Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show (2020) Movie Script
[intense percussive music]
[bird squawking]
- I was invited to a new show
at the Point Theater in Dublin.
And it turned out to be one
of the most memorable nights
I've ever spent in a theater.
The force of the music, the
primal power of the dancing,
the beautiful symmetry of
so many bodies in motion.
I think anybody who was
in the audience that night
realized that they were
watching something
unique and original.
The show of course
was Riverdance.
[bright energetic music]
[crowd cheering]
- Well I suppose
Riverdance the show
and then there was
Riverdance at the Eurovision.
So 25 years ago we
already had Riverdance
at the Eurovision
which happened in 1994
as a six minute,
40 second piece that
surprised people.
- [Hosts] Ladies and
gentlemen, Riverdance.
[traditional Celtic music]
- The interval act in Eurovision
is normally something of
cultural value from that
country.
[mumbling] They're
normally quite boring.
But when Riverdance
came on the stage,
it was an electrifying moment.
[crowd roaring]
- [Announcer] The audience
are on their feet.
- And the audience as
one jumped to their feet
and for like a sustained four
or five minutes applause.
That in my experience of
the business was unique.
- At that moment I
suppose we knew
that Irish dance was never
going to be the same again.
And that maybe Irish culture
was never going to be
the same again.
- When we had the initial
set of tidal wave response,
that was the time that
we all thought, well,
Riverdance has really
had an effect.
We have the number one record.
We should make a show.
- Bill Whelan, John
McGolgan and myself
put our heads together
around the table.
And we really worked out
what the shape, form, concept
of the tour piece was gonna be.
- I think actually, you know
Maria will bring something to it
not only just with her
talent of her dancing
but also just her personality.
She has that kind of warmth,
which you know in a company
context is very important.
[light music]
- The theme was immigration
and the theme was multicultural
and the theme was changing,
interchanging ideas
and being able to work
with each other.
So all of the dancers
didn't just sit
in their own saddle.
They interacted with each other
and the choregraphy was
mixed up with each other.
One year later, we
had a full show
in the same venue.
- Please welcome Riverdance.
[upbeat Irish music]
[crowd applauding]
- What we're doing is
telling a lot of good will,
a lot of high energy
and we love what we're doing.
The best thing about
our show is that
all of us would do it
for nothing,
without any audience there.
And I think when you
have a show like that,
it'll live for a while.
- It exploded.
We just dragged on,
held on by our knuckles
to the coattails of Riverdance
and traveled with it.
- [John] So straight from
there we went to Hammersmith
which was a 6,000
seater in London
and we played Hammersmith
for a record number of weeks.
Then we went off and
started our American tours
in Radio City Music Hall
and we held the record
there for the longest run
of any single show.
- [Moya] These dance forms
were cultural dance forms
that were used to express
through history
life and death and
celebration, and challenge.
It's a river of emotions.
Pathos, sorrow, joy,
it brings us great joy.
It brings the
audience great joy.
So bringing all of that
into a Broadway stroke
mainstream entertainment stage
is I think what caused
the real excitement.
[energetic music]
- This was the show that
announced to the world
that Ireland was a
cultural force
to be reckoned with in
the popular sense.
It made Irish dancing sexy
and it made it cool.
[uplifting music]
- [John] Irish dance, or as
they call it, the Riverdance,
is now recognized all
over the world
as a genuine artform
and employs thousands of people.
- I think we are so blessed,
25 years later to be able
to experiment with this and
to produce this new show.
- My hope and desire is now
that with this new treatment,
the show will be reinvigorated,
attractive to people
who have never seen it.
Younger people who weren't
born when it started,
and even more
attractive to people
who have seen it before,
they'll also be blown away.
So it's the next generation.
It's Riverdance, the
next generation.
[crowd applauding]
Hear my cry in my
hungering search for you
Taste my breath on the wind
See the sky as it
mirrors my colors
Hints and whispers begin
[light flute music]
- [Narrator] Out of the dark,
we came.
