Fiona skips boxing squad for summer of Riverdance

Dancer Fiona McCabe from Kilcloon will be one of the dancers performing the lead role in Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, this month. Over 23 million people have seen the phenomenally successful Riverdance worldwide and the show is currently back in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin for its summer run. Fiona began dancing with the O'Shea School of Irish Dance in Dublin at the age of four. She holds many solo championship titles including two All-Ireland, five Leinster, four British and runner-up in the All-Scotland and American Nationals. She is also a world céili dancing champion. As a child, Fiona performed for several royal families, international sporting figures and made several televised appearances. She performed in the Busch Gardens show 'Irish Thunder' in Virginia, USA for five successive summers in which she played the female principal role. In 2004, she joined the Riverdance Flying Squad and soon after the Boyne Company in North America and Canada. This was to be the beginning of her Riverdance journey. To date she has performed in Belgium, China, Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, South Korea and the UK. She also holds a bachelor of science degree in physiotherapy after graduating in 2006 from Trinity College, Dublin. Between tours she maintains her physiotherapy skills in private practice and part-time with the Irish boxing squad. She is a qualified Irish dancing teacher with An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha and is an accomplished classical pianist and fiddle player. Riverdance, Composed by Bill Whelan, Produced by Moya Doherty and Directed by John McColgan is now in its 18th year. The show started in Dublin in February 1995 and since then has been seen by over 23 million people worldwide. Riverdance has gone on to play over 10,000 performances, in over 350 venues worldwide, throughout 40 countries across four continents, with a global television audience of over 2 billion people. Riverdance will embark on an inaugural tour to South America this Autumn before returning for the sixth time to China in December where the show will play in 21 cities. Riverdance is currently back in Ireland for its ninth consecutive summer season at The Gaiety Theatre performing there until 2nd September. This year the show has a brand new performance schedule which has been specially created to facilitate tourists as well as the local audience better and some reductions in ticket prices. The new performance schedule is Tuesdays - Thursdays, 7.30pm; Fridays, 5.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturdays, 3.30pm and 7.30pm; Sundays: 5.30pm.