If you thought watching the agile dancers in Riverdance was tiring, then prepare yourself to be really knackered as the troupe embark on a 24-hour DanceAthon.
The event kicked off at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre on Thursday, with organisers inviting members of the public to join in, work up a sweat and donate money to the Irish Hospice Foundation.
The day of dancing began at lunchtime outside the Gaiety with a performance from the current touring line-up of Riverdance. Between then and noon on Friday there will be further performances, learning opportunities for aspiring dancers, and the odd ceilí for those who just want to bust out their best haon, dó, trís.
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The idea for the fundraiser came from Julian Erskine, the current executive producer of Riverdance who felt the 24-hour nature of the event tied in nicely with the work of the Hospice.
"Every year we do Riverdance in The Gaiety and we try to associate ourselves with a charity to support them and this year it's the Irish Hospice Foundation, an organisation that I have great admiration for," Erskine told RTÉ Entertainment.
"They do extraordinary work and because they supply 24-hour care, we thought we should do something for 24 hours to reflect that. So we decided, what do we do? We dance. Why don't we dance for 24 hours?"
Jane Flynn of the Irish Hospice Foundation made an appeal to the public to come out and show their support, "We're here for the next 22 hours so if anyone wants to pop along, have a jig and support the Irish Hospice night nurses, we'd really really appreciate it."
