Tag: Riverdance 30th Anniversary

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when walls come alive with art and light. Hutch’s List No. 47, from The York Press

Principal dancers, dance captains and siblings Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, The New Generation

LEFT-FIELD Halloween entertainment, garden art and light installations, Normal comedy and a splurge gun musical spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, today and tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.

For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Blair Bitch Project: Playing on Navigators Art’s bill at YO Underworld 6 at The Basement

Live, left-field, local new music, comedy and words for Halloween: Navigators Art presents YO Underworld 6, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN this special Halloween edition, York arts collective Navigators Art plays host to riot grrrl punk and grunge-inspired York quartet Blair Bitch Project and improvising cellist and sound artist Gaia Blandina, performing collaborative, open-form pieces with Ish, featuring Iris Casling, double bass, Des Clarke, oboe, and Nika Ticciati, voice.

Joshua Arnold & Therine: Welcoming the coming of Samhain at YO Underworld 6

Taking part too are dark hurdy-gurdy and vocal-led trad and experimental drone folk combo Joshua Arnold & Therine, welcoming the coming of Samhain; Kane Bruce,  delivering his outrageously dark yet cheeky take on “taboo” topics, and Hull poet Melissa Shode, who explores identity in the socio-political climate and writes for release, justice and the voiceless. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance or on the door.

Steve Gunn: Showcasing his two 2025 albums at The Band Room, Low Mill, tonight. Picture: Paul Rhodes

Moorland gig of the week: Steve Gunn, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, tonight, 7.30pm

STEVE Gunn, the ambient psychedelic American singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York, made his name as a guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators. His myriad magical influences include Michael Chapman, Michael Hurley and John Fahey.

This weekend he will be showcasing his second album of 2025, Daylight Daylight, out on November 7 on No Quarter, as well as his first fully instrumental album, August’s Music For Writers. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.

Hands and Voices: York choir singing at Laughs, Lyrics & You! at the Gateway Centre on Sunday

Inclusive open mic event of the week: Accessible Arts & Media presents Laughs, Lyrics & You!, Gateway Centre, York, Sunday, 2.30pm to 5pm

WHAT is Laughs, Lyrics & You!? “The idea is to have an open mic-type event, in a relaxed and friendly environment that’s accessible and fun, with tea and cake too,” says Accessible Arts & Media (AAM) chief executive officer Chris Farrell. “Our projects, IMPs, Movers and Shakers and Hands and Voices, will start the show with their wonderful music, dances and stories.

“Then it’s over to whoever would like to perform. Any talent is welcome, a duet, a solo instrument, a poetry reading, a recording of some original music, jokes…whatever you can think of would be great!” To take part, performers must contact projects@aamedia.org.uk or ring Hannah on 07762 428818. Admission is free; donations welcome.  

Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire transforming the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

Installation of the week: Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until November 2, 6pm to 8.20pm

LET light, colour and music surround you at Luxmuralis’s light and sound installation as artist Peter Walker, composer David Harper and lighting designer Steve Rainsford bring the story alive of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens from 1,000 images. 

Immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing York Museum Trust’s age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.

Artist Ric Liptrot: Taking part in That Acomb Arty Thing

Art event of the week: That Acomb Arty Thing, Art Trail, until November 2; Open Studios, November 1 and 2

DISCOVER York artists’ work in venues around Acomb on the autumn Art Trail featuring Carla Ballantine, Linda Braham, Ric Liptrot, Jelena Lunge, Rae Merriman, Isaac Savage, Ginette Speed, Donna Taylor and Dianne Turner.

North Yorkshire Open Studios participants are hosting open studios next Saturday and Sunday: Paul Mathieson & Peter Mathieson, 49 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Peijun Cao, 60 Jute Road, 10.30am to 5pm; Fran Brammer, 81 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Charlotte Lister & Charley Hellier, 7 Chestnut Grove, 10am to 2pm; Robin Grover-Jacques, 35 Chestnut Grove, 11am to 4pm, and Mo Nisbet, 116 Acomb Road, 11am to 4pm.

