Well, it's finally happening!  Riverdance has scheduled its final farewell tour dates.

There's even a fabulous countdown clock on the Riverdance website that is counting down the days and hours until the final show of their tour in North America.

No, really, this time, there's an end date and everything, so don't go thinking they'll extend their run.  Don't miss it only to say when you're old and gray, "If only I had bought those tickets to a Riverdance show in that final season of 2012."

"Riverdance is coming!"  "Riverdance is coming!"  To the very last performances at the very last of the show's venues, Riverdance is coming.  Sadly, it seems, it is coming to an end.  The show that started the trend for Irish dance professional groups and Irish dance performances on an international level is finally calling it quits.

Riverdance started as an extremely well-received, complete with standing ovation, seven-minute show done for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland.  Less than a year later, Riverdance had had its first full-length show run for five weeks to sold-out crowds.  Nearly two years after that first seven-minute show, Riverdance came to Radio City Music Hall in March of 1996.  Americans and the world over fell in love with the Irish dance phenomenon.

Here's a video from the original Riverdance- done as an interval performance at the 1994 Eurovision Song  Contest, Dublin, Ireland:



The world of dance has had many famous names:  Anna Pavlova, Isidora Duncan, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Rudolf Nureyev, Martha Graham, Gregory Hines, and Mikhail Baryshnikov being the list of names that comes to the top of my mind.  Michael Flatley, Jean Butler, and Colin Dunne have been made household names because of the success of Riverdance.  Irish dance has been pushed into the spotlight as well as the stars of this talent-filled show because of the success of Riverdance.

Donna Barrington of Alaska shared that her son, Owen Barrington, a member of the Riverdance Flying Squad, was en route to meet up with the North American Riverdance Irish dance troupe- also known as The Shannon Company.  Owen has been with Riverdance off-and-on since he started with them in 2005. He'll be performing with them for the whirlwind final tour of North America which starts at the Grand Theatre in Quebec, Canada on the 26th of April and ends at The Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia on the 17th of June.

2005 Riverdance photo
Nicholas Yenson, Owen Barrington, Scott Doherty, and Kevin Horton
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Read more:
Interview with professional Irish dancer, Owen Barrington- VIDEO

Riverdance star, Jean Butler, revisits Irish dance- VIDEO

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Here are the schedules for the final performances.  Hope you all get to one before they end!

The last date to see Riverdance in Canada is June 10th.
 CANADA TOUR- TICKETS AND INFO

The last date to see Riverdance in the United States is June 17th
UNITED STATES TOUR- TICKETS AND INFO

I'll be at that very last performance on June 17th in Vienna,Virginia!

Riverdance Trailer- 2012- Touring the World


Are you planning to get tickets to see Riverdance this spring before the show closes?  Have you seen Riverdance before?  How many times have you seen Riverdance?  Also, if you're an Irish dancer, was Riverdance at all influential in prompting you to want to start taking Irish dance classes?

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