This much I know - Niamh O’Connor

You learn to dance through the pain.

Dancing can be hard on the body, but we’re trained to cope with it. When we are on tour we are doing eight shows a week so we have to be mentally as well as physically fit.

I’m the only original troupe member left in the show and hold the record for the most shows performed of Riverdance. Yes, I’d say I’m a loyal person!

No matter where we are performing, or how tired I am from the travelling and the touring, once I hear the first strains of Bill Whelan’s music I’m in the zone.

Although it began 17 years ago on Eurovision, a lot of Irish people still haven’t seen the stage show because we went off on tour so soon after that first performance. You really have to see the live show to capture the life and the magic of it.

I was born in Dublin and started dancing at four years of age. My mother and grandmother had both been Irish dancers too.

Irish dancing definitely wasn’t very cool back then. My school friends couldn’t understand how I could spend entire weekends traipsing up and down the country to take part in competitions, returning to class on Monday with my hair still curled from the rollers.

Touring gets harder as you get older. You miss home and you hate not being there for family events like weddings and christenings.

But I’m lucky because I’m married to the lead dancer, Padraic Moyles, so that makes life a lot easier. Although touring as a couple has its difficulties. You are living together in a small hotel room for weeks on end. If you have an argument, you can’t slam the door and storm out as there is nowhere to storm out to. But then, it forces us to discuss and address things, which is good for any relationship.

Padraic grew up close to my home in Castleknock and our families knew each other. When we both ended up in Riverdance my mother kept asking ‘do you never see Padraic from down the road?’ And I’d say no, because he was in a totally different Riverdance touring production. Then we were transferred to the same show and were friends for a year before we started going out.

Obviously I was upset initially when I was told that Michael Flatley was leaving the show. He was our mentor. I was only 19 and quite naive and couldn’t see how the show could work without him. But John McColgan and Moya Doherty, the producers, were right. Riverdance is bigger than any one person. Michael went on to have great success with Lord of the Dance, so they just had different visions.

One of the highlights of my career so far was our first trip to Japan, back in late ’90s. I’d never been east before and I was overwhelmed by the cultural difference. The fans were amazing — they gave us such a warm reception and some of them went a bit crazy, sending us gifts and cards.

So far, life has taught me never to take anything, or anybody, for granted. When you’re away from home so much you tend to put off doing things, saying ‘I’ll do that later, or I’ll meet up with that person next time I’m back’. Padraic’s mother recently passed away and it has reminded us of what is really important in this life.

I used to smoke, but gave it up so now my worst habit is moaning a lot about being tired. Or so I’ve been told.

My original plan was to become a primary school teacher. But now, if I wasn’t doing this job, I’d like to work in design. I made good use of any down time on the road to study interior design and have started making jewellery.

Niamh O’Connor is appearing in Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin until Sept 2.