and I said to myself, ‘I need to be a part of this.’ ”

Hearing about an audition, Moyles and another dancing friend skipped class and drove to Boston to try out. A few weeks later, he came home from school to find his mother holding an envelope, wondering why Riverdance was writing to him. Moyles had been offered a position in the company. His mother hugged — and scolded — him. His parents agreed he could join the tour as soon as he finished high school.

Now 33, Moyles is married to one of the original dancers, Niamh O’Connor. He thinks he has performed at Wolf Trap at least a dozen times, and it remains among his favorite venues. “You walk out on the stage and see the people sitting on the hill and within the theater, with all the wood,” Moyles said, “and it’s always packed.”

Riverdance has been a phenomenon for Wolf Trap, said Ann McKee, the venue’s senior vice president. Over the years the company has performed 109 times, with 492,877 people attending the shows. Wolf Trap has grossed more than $23 million — not including this year — making Riverdance its all-time bestseller.

For McKee, that’s a huge relief. When she booked the tour for its first two-week visit in the summer of 1997, she had never seen the show; all she had to go on was a video excerpt she caught on the nightly news. It was enough to convince her that Riverdance would be perfect at Wolf Trap.

“It was a mighty roll of the dice,” she said, “but it proved to be an amazing collaboration.”

Riverdance Troupe. Final Farewell Tour of North America.

Asked whether Wolf Trap has anything special planned for this weekend’s final North American run, McKee kept mum. Erskine will travel from Dublin to see the cast take its final bows on American soil and to bid farewell to Wolf Trap, a venue he names as one of his top five in the world.

“There’s a great moment at Wolf Trap,” he said, “when [the ushers] drop the ropes and the crowd comes pouring over the hill to get the best place on the lawn . . . coming over the top of the hill with a great sense of excitement.”

Erskine won’t rest on his laurels. Riverdance he said, has other nations, other continents to conquer. In the coming months and years, Riverdance will add India, China, South America and the Middle East to its territorial expansion.

Read this on the Riverdance website: PREVIEW: Wolf Trap ready for a last ‘Dance’