Blue sigh thinking? Henry Normal reflects on himself, his mistakes, his Z celebrity status, in The Slideshow

Normal service resumed: Henry Normal, The Slideshow, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 8pm

THE Slideshow, as poet, film and TV producer/writer Henry Normal explains, is a multi-MEdia spectacular with the emphasis on the “me” in his celebration of his “meteoric rise to Z celebrity status”, followed by his joyous and inevitable slide into physical and mental decline.

Expect poetry, photos, jokes, music, dance, song, circus skills, costume changes, props and stories, exploring where Normal  went wrong in life, plus lessons you can learn from his mistakes, in this memoir with cautionary verse. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.

David Barrott, left, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece

Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 28 to November 1, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.

Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party. Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, is keeping a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Rory Stewart: Discussing his new book, Middleland, at York Barbican

Book event of the week: Toppings presents Rory Stewart, Middleland, York Barbican, October 30, 7pm

NOW Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs and Alastair Campbell’s co-podcaster on The Rest Is Politics, Rory Stewart spent nearly a decade as Conservative MP of Britain’s most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border.

Living in the Eden Valley, he found inspiration in the beauty of Cumbrian landscape, its rugged history as a frontierland, and the spirit of its people, prompting him to write Middleland: Dispatches From The Borders, a portrait of rural Britain today: a place caught in tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national politics. Over to you, Rory.  Tickets: toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/rory-stewart-middleland/.

Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday ; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday

LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in  Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the movie songs You Give A Little Love,  My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.

In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

In Focus: Tom Grennan, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 25 2026

BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is the first act to be confirmed for the Music Showcase Weekend at the 2026 York Racecourse flat racing season.

Grennan, 30, has achieved three UK number one albums, 2021’s Evering Road, 2023’s What Ifs & Maybes and 2025’s Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be, preceded by his top five-charting 2018 debut Lighting Matches. 

He has chalked up hit singles too with Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together (with Ella Henderson), Remind Me, Lionheart (Fearless, with Joel Corry), Here, How Does It Feel, It Can’t Be Christmas, By Your Side (Calvin Harris, featuring Tom Grennan) and Not Over Yet (KSI, featuring Tom Grennan).

Next summer’s Knavesmire gig will form part of a busy touring schedule for Grennan, who also co-hosts the You About? podcast with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp.

Racing and music fans can take advantage of a price freeze on adult general admission on the track’s website, meaning entrance to the main Grandstand and Paddock enclosure, starts at just £40 per person for a group of six. As well as free car parking, no booking fees apply on this route to purchase. To book, visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.

On the racecourse, the racing action will see seven thoroughbred contests with combined prize money of £380,000. The Group Two feature race will be the Sky Bet York Stakes.

The Summer Music Saturday meeting will be held on June 27; the Friday evening Music Showcase Weekend meeting on July 24. Music acts for both those days are yet to be confirmed; keep checking www.yorkracecourse.co.uk for further announcements, expected soon.

James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship says: “It is great news that Tom Grennan is joining the artists to have performed on the Knavesmire; a performer who has gone from strength to strength. It will herald a month for music and racing fans to remember.”

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Meet the New Generation as Riverdance marks 30th anniversary at York Barbican

Principal dancers Fergus Fitzpatrick and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick with the New Generation dancers in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, on tour at York Barbican from tomorrow to Sunday

RIVERDANCE is celebrating its 30th anniversary with its New Generation of pounding Irish dancers, on the beat at York Barbican from tomorrow (24/10/2025) to Sunday.

Not one of them was born when Irish composer Bill Whelan originated Riverdance as an interval act at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, featuring Irish dancing champions Michael Flatley and Jean Butler and the vocal ensemble Anúna.

Husband-and-wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty soon converted it into a stage show that opened in Dublin on February 9 1995.

