Brighton and Portsmouth dates as Riverdance celebrates a remarkable 30 years

Brother and sister Fergus and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick are in the company as Riverdance celebrates a remarkable 30 years.

Transcript

00:00Good morning. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to

00:06speak to Anne-Marie Fitzpatrick, and for a very good reason. It's the 30th anniversary

00:10of Riverdance now, a special tour taking in later this year, Southampton, Portsmouth Guildhall,

00:17Brighton Centre, and that's incredible, isn't it? 30 years. Why has it had that impact and

00:24why has it stayed? I mean, it's so popular, isn't it?

00:27It is. It's an honour to be a part of something that's been lasting 30 years. For the cast that

00:34audiences come to see now, they weren't born when Riverdance first took place at the Eurovision back

00:39in 94, so we've only known life with Riverdance, and we know the legacy that was built before we

00:45were here, and we know the honour that it is to be able to grace the same stages that all of the

00:52alumni for 30 years have been on, paving the way. It's so exciting, and it's, you know, an

00:58amalgamation of the music and the incredible dancers that you see up on that stage that really brings

01:03audience members coming back.

01:05It was incredible it came into such focus, isn't it? Because obviously this was dancing that had been

01:09around for a long time. It suddenly was hugely popular to the extent, as you were saying, people

01:13don't ask, do you Irish dance? They ask, do you Riverdance?

01:17Yeah, that I remember the first time I got asked that question, and just it really set in the tone

01:23of what Riverdance has done for Irish dancing, you know, completely put it on the map, was the first

01:30performance of its kind, raised the bar for live performance around the world. And it's just so

01:37telling that 30 years later, we're still doing the same choreography. You know, it's still the same,

01:41most of the same costumes and the numbers that you've seen up that stairs, up on that stage that

01:46was there 30 years ago. So it's, it's truly like they created something that was lasting and timeless.

01:53And what's so important is the fact that you're not just a dancer, you're an athlete. It's a sport,

01:59it's competitive, but also it's artistry. Two completely different things that somehow meet in

02:04the middle.

02:05Yes, it's the beauty of it. We, we do look after ourselves, like we're full-time athletes because we,

02:10you know, are performing eight shows a week.

02:12Oh, you are.

02:13Yeah, two and a half hour shows. So we have to, it's, it's part of our job, but the beauty

02:19of it for, for me anyway, is, is getting to play with the artistry as well.

02:24Absolutely.

02:25Magic of it.

02:26But the show is presumably like a full-on workout, isn't it?

02:30It is. Yeah, it is, but we love it.

02:34Fantastic. We're really lovely to speak to you. It's a great prospect that the 30th anniversary

02:38is playing Southampton, Mayflower, end of September, Horsmouth Guildhall, beginning

02:42of December, and the Brighton Centre, again, beginning of December. Anna, really lovely

02:48to speak to you. Thank you.

02:50Thank you so much.