Riverdance - The 20th Anniversary World Tour opened at Shea's Performing Arts Center Tuesday night. The powerful, international show of Irish dancing is on stage only until Thursday evening. WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley had a chance to talk with a former principal dancer who is now associate director of the show.
Padraci Moyles first began his Riverdance career in 1997. He danced in more than 5,000 shows and reflected on the power of the music and dance.
“There’s not one night that the hairs didn’t stand up on the back of my neck,” recalled Moyles
Moyles tells WBFO News this is their 'big anniversary tour' and even after two-decades it is still dazzling new audiences.
“And it just keeps going from strength to strength,” We have dancers coming in now – this has been their lifelong dream since they were one, two, three years of age, they were inspired by Riverdance,” Moyles said.
Some of legends of Irish dance explained the reason performers dance with their arms to their sides.
“When the English were there, we were restricted in how good a time we could actually have, and so, as the English soldiers would be passing by various houses and we would be trying to have gatherings to dance we would keep our arms by our side, so it would never look like we were having a good time, and they say that’s how Irish dancing began to develop,” explained Moyles. “They also talk about the Catholic Church and its role within Ireland and they use to say you had to leave room for the Holy Spirit between each partner. So that’s why you could never dance essentially with somebody you had to leave some room.”