E i l e e n M a r t i n
Eileen Martin made her debut as Riverdance - The Show principal dancer in her own right in January 1997 at the Wang Centre in Boston.
Though a Boston premiere would undoubtedly be thrilling and exciting for any dancer, it did not faze this unflappable young Dubliner. Eileen had previously demonstrated a nerve and poise beyond her years when she first stepped into the leading role at the eleventh hour for the opening night of the show's London winter season at the Apollo Theatre, Hammersmith.
The dramatic call to the front spot coincided with Colin Dunne's debut in the male principal role. At the end of a highly-charged evening, the audience leapt to its feet and accorded Eileen, Colin and the whole Riverdance company a 15-minute standing ovation. In a way, she has been preparing for this role almost all her life. Dancing is in her blood: her father, who had been a keen Irish dancer himself when growing up in his native Donegal, encouraged Eileen to follow in his footsteps, and at the age of four she took her first dancing lesson at Dublin's O'Shea School of Irish Dancing. She captured her first World Irish Dancing Championship title when just 12 years old and by the time she retired as a competitive dancer, she had won nine consecutive Leinster Championships, several Great Britain Championships, All-England, All-Ireland and four World Championships.
Eileen toured extensively with her dancing school and also with the Irish céilí band Síansa to perform at International Celtic Festivals around Europe. It was at these festivals that Eileen developed her interest in languages and in 1993 she enrolled in Dublin City University to study applied European Languages, specialising in Spanish and German.
Then came the call of Riverdance. It was during Eileen's second year at university that she was chosen to dance in the seminal 1994 television production.
The subsequent development and world-wide success of Riverdance - The Show meant that Eileen has had to put her language studies on hold. And in the future? Eileen hopes to continue her career in the entertainment business and eventually to teach Irish dance to a whole new generation now waiting in the wings.
* * * Biography of Eileen Martin thanks to Riverdance Online * * *