Riverdancers reunite at Glór

World champion dancer Anthony Sharkey will be reunited with former Riverdance female lead, Eileen Martin for a special once-off version of Riverdance in Glór on Saturday, April 9 in aid of Clare Crusaders, writes Dan Danaher

IN 1994, Paul Harrington and Paul McGettigan won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with Rock and Roll Kids. But it was the seven-minute interval act Riverdance that stole the show for over 300 million European viewers.
With music and lyrics written by Bill Whelan, Riverdance mixed traditional and modern music, choral singing and Irish dancing and presented them in a new way.
Out of the interval act came Riverdance The Show and in February 1995, the world premiere was held at the Point Theatre, Dublin.
Eileen Martin was agog with excitement before the curtain went up on the never-to-be-forgotten interval act. Having joined the production as a young student, she got a huge adrenaline rush dancing on the same stage as Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.
Little did she realise that Riverdance would attract over 22 million spectators over the next 15 years or that she would take over from Jean Butler and become the principal female in January 1997, touring Australia and North America, including at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway.
Taking dancing lessons since the age of four, Eileen captured her first world title when she was just 12 and went on to win nine consecutive Leinster and All-Ireland titles, several Great Britain championships, All-England, and four world titles.
The wheel has now come full circle for the Foxrock native and mother-of-three as she juggles her family commitments with training the female principal dancers before tours, having joined Riverdance as Irish dance director in 2004. She also aims to open her own dancing school.
Before the interval act, she had no idea the show would become such a sensational success story. However, after their debut performance, she knew the producers had hit on something special.
“The whole image of all the dancers doing the same thing at the same time to the same music made Riverdance different. It contemporised Irish music and animated for the show. The mixture of different types of music and dance was unique and had a global appeal.
“It was a dream come true for me being able to dance in venues throughout the world. The whole experience was infectious. It becomes your life and the tour was like a big family,” she said.
The weeks leading up to a show were gruelling. Practice started at 9am in the morning and often continued to 9pm, with just a few short breaks. All the dancers had to go over and over their steps and routine until it was perfect.
On occasions, Eileen was barely able to walk her muscles were so sore leaving the practice room.
The highlight of her career was the 18 months she spent on the Broadway tour where she took over the lead female role dancing with Pat Roddy and Anthony Sharkey.
“The Broadway tour was brilliant. The reaction from the audience was amazing and it gives you the energy to keep going night after night,” she recalled.
Having competed in All-Ireland and world championships at the West County Hotel in the early ’90s, she is very familiar with Ennis and is looking forward to performing in front of a local audience. She noted the Riverdance management couldn’t allow every dancer to stage parts of the show in their own hometown.
“They obviously think an awful lot of Anthony to allow him to bring his version of Riverdance to Ennis. It was lovely to meet children in the Clare Crusaders’ clinic in Barefield.
“Special needs children need extra attention. The provision of therapy makes a huge difference to the lives of these children. We need more clinics like this in Ireland,” she added.
Anthony Sharkey was just 14 when he first saw the Riverdance show in 1994. Four years later, the Ennis world champion dancer joined the show and went on to dance as the male lead in Broadway with Eileen.
Having spent the last five months organising and producing his version of the show for the eagerly awaited Ennis debut with Ann Norton from Clare Crusaders, Anthony can’t wait for the opportunity to be reunited again on stage with Eileen in front of his family and friends.
“Eileen is my favourite female lead dancer. The first time I saw her perform on stage, I was blown away. She is so petite, she is like a little angel the way she glides on stage. She is so focused, she has the lead role down to a tee. She grabs the audience the minute she starts to dance and her smile is infectious.
“I have got great support from family and friends. It is a dream come true for me to be able to perform in front of a home crowd. It will be a fantastic night for Clare and Clare Crusaders,” he said.
Senior executive producer, Julian Erskine first thought Riverdance would be doing well if the show got a four-week run in Dublin before their Eurovision debut performance.
Julian joined the fledgling Riverdance team on a consultancy basis in 1994 having started his career in stage management. Back in 1980 he set up Ireland’s first professional scenery construction company supplying the theatre, TV, advertising and film industries in Ireland after several years working as a lighting director and production manager.
He worked with the Irish Theatre Company and was part of the travelling theatre group that produced various plays, such as John B Keane favourites  throughout the country, including Ennis. In 1989, he returned to theatre full-time as a producer and made his own indelible mark once he joined Riverdance, looking after three companies.
Even when Riverdance went on tour, none of the producers, including Julian, could have envisaged it would prove to be such an astonishing success.
Julian recalled that the combined talents of John McColgan, Moya Doherty and Bill Whelan brought a whole new life to an extremely entertaining combination of Irish traditional music and dancing.
“Riverdance revolutionised Irish dancing as a form of entertainment. I am optimistic it has a very bright future. There is no reason to believe it will not be still running in the next 20 to 25 years. People love Riverdance.
“It is hard to put your finger on it. It is one of the few stage shows that continues to attract a huge amount of repeat business,” he added.
“People go to the show over and over again and bring their friends and relatives the next time. Only a handful of shows such as Riverdance, Cats, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera have lasted 15 years and are still as successful,” he said.
“In addition to employing in the region of 200 people, Riverdance is a major tourist attraction for Ireland because a lot of visitors want to see it on stage in Dublin.
“No matter where you go in the world, people associate Ireland with three things – U2, Guinness and Riverdance. If you mention Riverdance to any customs official in any airport around the world he will know immediately what you are talking about.”
He said it is fantastic to be involved with Riverdance at various levels. “It is not just a job. Everyone involved in the show takes great pride and satisfaction to be able to represent Irish culture in venues throughout the world,” he added.
He revealed management decided to bring extracts of the show to Ennis because of Anthony’s contribution and they were so impressed by the work being done for special needs children by Clare Crusaders.
“We are delighted to be doing something in some way to help the fantastic work being done by Clare Crusaders. When you see the work they do, it puts everything into perspective,” he said.
Changes to the show have been kept to a minimum over the years as the producers keep faith with their tried and trusted formula.
Three Riverdance companies are on tour in Korea, Europe and the United States and the troop regularly perform eight shows covering four cities in the one week. It is expected that a 15th anniversary DVD celebrating some of their greatest productions will be available in June.
The Riverdance troupe will be joined by Irish vocal harmony group, The Key Notes. The group comprises tenors Jeremy Morgan and Barry Finn, baritone Simon Morgan and bass Eunan McDonald and Stephen Fennelly, who all have considerable international performance in a diverse number of musical fields.