Riverdance
Sign in to saveRiverdance is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler, Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna. Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into a stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995. As of 2025, the show continues to tour the world.
Key facts
- Stage production.name
- Riverdance
- Stage production.image
- Riverdance-20 Logo Gold.jpg
- Stage production.image_size
- 250px
- Stage production.caption
- 20th Anniversary logo
- Stage production.genre
- Irish folk music, Irish dance
- Stage production.type
- Touring theatrical show
- Stage production.location
- Point Theatre, Dublin
- Stage production.creatortitle1
- Composer
- Stage production.creatorname1
- Bill Whelan
- Stage production.creatortitle2
- Producer
- Stage production.creatorname2
- Moya Doherty
- Stage production.creatortitle3
- Director
- Stage production.creatorname3
- John McColgan
- Stage production.otherlabel1
- Starring
- Stage production.otherlabel3
- Origin
- Stage production.otherdata3
- Interval performance act at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994
- Stage production.otherlabel4
- Notable early runs
- Stage production.website
- http://riverdance.com
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Background
- History
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996–1998
- Early 2000s
- Legacy
- Dance numbers and songs performed
- Notable lead dancers
- Other notable dancers
- Musicians
- Recordings
- CD
- VHS
- DVD
- See also
- References
- External links
Riverdance is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler, Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna. Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into a stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995. As of 2025, the show continues to tour the world.
==Background== Riverdance is rooted in a three-part suite of baroque-influenced traditional music called Timedance. The suite was composed, recorded and performed for the interval act of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, thirteen years prior to the famous 1994 Eurovision interval act. For the 1981 performance, Bill Whelan and Dónal Lunny composed the music alongside Irish folk band Planxty, with accompanying dancers from Dublin City Ballet. It was later released as a Planxty single. When describing the origin of the name "Riverdance", Whelan said: "It was no mistake of mine to call it Riverdance because it connected absolutely to Timedance".