Katherine MacAlister chats with Emma Warren, who's living the dream as the lead

Emma Warren is living the dream. As a small girl in Ireland she would watch the Riverdance girls on stage and fantasise about one day being a lead dancer.

And now here she is, pounding the boards, tap-dancing her heart out every night on stage, leading the cast as they tour the globe.

Riverdance has been going for 20 years now, but has lost none of its magic or appeal along the way, audi-ences still as enthralled by the Irish country dancing and the speed, skill and dexterity of its dancers as ever.

For Emma, joining the show was an ambition she dedicated her life to achieving.

“Everyone still loves Riverdance, probably because it’s so steeped in tradition. Its popularity never seems to let up.

“But for me this was always the goal, and being the lead dancer is certainly the pinnacle of my career, so this is a dream come true for me.”

The reality of maintaining her position at the centre of the famous dance show is having to bathe her legs in ice after every show, battling injuries, looking after herself and keeping in shape, which she is more than happy to endure.

“It does take it out of you,” she admits, “and it’s hard on your body and legs, so we have company physios and masseurs on hand, but we are doing what we love — dancing in an amazing line-up, seeing all these beautiful theatres, visiting so many amazing cities and seeing the audiences’ reactions. When we are tired we just feed off their energy.”

Emma started dance classes at school in Dublin, getting more serious about it the older she got. Having a mother as a dance teacher meant that even when Emma was a ‘moody teen’ she was persuaded to keep going.

“If I got the hump I would always go back to it. Apart from anything it was a good outlet for all that teenage rage,” Emma laughs, “and I always loved to dance, so I would turn up and pound my shoes on the floor to get it all out of my system.”

It wasn’t until Emma started entering national Irish dancing competitions however that she realised she was any good. “I did rather well, which surprised me, and realised that if I worked hard I could get much better, so I worked really, really hard.”

Riverdance auditions are held every year in Emma’s hometown of Dublin, so when Emma tried out, she got in straight away. “It’s fiercely competitive so you just have to go in and do your best,” she advises.

Once in, Emma says “a whole new chapter opened up. I got to travel the world. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was doing what I loved,” she remembers.

Since then Emma has travelled the world, her three months in China being the most memorable trip.

“It’s somewhere I’d never normally go and we really got to see the country properly.”

But after two years in the troupe, Emma left the show, frustrated that her ambitions as a lead weren’t being realised. She spent a year in a rival dance show Heartbeat Of Home, before Riverdance lured her back as a lead. “They must have missed me,” the 24-year-old says.

And now? “I am as enamoured with it now as I always was. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m very happy where I am. The dancers are like one big family and I love being a lead dancer and having the stage to myself. It means I can show off as much as I like,” she laughs. “But I’ve worked hard to get there.”

So what is it that has kept us entranced for so long then? What is the Riverdance secret? “I think it’s the synchronicity and the rhythm of the dance. It’s quite hypnotic and mesmerising, and has been for hundreds of years.”

Riverdance
New Theatre, Oxford
November 25-30
Box office: Call 0844 871 3020 or visit atgtickets.com/oxford