Before they hit the stage each evening, Irish siblings Anna Mai and Fergus Fitzpatrick share a particular ritual: A hug and a low 5.
“Like a high five, but instead of going high with it, we go lower just to be different,” Fergus Fitzpatrick says laughing.
It’s a candy method to examine in for a brother and sister dancing duo who’re propelling “Riverdance 30 — The New Generation,” a touring celebration of the present that put Irish dance on the worldwide map and has deepened their bond.
“Me and Anna Mai have grown up dancing together. So we’re like siblings, but we’re also like best friends,” says Fergus. “We always have that support system.”
Both have been veteran winners of Irish dance competitions after they joined “Riverdance” in 2017, Fergus just a few weeks forward of Anna Mai.
“That was an incredible feeling — to get to share the stage and have that experience together,” she says. “It’s hard to describe it to another person. There’s an understanding of that feeling between us.”
The “Riverdance” tour that kicks off this month in Florida will go to over 40 North American cities, together with two weeks on the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. There are also stops scheduled for Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Indianapolis and Kansas City.
The tour has rejuvenated the unique present with up to date costumes, lighting and projections, that includes a brand new set of dancers — none have been born when the present started 30 years in the past.
“It’s a new group of performers, which is an exciting thing to keep that timelessness but also rejuvenate and update that little bit,” Anna Mai says. “We have now a bunch of folks that by no means knew life with out ‘Riverdance.’”
Anna Mai and Fergus come from a household in County Meath with seven siblings. She was the primary to be interested in conventional Irish step dancing, through which the arms and physique transfer couple of minutes the toes create the sound and motion.
“I was one of those children that did a bit of everything. I did ballet, I did running, I did gymnastics, and Irish dance was the one that really stuck,” she says.
It will come as no shock that her ardour was cemented after her mom took her to see “Riverdance” reside.
“I had been going to Irish dancing classes once a week, but that really set the foundation for ‘Oh my goodness, this is something that’s so beautiful to watch and that I want to be a part of.’”
Fergus adopted quickly after, and each started competing, with Fergus profitable the World Irish Dance Championships in 2017 and his sister profitable the All-Ireland Championships, Great Britain Championships and the British Nationals. They’ve been a part of a number of U.S. excursions and went to China earlier than the pandemic.
“Riverdance” first premiered on the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest as a seven-minute section. It opened at Dublin’s Point Theatre on Feb. 9, 1995, at a time of renewed Irish optimism and satisfaction surrounding the onset of the booming “Celtic Tiger” economic system.
The present is loosely based mostly on the story of Irish tradition and mass immigration to America, the story woven by means of music and dance types together with flamenco and faucet.
While on tour, the Fitzpatricks wish to exit and discover every metropolis they land in, and so they take pleasure in becoming a member of the corporate crew constructing occasions, like escape rooms or go-karting.
“We love to get out and see the city. We love to do touristy things,” says Fergus. “If there’s a good museum, if there’s sightseeing or anything like that to do, we’ll try and get out and do that.”
They additionally take their jobs significantly, understanding that “Riverdance” often is the first reside present for some younger individuals within the viewers. After all, it impressed them to a profession in dance.
“We take it with a lot of responsibility,” says Anna Mai. “We can actually have a difference in younger people’s lives. We can show them that you can have this life — you can achieve this dream — if that’s what you want, if that’s what you set your mind to.”
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