ABSTRACT
In April 1994, Ireland hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland. The national television company, Radio Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), recruited Abhann Productions to devise a seven-minute intermission piece for the event. As part of her overall production, Moya Doherty invited Bill Whelan to write the music for an interval music and dance performance. The resulting spectacle contrasted the ethereal sounds of Anúna, with the pulsating rhythms of Irish dance accompanied by a hybrid dance music scored for traditional instruments and orchestra. The immediate success of Riverdance prompted the creation of a full-length production. Riverdance: The Show, opened in the Point Theatre, Dublin on 9 February 19951 and sold out the 8,500-seat venue for five weeks. In Britain, the Riverdance video maintained second position in the charts for seven months. When the show crossed the Atlantic in 1996, the Riverdance CD topped the Billboard World Music Charts.2 The insatiable global demand for this product led Abhann Productions to organize several troupes to travel the world with their show. The success of this Irish dance phenomenon invigorated Irish culture both nationally and internationally, and accelerated the globalization of Irish music, dance and culture.