Out of the night.
The first of many mornings
in this new place.
When the sun rolled
back the mist,
we rose like a strong
wave on land.
Now we were the people
of this place.
What burns through the
rain and mist?
What banishes dark?
What makes the children
straight and bright?
What makes the mountains sharp?
The sun is our lord and father.
Bright face at the gate of day.
Lifting our hearts we
sing his praise,
dance in his healing rays.
[driving Irish music]
[intense music]
[audience cheering]
[crowd applauding]
[serene flute music]
[crowd applauding]
Where the river foams
and surges to the sea
Silver figures rise
to find me
Wise and as daring
Following the heart's cry
I am that deep pool
I am that dark spring
Warm with a mystery
I may reveal to you
In time
Time holds the heart's key
Key to everything is Love
Love makes the heart flower
Flower into a deep desire
Passion in the heart's fire
Passion and desire
See the eagle rise
above the open plain
Golden in the morning air
Weaving and soaring
Watchful and protecting
I am your shelter
I will enfold you
Warm with a mystery
I may reveal to you
In time
Time holds the heart's key
Key to everything is Love
Love makes the heart flower
Flower into a deep desire
Passion in the heart's fire
Passion and desire
[light music]
[crowd applauding]
[intense percussive music]
[driving music]
[crowd applauding]
[ominous music]
- [Narrator] C
Chulainn is dead.
Our great C Chulainn.
He was the sun of morning.
He was a fire at night.
He was a powerful story.
He was lightning in forest.
A sudden storm, a short life.
[somber bagpipe music]
[crowd applauding]
- [Narrator] Thunder and
lightning batter the rocks.
The winds howl and great
storms break on the forest.
Scatter the herds like grain.
Fire leaps from dark to dark,
fear and anger leap to meet it.
We will not go down.
We will not be beaten
down like grain.
[cymbals crashing]
[thunder rumbling]
[men screaming]
[percussive stomping]
[percussive stomping
and clapping]
[men screaming]
[percussive stomping]
[men screaming]
[percussive stomping]
[men screaming]
[crowd applauding]
[Spanish guitar music]
[gentle guitar music]
[percussive clicking music]
[lively guitar music]
[lively music]
[percussive music]
[lively music]
[crowd applauding]
[eerie music]
[percussive music]
[song in foreign language]
[crowd applauding]
[relaxed music]
[bright music]
[energetic music]
[jazzy relaxed music]
[crowd applauding]
[light percussive music]
[energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
Hear my cry in my
hungering search for you
Taste my breath on the wind
See the sky as it
mirrors my colors
Hints and whispers begin
I am living to nourish
you, cherish you
I am pulsing the blood
in your veins
Feel the magic and
power surrender to life
[singing in foreign language]
Every finger is touching,
searching
Until your secrets come out
In the dance as it
endlessly circles
I linger close to your mouth
I am living to nourish
you, cherish you
I am pulsing the blood
in your veins
Feel the magic and
power surrender to life
[singing in foreign language]
[suspenseful music]
[crowd cheering]
[light music]
[intense percussive music]
[bright music]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[lightly energetic music]
[driving music]
[crowd applauding]
[light percussive music]
- [Narrator] No life is forever.
We found and fought here.
We loved and died here.
We have seen smoke of war
climb from our fields of grain.
A stain over the sun.
The crops wither.
The bones of hunger
walked the sunken roads
in the black reign of ruin.
Whole generations lift
now to depart.
The land has failed us.
The dark soldiers
appear against us.
In dance and song we gift
and mourn our children.
They carry us over the
ocean in dance and song.
