Like the final, thunderous boom of a 15-year-long synchronized thunderstorm, the last echoes of the global Irish musical and step-dancing sensation Riverdance will soon fade from the world’s stages.
Riverdance was first performed in Dublin in 1995, and since 2007, its three touring companies have been saying their goodbyes in the cities the show has visited. Riverdance’s final performance will be in Vienna on June 5, but first, Memorial Auditorium will host a three-night run starting Tuesday.
Alana Mallon is one of three women who serve as the U.S. touring company’s female lead dancer. She said she fell in love with Riverdance at age 15 and joined the company in 2000 during its run on Broadway before becoming a lead in 2004.
Even after consistently placing in dance competitions throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom, Mallon said her first performance was a harrowing experience since she had to learn the entire show in just a week.
“It was very nerve-wracking because I was flown over, and three days later, I was onstage dancing,” she said. “Doing it for the first time was an ordeal, and being on Broadway was daunting.
“(But) they had me in practicing all the time, rehearsing to make sure that, when they put me on, I was 100 percent.”
Because of the physical demands placed on the Riverdance performers, especially the leads, torn ligaments, sprains and fractures are par for the course.
Mallon is one of only a handful of Scottish Riverdance performers and the only one to ever dance as lead. As a result, the aches and pains are worth it, she said.
“I’ve been dancing and competing all my life,” she said. “For me to be the first one to do it is an achievement, really, for me and for Scotland as well, for the Scottish people.”
After a decade with the company, the final curtain call in Vienna will mark the end of an era, Mallon said.
“It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone and leave the show knowing it’s actually finished,” she said. “I’m trying to not think about it.”