Thirty years ago, Riverdance’s groundbreaking Eurovision interval performance ignited a new generation’s devotion to Irish dancing
Every Irish dancer remembers the first time they watched Riverdance. For many, that bolt from the blue struck 30 years ago when the Eurovision song contest interval act was broadcast across the world on the evening of 30 April 1994. This sensational, seven-minute showcase of the host country’s traditional dance form would upstage the main event and inspire a new generation of jigging hopefuls, begging their parents to be enrolled in Irish dance classes the very next week.
I was one of the more unusual cases, having taken up Irish dancing lessons in my local church hall before even seeing Riverdance. My Irish dad, realising this was fast becoming a deep devotion and not a fleeting hobby, soon introduced me to the show that had changed Irish dancing for ever. “You will love Riverdance,” he enthused to his then nine-year-old daughter, born one year after the show’s debut.