[dancers hooting]
[upbeat music]
[bright energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
[slow pensive flute music]
Now I will soon depart
With an aching heart
To a land that's
far from here
There I will hope and yearn
For a safe return
To the home
I hold so dear
Lift the wings that carry
me away from here and
Fill the sail that
breaks the line to home
But when I'm miles and miles
apart from you
I'm beside you when I
think of you
[singing in foreign language]
And I'm with you as I
dream of you
[singing in foreign language]
And this song will
bring me near to you
[singing in foreign language]
[crowd applauding]
[bright energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
[somber violin music]
- [Narrator] Dawn, and
the ships are leaving.
The lovers' grief is
lifting on the tide.
And hearts too young
for sorrow torn asunder,
the cruel oceans deep and
dark and wide.
Tall and straight, my
mother taught me.
This is how we dance.
Tall and straight, my
father taught me.
This is how we dance.
Battling feet on the
city street,
in pools of light on
street corners,
the proud, bright,
carnival of the poor.
[stomps clacking]
[light jazzy music]
[lightly tense music]
[jazzy music]
[lightly tense music]
[driving music]
[jazzy driving music]
[percussive tapping]
[jazzy music]
[driving music]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd cheering]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd clapping]
[crowd applauding]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd laughing]
[crowd cheering]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd laughing]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd clapping]
[crowd applauding]
[driving music]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd cheering]
[light rock music]
[crowd applauding]
[somber solemn music]
- [Narrator] Over the
rooftops the music calling.
The air familiar but
not our own.
Like something out of
a storybook.
Somebody dancing, the
memory of snow.
[melancholy music]
[solemn flute music]
[crowd applauding]
[lightly tense music]
[percussive exotic music]
[energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
- [Narrator] Cry of an infant,
heartbeat of the world.
Storm against ship,
heartbeat of the world.
Heel against floor and
wave upon shore.
Heartbeat of the world.
Sigh of a lover,
heartbeat of the world.
Cry of a mother,
heartbeat of the world.
Oh, unstopped heartbeat
of the world.
[percussive drum music]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[light percussive music]
[bright music]
[light music]
[bright music]
[crowd applauding]
Into the river the tide
be the stream
There fell a tear, a
single tear
The loveliest of all tears
The loveliest of all
Tears
[percussive music]
A passage of tears
have gone here unheard
A passage of tears
have gone here unheard
And she will still
go on dancing
And she will still
go on dancing
And her muddied name was
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia
Riverlippi, Riverlippi,
Anna Livia
[steady percussive music]
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia
Riverlippi, Riverlippi,
Anna Livia
[energetic percussive music]
Crimson Olivia
shimmer in Brooklyn
Four hundred person
takes some chance
Is she in the shaman or
the shiek in Colorado
When the avalanche pours
Tell me who's she gonna send
Hooting and pouring and
flooding and flushing
And hooting and pouring
and flooding and flushing
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia, Anna Livia
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia, Anna Livia
Shimmer on the river run
Anna Livia
[crowd applauding]
[somber music]
- [Narrator] And after all,
the moon over city and forest
is everywhere the same.
In the old land it silvers
fields of grain
just as it does here.
The rivers everywhere run
down to the sea
and the land everywhere
takes life from the river.
It is all a journey.
From one land to the next,
from one life to another.
A generation later, that
emigrant's child
stands for the first time
on the old land.
Memory rich in song,
the heart come home.
[energetic violin music]
- Hey!
[crowd applauding]
[fast paced percussive music]
[crowd clapping]
[crowd laughing]
Hey!
[crowd applauding]
[energetic violin music]
[bright uplifting music]
[crowd applauding]
[dramatic music]
[driving music]
[bright and airy music]
[intense percussive music]
[percussive tapping]
[intense percussive music]
[percussive tapping]
[intense percussive music]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[intense percusive music]
[percussive stomping]
[percussive tapping]
[percussive stomping]
[energetic music]
[suspenseful music]
[crowd applauding]
[grand energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
[bright music]
[crowd applauding]
[bird squawking]
- I was invited to a new show
at the Point Theater in Dublin.
