Rhythm of the Dance

RHYTHM OF THE DANCE
From the creation of Rhythm of the Dance 14 years ago – (initially the show was set up for a 3 week tour of the United States in 1998) – it has toured consistently internationally and is achieving greater critical acclaim year after year.
This wonderful show continues to evolve thanks to the constant striving for perfection by its Director/Producer, choreographer and composer to keep the show fresh and interesting so that audiences who attend performances regularly will always find some new and exciting elements within the show.
With a wonderful, gifted young cast of dancers, musicians and 3 Irish tenors, featuring live performances from the entire troupe, this is a show that has won critical acclaim across 4 continents of the world in 51 countries to over 5 million fans.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS AND ACCOLADES:
CHINA Shenzhen City Eve of the new Millennium 1999-2000
We performed at the gigantic EARTH DOME stage, with a live audience of 50,000; the show was beamed to over 750 million viewers on syndicated Chinese National Television.
POLAND 2001
Voted Best Irish Dance Show, presentation of the award to Kieran Cavanagh Director/Producer ROTD was made by actors Stephanie Powers (Hart to Hart) and Michael York. (Kieran and the shows lead dancers flew to Poland from an Australian tour to accept the award and immediately afterwards returned to Oz to continue the tour).
FRANCE, PARIS 2003
Palais de Congress sold out for Rhythm of the Dance.
INDIA
Bangalore National Park, Rhythm of the Dance performed to an audience of 10,000 people for a benefit concert in aid of Mother Theresa Orphanage there. It was one of the biggest audiences we ever performed in and we were honored to raise funds for such a worthy cause.
GREECE 2004
By invitation of the Greek Government Rhythm of the Dance performed in the breathtaking 2500 year old Acropolis, Athens to an audience of 5,000 people. One of the oldest theatres we have performed in !!!
RUSSIA 2005
Kremlin Palace Theatre, Rhythm of the Dance performed daily concerts for one week. Because of our challenging tours of the Siberian territory of Russia where no other shows have toured we received an award from the Russian ministry of culture in recognition of our contribution to the culture of the Siberian people and exposing them to western music and Dance. The majority of this population had never experienced an Irish dance show before; the only other groups to receive this award for their contribution to Russian and Siberian culture were Deep Purple.
DOLLYWOOD, TENNESSEE, USA 2007
A five week residency, performing 3 shows per day, with full houses for the entire run in Dolly Parton’s theme park was a great achievement for Rhythm of the Dance. But the day that Dolly and Rhythm of the Dance performed together to an invited audience of 1,000 media journalists was a most memorable event. Dolly sang “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” with Rhythm of the Dance’s own 3 Irish tenors and along with Rhythm’s cast of dancers Dolly performed a rousing version of her own composition “We Irish”. It brought the house down!
Due to the huge success of our 2007 season Dolly personally invited us back to perform another 2 month run at her Dollywood theme Park in 2008 , a very rare occurrence we were reliably informed.
PALESTINE 2008:
Rhythm of the Dance was the first and only Irish Dance show to perform in Palestine. We were nervous and very cautious at first about travelling there and encountered many obstacles along the way and had some nervy moments at the border crossings from Israel, but it turned out to be a rewarding experience as we performed at their annual World dance festival and in 2008 it was the turn of the Irish. A memorable occasion in our history..
SHOW FACTS

1) ROTD's very first performance was on March 13th 1999 in Norway .
2) Since then ROTD has performed in 58 countries on 5 continents
3) ROTD has sold 6 million tickets worldwide since its formation in 1999
4) At any one time there will 400 costumes on tour with the company and we employ a full time wardrobe mistress to mend , launder and prepare costumes for each performance.
5) The troupe of Rhythm of the Dance go through approximately 200 pairs of dance shows between them over a year .
6) The ROTD troupe consume approximately 11,000 bottles of water per year.
7) ROTD's female dancers go through 1500 pairs of black tights every year .
8) The average term of a dancer in ROTD is 3 years although we have had a lot of our dancers stay over 5 years and some even 10 years .
9) ROTD clock up an average of 80,000 air miles per year.