Riverdance Discovered

This is a St. Patrick's Day story about bringing the heritage of the homeland for those of us of Irish descent to the rest of the world (I haven't checked my DNA with Ancestry.com, but I knew both my great grandfathers and I just know.) It was the 90's and we were all flying high. I have to say it. They were the Clinton years. Ireland still had the "troubles" but things were getting better.  And then just before St. Patrick's Day, an exciting import hit the shores of the US. Riverdance came to Radio City Music Hall and took the country by storm.

Riverdance began as a 7-minute performance at a music festival in Dublin that turned into a full length show touring the world to great acclaim. The lead dancers in the original short number were Jean Butler, also the the choreographer, and her friend and long time dance partner Colin Dunne.

By the time the show had expanded to two hours, Michael Flatley was named lead dancer, partnering with Jean Butler.  The water gets murky here as Flatley was only with the show for a little less than a year.  He left over creative differences to dance with his own company and Dunne rejoined the group for its triumphant tour to Radio City Music Hall with Butler still choreographing and taking the female lead.

That brings us to the month of March and St. Pattrick's Day in New York City. As the song goes "It was 20 years ago today..." when Riverdance hit the Big Apple and I was making regular trips there to the DDB headquarters for board meetings. Most of my business meetings were too quick to take Jane so I was left with a lot of open evenings.

On this particular cold March night, I was looking for a good movie as I strolled by Radio City. All of a sudden, a man raced out the side door of the theater to jump into a limo. "I've got to catch a plane. Want to see the show?" he asks me. "Sure," I said, not even knowing what I was about to see.

The theater was packed and when I looked at the ticket the man had given me, it was 5th row center and the performance was...Riverdance, There's the luck of the Irish for you...or, in this case,, for me.

The show was astounding. The music alone was worth the trip. The audience was on their feet for almost the entire show. It's become a standard and a part of Irish folklore. Everyone has tried their hand, or foot, at Step Dancing and the music has sold millions of copies the world over.

Jane will tell you that I can stand at a stage door to a fault and that evening, with nothing else to do, I stood and waited...and waited.

When Jean Butler finally came out, we engaged pretty quickly. I'm fascinated with choreographers Her mother is from County Mayo and Jean, as it t;urns out, is quite a talker.   I told her I was from Seattle and that this show would be such a hit there. She said they had just laid out a tour that would come here within the year. She loves Seattle and had traveled here many times. I told her my Irish had to offer any assistance that would help on their visit. She was grateful for the offer. We sat and  talked for quite a while about theater. I told her I was on the board of the 5th Avenue and she wanted details...lots of details. It was getting late. She gave me her email and cell number and vowed to keep in touch. Which she did and still does. What a delightful young woman. She now isn't doing much dancing but designing interesting jewelry that's sold across Ireland and the US..


Jean sent me an exploding shamrock email for St. Patrick's Day that year. It turned into a pot of gold. We emailed more and, when the tour came here, Jane and I not only got the royal backstage treatment but we sat in the orchestra...I mean literally IN the orchestra. We've seen the show many times now. Most exciting was at its UK home theater in Hammersmith. It's  always a delight..

I know that on St. Patrick's Day everyone says they are Irish but every once in awhile it pays to really BE Irish. So wherever you're from, enjoy your Guiness and lamb stew with some soda bread. Try a little Step Dancing. It's a great workout and fun too. Happy St. Patrick's Day.