And it turned out to be one
of the most memorable nights
I've ever spent in a theater.
The force of the music, the
primal power of the dancing,
the beautiful symmetry of
so many bodies in motion.
I think anybody who was
in the audience that night
realized that they were
watching something
unique and original.
The show of course
was Riverdance.
[bright energetic music]
[crowd cheering]
- Well I suppose
Riverdance the show
and then there was
Riverdance at the Eurovision.
So 25 years ago we
already had Riverdance
at the Eurovision
which happened in 1994
as a six minute,
40 second piece that
surprised people.
- [Hosts] Ladies and
gentlemen, Riverdance.
[traditional Celtic music]
- The interval act in Eurovision
is normally something of
cultural value from that
country.
[mumbling] They're
normally quite boring.
But when Riverdance
came on the stage,
it was an electrifying moment.
[crowd roaring]
- [Announcer] The audience
are on their feet.
- And the audience as
one jumped to their feet
and for like a sustained four
or five minutes applause.
That in my experience of
the business was unique.
- At that moment I
suppose we knew
that Irish dance was never
going to be the same again.
And that maybe Irish culture
was never going to be
the same again.
- When we had the initial
set of tidal wave response,
that was the time that
we all thought, well,
Riverdance has really
had an effect.
We have the number one record.
We should make a show.
- Bill Whelan, John
McGolgan and myself
put our heads together
around the table.
And we really worked out
what the shape, form, concept
of the tour piece was gonna be.
- I think actually, you know
Maria will bring something to it
not only just with her
talent of her dancing
but also just her personality.
She has that kind of warmth,
which you know in a company
context is very important.
[light music]
- The theme was immigration
and the theme was multicultural
and the theme was changing,
interchanging ideas
and being able to work
with each other.
So all of the dancers
didn't just sit
in their own saddle.
They interacted with each other
and the choregraphy was
mixed up with each other.
One year later, we
had a full show
in the same venue.
- Please welcome Riverdance.
[upbeat Irish music]
[crowd applauding]
- What we're doing is
telling a lot of good will,
a lot of high energy
and we love what we're doing.
The best thing about
our show is that
all of us would do it
for nothing,
without any audience there.
And I think when you
have a show like that,
it'll live for a while.
- It exploded.
We just dragged on,
held on by our knuckles
to the coattails of Riverdance
and traveled with it.
- [John] So straight from
there we went to Hammersmith
which was a 6,000
seater in London
and we played Hammersmith
for a record number of weeks.
Then we went off and
started our American tours
in Radio City Music Hall
and we held the record
there for the longest run
of any single show.
- [Moya] These dance forms
were cultural dance forms
that were used to express
through history
life and death and
celebration, and challenge.
It's a river of emotions.
Pathos, sorrow, joy,
it brings us great joy.
It brings the
audience great joy.
So bringing all of that
into a Broadway stroke
mainstream entertainment stage
is I think what caused
the real excitement.
[energetic music]
- This was the show that
announced to the world
that Ireland was a
cultural force
to be reckoned with in
the popular sense.
It made Irish dancing sexy
and it made it cool.
[uplifting music]
- [John] Irish dance, or as
they call it, the Riverdance,
is now recognized all
over the world
as a genuine artform
and employs thousands of people.
- I think we are so blessed,
25 years later to be able
to experiment with this and
to produce this new show.
- My hope and desire is now
that with this new treatment,
the show will be reinvigorated,
attractive to people
who have never seen it.
Younger people who weren't
born when it started,
and even more
attractive to people
who have seen it before,
they'll also be blown away.
So it's the next generation.
It's Riverdance, the
next generation.
[crowd applauding]
Hear my cry in my
hungering search for you
Taste my breath on the wind
See the sky as it
mirrors my colors
Hints and whispers begin
[light flute music]
- [Narrator] Out of the dark,
we came.
Out of the night.
The first of many mornings
in this new place.
