BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you love Irish music and dance, you've been waiting more than two years for Riverdance to be back on stage at Shea's Performing Arts Center in downtown Buffalo. This weekend's performances, which were originally scheduled for 2020, will feature three familiar faces who have been waiting their whole lives for this.
Fiona Dargan, Kevinah Dargan, and Erin Lynch are all from Williamsville. Two of them sisters by blood, and all of them bonded for life. They grew up dancing at Rince Na Tiarna Irish Dance School before joining the Riverdance touring company.
Two years ago, all three were on the same leg of the tour and were just two weeks shy of performing at Shea's, when the world shut down for the coronavirus pandemic.
"Shortly after we went home, the entire tour was cancelled, which was obviously devastating," Lynch told 2 On Your Side.
Since then, all three have found success in life off the road.
"The arts wasn't a thing," said Fiona Dargan. "So we were trying to figure out okay, what to do now. So I actually got into real estate."
"I'm at D'Youville becoming a physician assistant," Lynch said.
Kevinah Dargan started teaching more at Rince Na Tiarna, which has recently opened new studios.
While pursuing careers outside of professional dance, the women have stayed part of the Riverdance family. You may have caught Kevinah and Fiona Dargan along with some other Riverdancers on "The Tonight Show Jimmy Fallon" for St. Patrick's Day.
Then, the invitation they've been waiting for came. The opportunity to re-join the Riverdance tour for this weekend's stop in their hometown.
"There's a lot of logistics that play into it, so we didn't actually think it was going to happen, but we were still crossing our fingers and toes," Kevinah Dargan said. "When we got the email last week, my sister called me and I was at work and she was like did you see that? Did you see that?"
"Our whole dance school is coming for the majority," Fiona Dargan added. "Family, friends, my grandma. She is 91, she's yet to see the show."
"They all kept their tickets," Lynch said. "We have over 200 people with tickets that really wanted to see us perform at Shea's, and it truly is our dream come true. We've performed all over the world, but for some reason Shea's has always been the one that got away."
Lynch says she gets emotional thinking about the upcoming shows.
"It's the one venue we've always wanted to do. We're just so excited," she said.
"I'm trying to put myself in the moment and prepare because I don't want to be nervous on that night," Kevinah Dargan said.
Summing things up, Fiona Dargan said that no matter where and when Riverdance calls, she will be there ready to dance.
"I'm always going to be a Rince Na Tiarna dancer, a Riverdancer," she said. "It's always there. I mean if I'm 80 at a pub, sure I'll get up and dance at Riverdance."