Whelan, McColgan and Doherty remain at the helm for Riverdance: The New Generation as composer, director and producer respectively on the 30-venue UK tour – one for each year – that runs from August 12 to December 14.

The New Generation production of this Grammy award-winning show rejuvenates the format with innovative choreography and costumes and state-of-the art lighting, projection and motion graphics.

Riverdance principal dancer Anna Mai Fitzpatrick: Dancing since the age of four

Director John McColgan says: “It is both a privilege and a delight to celebrate 30 years of Riverdance and the unique journey it has taken us on. In those 30 years, the show has transformed from a spectacle into a global cultural phenomenon, continuously evolving yet remaining true to its Irish roots.

“On this tour we welcoming ‘the New Generation’ of artists while paying tribute to the talented performers, creators, dedicated crew, and the millions of fans who have made Riverdance a worldwide celebration of music and dance.”

Among the principal dancers in a show that blends the traditional and the contemporary in a showcase of dancers, singers and musicians will be brother-and-sister dance captains Fergus Fitzpatrick and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick.

“Fergus and I both joined the company about eight years ago,” says Anna Mai. “So we saw Riverdance through its 25th anniversary, just before Covid, when the score had been recomposed by Bill Whelan.”

“We started Irish dancing at a young age, at eight in my case, and Anna Mai was four,” says Fergus. “We started by going to after-school dance classes at the local primary school, at Navan in County Meath, and I first saw the Riverdance show a couple of years later  on TV.

Fergus Fitzpatrick: World champion-turned-Riverdance principal dancer

“It looked like they were having so much fun with their friends on stage, and after that show, I remember trying to do the moves around the coffee table in the living toom!”

Anna Mai rejoins: “Yeah, it looked like they were having the best time of their lives on stage, and even at that age, I was up on my feet trying to replicate it.”

Both becoming dance champions, they caught the Riverdance bug and love being part of the New Generation show. “We train our whole life to be on stage, and we wouldn’t know what to do if we weren’t performers,” says Anna Mai. “Like anything, you have to put everything into it, all your willpower.”

Fergus says: “Once we’re on tour, we’re together for almost 24 hours a day: eating together, dancing together, staying together in the hotel – and there are plenty of siblings in the show, so it’s good to have that camaraderie off stage as well as on.”

Everyone is pulling in the same direction: the production team, the dancers, the singers, the musicians. “Absolutely,” says Fergus. “The team that you see are very like-minded, and the audience can feel it: they see the beautiful harmony between us and the team behind the scenes, making us look good. It’s a really talented team with a shared vision.

“Fergus and I are very lucky to have each other there on tour, and we can always reach out to each other,” says sister Anna Mai

“The New Generation brings a great energy to this version of the show. We’ve only known life in Riverdance, and we feel the responsibility of the legacy.”

Anna Mai is full of admiration for the work of Whelan and McColgan. “They always do such an incredible job of taking care of the show for now and for future generations as ambassadors for the culture of Ireland,” she says. “We are always so grateful to them for keeping the magic that we all know and love.”

Injuries are part and parcel of a dancer’s life, but Anna Mai says: “A lot of it goes back to preparation. The risk of injury goes with any sport or physical activity, but in those activities, there also can be ‘mental injury’, where you’re not in a good place.”

She, however, is very much in a good place. To keep in top condition, “we work with physiotherapists and massage therapists who travel with us on tour,” she says.

“As much as it’s a dream to be doing Riverdance, it’s also a job, and it’s up to us to be able to prepare to do our job. Fergus and I are very lucky to have each other there on tour, and we can always reach out to each other.”

“We approach a set of live dates in a scientific way now,” says Fergus

Fergus adds: “We approach a set of live dates in a scientific way now. We think about how many shows there will be, what we will need in the way of recovery, how we will sustain being at the top of our game for so many shows.

“And of course the team helps us; Riverdance knows that we need a masseur on the road with us, a company physio, that kind of thing, to keep our bodies conditioned”.