When the sun rolled
back the mist,
we rose like a strong
wave on land.
Now we were the people
of this place.
What burns through the
rain and mist?
What banishes dark?
What makes the children
straight and bright?
What makes the mountains sharp?
The sun is our lord and father.
Bright face at the gate of day.
Lifting our hearts we
sing his praise,
dance in his healing rays.
[driving Irish music]
[intense music]
[audience cheering]
[crowd applauding]
[serene flute music]
[crowd applauding]
Where the river foams
and surges to the sea
Silver figures rise
to find me
Wise and as daring
Following the heart's cry
I am that deep pool
I am that dark spring
Warm with a mystery
I may reveal to you
In time
Time holds the heart's key
Key to everything is Love
Love makes the heart flower
Flower into a deep desire
Passion in the heart's fire
Passion and desire
See the eagle rise
above the open plain
Golden in the morning air
Weaving and soaring
Watchful and protecting
I am your shelter
I will enfold you
Warm with a mystery
I may reveal to you
In time
Time holds the heart's key
Key to everything is Love
Love makes the heart flower
Flower into a deep desire
Passion in the heart's fire
Passion and desire
[light music]
[crowd applauding]
[intense percussive music]
[driving music]
[crowd applauding]
[ominous music]
- [Narrator] C
Chulainn is dead.
Our great C Chulainn.
He was the sun of morning.
He was a fire at night.
He was a powerful story.
He was lightning in forest.
A sudden storm, a short life.
[somber bagpipe music]
[crowd applauding]
- [Narrator] Thunder and
lightning batter the rocks.
The winds howl and great
storms break on the forest.
Scatter the herds like grain.
Fire leaps from dark to dark,
fear and anger leap to meet it.
We will not go down.
We will not be beaten
down like grain.
[cymbals crashing]
[thunder rumbling]
[men screaming]
[percussive stomping]
[percussive stomping
and clapping]
[men screaming]
[percussive stomping]
[men screaming]
[percussive stomping]
[men screaming]
[crowd applauding]
[Spanish guitar music]
[gentle guitar music]
[percussive clicking music]
[lively guitar music]
[lively music]
[percussive music]
[lively music]
[crowd applauding]
[eerie music]
[percussive music]
[song in foreign language]
[crowd applauding]
[relaxed music]
[bright music]
[energetic music]
[jazzy relaxed music]
[crowd applauding]
[light percussive music]
[energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
Hear my cry in my
hungering search for you
Taste my breath on the wind
See the sky as it
mirrors my colors
Hints and whispers begin
I am living to nourish
you, cherish you
I am pulsing the blood
in your veins
Feel the magic and
power surrender to life
[singing in foreign language]
Every finger is touching,
searching
Until your secrets come out
In the dance as it
endlessly circles
I linger close to your mouth
I am living to nourish
you, cherish you
I am pulsing the blood
in your veins
Feel the magic and
power surrender to life
[singing in foreign language]
[suspenseful music]
[crowd cheering]
[light music]
[intense percussive music]
[bright music]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[shoes clacking]
[intense percussive music]
[lightly energetic music]
[driving music]
[crowd applauding]
[light percussive music]
- [Narrator] No life is forever.
We found and fought here.
We loved and died here.
We have seen smoke of war
climb from our fields of grain.
A stain over the sun.
The crops wither.
The bones of hunger
walked the sunken roads
in the black reign of ruin.
Whole generations lift
now to depart.
The land has failed us.
The dark soldiers
appear against us.
In dance and song we gift
and mourn our children.
They carry us over the
ocean in dance and song.
[dancers hooting]
[upbeat music]
[bright energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
[slow pensive flute music]
Now I will soon depart
With an aching heart
To a land that's
far from here
There I will hope and yearn
For a safe return
To the home
I hold so dear
Lift the wings that carry
me away from here and
Fill the sail that
breaks the line to home
But when I'm miles and miles
apart from you
I'm beside you when I
think of you
[singing in foreign language]
And I'm with you as I
dream of you
[singing in foreign language]
And this song will
bring me near to you
[singing in foreign language]
[crowd applauding]
[bright energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
[somber violin music]
- [Narrator] Dawn, and
the ships are leaving.
