Event Raised over €450,000 For Cancer.

On the 28^th August, Riverdance appeared on Concert4Cancer, broadcast on Virgin Media Ireland. The event also featured performances from  Nathan Carter, Brian Kennedy, Gary Barlow, Aimée, Kodaline, The Coronas and Ronan Keating.

The Concert4Cancer raised over €450,000 for the Marie Keating Foundation, one of the largest cancer charities in Ireland. The charity was founded in 2001 in memory of Marie Keating, Ronan’s mother, who passed away in 1998 from breast cancer at the young age of 51.

Director/co-founder of Riverdance, John McColgan explained why the troupe was excited to get involved with this charity project.

 “When we were approached to get involved in this Concert4Cancer we were absolutely delighted to do so. We felt that if Riverdance can use the power of its music, its dance and its reach, to help this great cause, then we absolutely have to do what we can to lend our support.”

One of the troupe members, World Champion, Elliot Kwelele took to the stage for the second time with Riverdance as part of their flying squad. He shared on his Instagram account. 

Elliot pictured - front row far right

Read more ...

"Collab" Showcases Irish Dance in Unique Way 

The USA Irish Dance Alliance (USAIDA) has a vision for their dancers which includes a balance of performing and competitive opportunities. When Irish Dancing competitions came to a grinding halt, the group wanted to offer something unique to their dancers to keep them inspired and excited about dance.

After discussing with their board, the USAIDA enlisted the assistance of Hammerstep's dance troupe, whose roots are firmly based in the Irish Dancing genre, to create something very new and different for the dance community to enjoy.

Hammerstep is known for exploring ways to push the Irish Dancing genre forward by combining Irish Dance with elements from other dance forms such as hip hop, tap, stepping and others. 

Hammerstep founders, Jason Oremus and Garrett Coleman agreed to take on this ambitious project to teach dancers a new performing style along with the goal of creating a video to showcase the results of the collaboration. Due to the global pandemic, the ambitious project was all done remotely.

During the month of June, 100 dancers from various schools across multiple states attended two zoom workshop classes each week. Filming took place the first week in July. The dancers submitted their footage for consideration and within two weeks a striking, music-dance video was edited and published online.

The music-dance video was choreographed and directed around a specific concept and synchronized to a music track, both in the dancing and the editing.

Read more ...