Anna Mai comments: “Because we and the show have been to many of these places and cities before, we have connections that we can tap into. And we love to use our time off and get to know an area even better, do some touristy things, catch up with old friends.

“With Riverdance, many things are constantly changing; you will never be on the road with exactly the same people, on exactly the same tour routing. There is always a new energy, a new buzz, and that’s really fun to feed off. We’re making memories together.”

Fergus is looking forward to this week’s performances at York Barbican. “We’ve performed in York before and we absolutely loved it. It’s such a beautiful city and the audiences are incredible,” he says.

Anna Mai Fitzpatrick dancing in Riverdance Perform at Jubilee Stage, Expo 2020 Dubai in November 2021. Picture: Steve Holland/Expo 2020 Dubai

“It was late 2021 when we last came, when the venues opened up again, and we can’t wait to get back there. There’s definitely an energy there. That magic. A feeling you get, that energy, that crescendo, the moments of emotion, when the audience jump to their feet. That’s a great feeling.”

Traditional Irish dancing may be done with “arms down by your side”, but Riverdance’s combination of the traditional and the contemporary, the Irish and the international, means that “in our professional dancing, we do use the arms more,” says Anna Mai.

“It’s really good fun to get to explore that in the shows. If you look back to the synchronicity of the dancing at the Eurovision show, it was all arms by the side, but we will hold hands at times in our show and support the lead dancer with our hands, and that’s an exciting development.”

Summing up the abiding popularity of Riverdance, Anna Mai concludes: “There is always something new in the way the show resonates. I have seen the show many times and it always hits me differently, on a certain night, one particular number might really affect you; there is so much to experience, the phenomenal music as well as the dancers, all the different styles.

“It is never the same. It’s hard to describe the magic of Riverdance to someone who hasn’t seen it. It’s the human emotion that keeps the fans coming back. They come for the feeling that they leave the show with.”

Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, The New Generation, York Barbican, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm, Friday to Sunday, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Sibling synchronicity: Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick are principal dancers and dance captains in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show

Fergus Fitzpatrick and Anna Mai Fitzpatrick: back story

FERGUS, from County Meath, Ireland, discovered his passion for dance at the age of eight. With his sister Anna Mai, he grew up competing internationally in Irish dancing competitions.

Under the tutelage of Holly and Kavanagh Academy of Irish Dance, Fergus achieved his dream of becoming a world champion in 2017.

Joined Riverdance, performing in Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. As principal dancer, he has performed in prestigious venues such as Radio City Music Hall, New York, and Hammersmith Apollo, London.

Other productions include Heartbeat Of Home at Piccadilly Theatre, London, and London Palladium.

“Only the best dancers will make it to Riverdance,” says Fergus. “It takes a lot of hard work for a lot of years, a lot of drive. In the back of our minds when we started dancing, the end goal was always Riverdance.

“However, before you get there, there is a whole competition scene. Now though, as principal dancer I also feel that I need to outwork the younger guys who are coming through! They are so good, and of course they want my job, so I need to work hard and work smart.”

“As principal dancer I feel that I need to outwork the younger guys who are coming through!” says Fergus

ANNA Mai began her dance journey at the age of four and danced competitively for 16 years alongside brother Fergus. From a young age, Irish Dance was her passion.

Won many major championships includingAll-Ireland Championships, Great Britain Championships and British Nationals.

Joined Riverdance in 2017, touring China with Fergus, then performed with Riverdance at Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, for two summer seasons.

Moved into principal role in 2020, touring with the show on UK national tour, at Expo Dubai in North American, Europe, and China, Australia and Japan tour.

Toured with Heartbeat O Home, making debut as principal dancer at Piccadilly Theatre in London’s West End.

“A love for the dancing and the show is crucial,” says Anna Mai. “That’s the dream I suppose, for any job, and we do wholeheartedly love what we do. That is what pushes me to be that one per cent better every day, keep the fire burning.

“The show takes a lot of work. When the audience sees the cast on stage, they see the glamorous end to what has been the work of an entire team helping each other to get to that point. We love the entire process.”