The lovers' grief is
lifting on the tide.
And hearts too young
for sorrow torn asunder,
the cruel oceans deep and
dark and wide.
Tall and straight, my
mother taught me.
This is how we dance.
Tall and straight, my
father taught me.
This is how we dance.
Battling feet on the
city street,
in pools of light on
street corners,
the proud, bright,
carnival of the poor.
[stomps clacking]
[light jazzy music]
[lightly tense music]
[jazzy music]
[lightly tense music]
[driving music]
[jazzy driving music]
[percussive tapping]
[jazzy music]
[driving music]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd cheering]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd clapping]
[crowd applauding]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd laughing]
[crowd cheering]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd laughing]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd clapping]
[crowd applauding]
[driving music]
[crowd applauding]
[crowd cheering]
[light rock music]
[crowd applauding]
[somber solemn music]
- [Narrator] Over the
rooftops the music calling.
The air familiar but
not our own.
Like something out of
a storybook.
Somebody dancing, the
memory of snow.
[melancholy music]
[solemn flute music]
[crowd applauding]
[lightly tense music]
[percussive exotic music]
[energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
- [Narrator] Cry of an infant,
heartbeat of the world.
Storm against ship,
heartbeat of the world.
Heel against floor and
wave upon shore.
Heartbeat of the world.
Sigh of a lover,
heartbeat of the world.
Cry of a mother,
heartbeat of the world.
Oh, unstopped heartbeat
of the world.
[percussive drum music]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[light percussive music]
[bright music]
[light music]
[bright music]
[crowd applauding]
Into the river the tide
be the stream
There fell a tear, a
single tear
The loveliest of all tears
The loveliest of all
Tears
[percussive music]
A passage of tears
have gone here unheard
A passage of tears
have gone here unheard
And she will still
go on dancing
And she will still
go on dancing
And her muddied name was
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia
Riverlippi, Riverlippi,
Anna Livia
[steady percussive music]
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Mississippi, Mississippi,
Anna Livia
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia
Riverlippi, Riverlippi,
Anna Livia
[energetic percussive music]
Crimson Olivia
shimmer in Brooklyn
Four hundred person
takes some chance
Is she in the shaman or
the shiek in Colorado
When the avalanche pours
Tell me who's she gonna send
Hooting and pouring and
flooding and flushing
And hooting and pouring
and flooding and flushing
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia, Anna Livia
Riversippi, Riversippi,
Anna Livia, Anna Livia
Shimmer on the river run
Anna Livia
[crowd applauding]
[somber music]
- [Narrator] And after all,
the moon over city and forest
is everywhere the same.
In the old land it silvers
fields of grain
just as it does here.
The rivers everywhere run
down to the sea
and the land everywhere
takes life from the river.
It is all a journey.
From one land to the next,
from one life to another.
A generation later, that
emigrant's child
stands for the first time
on the old land.
Memory rich in song,
the heart come home.
[energetic violin music]
- Hey!
[crowd applauding]
[fast paced percussive music]
[crowd clapping]
[crowd laughing]
Hey!
[crowd applauding]
[energetic violin music]
[bright uplifting music]
[crowd applauding]
[dramatic music]
[driving music]
[bright and airy music]
[intense percussive music]
[percussive tapping]
[intense percussive music]
[percussive tapping]
[intense percussive music]
[percussive tapping]
[crowd applauding]
[intense percusive music]
[percussive stomping]
[percussive tapping]
[percussive stomping]
[energetic music]
[suspenseful music]
[crowd applauding]
[grand energetic music]
[crowd applauding]
[bright music]
[crowd applauding]