Riverdance returns

Director John McColgan talks to Claire O’Mahony about the enduring appeal of the show, and why its return to Dublin this summer is so special.

At the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, the audience awaited the interval act. Traditionally, this is when the host country puts on a worthy, cultural performance. What the audience in Dublin and those watching the broadcast across Europe were presented with was the incredible spectacle of Riverdance, a sevenminute act that showed Irish dancing, music and culture in an entirely new way.

Riverdance director and co-creator John McColgan, whose wife and creative partner Moya Doherty was the commissioning producer for Eurovision 1994, was sitting in the 4,000-strong audience on the night. “When Riverdance came out, their jaws dropped and when it was finished, the last stamp, there was silence for three seconds and then the entire audience as one leaped to their feet with a big primal roar,” he recalls. “It was an extraordinary reaction to what happened and we knew at that time, and we suspected it before, but we knew we had something special that demanded to be turned into a full show.”

Fast forward to 27 years later and the Riverdance numbers speak to its phenomenal success: it’s played throughout 48 countries across six continents, and has been seen live by over 28.5 million people worldwide with over 3-million copies of the Grammy Award-winning CV sold globally. This summer, following sold-out tours throughout the USA, Europe and Dubai, Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show returns home to the Gaiety Theatre Dublin.

Ask John what the enduring appeal of Riverdance is and he points to several factors.

“I think there’s no real language barrier and that has really contributed to its accessibility,” he says. “I think Bill Whelan has written a magnificent score for which he won a Grammy award, so the score and the music is fantastic. And we are lucky in that we cast the best dancers from around the world.”

John is just back from Los Angeles, where Riverdance was playing at The Dolby Theatre. He remains hands-on with the show but says that its day-today running is in the hands of associate director, Padraic Moyles, who was formerly a lead dancer in Riverdance for 18 years. “Padraic is wonderful,” he says. “The cast and crew have great respect for him because they know that he knows the show intimately.” John himself will go out three-times on a tour. “I love keeping in touch,” he says. “We call ourselves a Riverdance family and everyone is very supportive of everyone else.”

The return of Riverdance to Dublin is something that everyone involved looks forward to, and this is its 19th year in the Gaiety Theatre. “The audiences love it in Dublin, it’s a very intimate space,” says John. “They feel very close to the performances. It’s probably one of the smallest venues that we play in around the world; most of the venues are 2,000 or 3,000 and the Gaiety is a 1,000. The Gaiety has a special magic and the cast love being in Dublin and spending the summer months here.”

He notes some of the reasons why the cast enjoy their stint so much in the Irish capital. “There are so many wonderful museums in Dublin, the National Art Gallery… There’s lot to see and do. Because they’re close to Stephen’s Green, they love going there and to Merrion Square Park and walking around Georgian Dublin. It’s a beautiful city to walk around in when the weather is nice, and the audiences are warm and friendly.”

Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show is at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin from 15th June – 10th September. www.riverdance.com