Former Lord of the Dance star Olivia Graydon told David Hennessy about Emerald Storm the new show that combines Irish and tap dancing and is about to hit the West End.
Emerald Storm this week becomes the latest dance show incorporating Irish dance to come to the London stage.
The electrifying new dance show combines Irish dance and modern tap for the 21st century returns to The Emerald Theatre after a short run there in September. It also tours the UK next year.
The show brings together traditional Irish and modern popular music with lighting footwork, set to a soundtrack of some of the most famous Irish bands of all time.
The show is co-written and co-choreographed by world renowned tap dancer and West End star Adam Garcia (The Bodyguard, CHitty Chitty Bang, A Chorus Line).
The show also boasts big names such as Britain’s Got Talent’s Tom Ball and New Zealand dance sensation Bayley Graham.
Irish dancing lead will be Olivia Graydon.
From Barking in East London, Olivia learned her technique at the renowned Maguire O’Shea Academy of Irish Dancing.
Olivia would go on to star in Lord of the Dance which was a full circle moment for her as Michael Flatley was such an inspiration.
She toured with the show Emerald Storm back in 2023 and is excited to return.
Olivia chatted to The Irish World ahead of Emerald Storm coming to the London stage back in September.
Olivia Graydon told The Irish World: “I’m really excited.
“I’m so glad the show’s got this opportunity.
“I did it back in 2023 and I really do love it.
“I think it’s just such a different take on Irish dancing and Irish culture and combining Irish and tap in a real different way than what we’ve seen before.”
Duncan Heather, the show’s creator, told us that dancers coming from Lord of the Dance and such shows really have to forget a lot of their training from those traditional shows because this is so far from anything like that..
“Yeah, I do say to people if they’re coming to the show and expecting Lord of the Dance or Riverdance, then that’s not what Emerald Storm is.
“Sam Heather and Adam Garcia have really created a new genre of dance.
“I’ve never done anything like it.
“It really is a new take on traditional Irish and then just piling up layers and layers of all of the styles of dance which is so lovely and then I can really pull that tradition into it as well.”
Is the joy of it for you that it is something so fresh and new? You toured with Lord of the Dance for years but this is a new challenge..
“Absolutely.
“I’m all for pushing boundaries in genres and especially with traditional dance.
“Irish dance has got so many roots and it goes back so far but I love seeing that progression.
“Irish dance is so different to what it was.
“Flatley came along and completely showbusiness-ed it up and almost made Irish dancing cool for the younger generation.
“For me this is another step.
“We can compete with the ballet dancers and the tap dancers and I think it’s a real good celebration of what everyone’s good at: Adam with the tap and Sam is fantastic with other styles of dance and then they’ve just really put it all into one big show which is exciting.”
How did you find the reactions when you toured with it in 2023?
“Yeah, I think it definitely got the reaction that we all expected.
“Everyone was up on their feet at the end.
“And since the UK tour, the story and obviously everything’s evolved so it’s almost a different show to what the UK tour was just in terms of you see what works, what doesn’t work, what we need to kind of bring more of and take away.
“This show in particular, I’m very excited about because.”
Are you expecting the crowd to get involved whether it’s whooping and hollering during the show?
“Absolutely.
“I mean Irish dance is all about the craic anyway so we’re gonna really try and bring that out into the audience.
“And the theatre that we’re performing in has this very immersive feel to it anyway.
“They have got a band at the beginning so it is going to be as soon as you step into the theatre, you’re in it.
“You’re in Emerald Storm the bar.
“I would just say to people: Get ready for a good bit of craic because the songs, everything gets you going.
“I’m very excited.
“I think it’s going to be brilliant.”
And people can actually get very hands on- or should that be feet on- involved as you are telling them to bring their shoes and trade steps with you dancers after the show..
“Adam was like, ‘Is it a thing in Irish dancing to jam out?’
“There wasn’t really a right or wrong answer to it.
“I said, ‘You’ll do a step about, that’s definitely something that you do at parties or at weddings if you’ve got a few Irish dancers in the party’.
“But in tap culture, a jam session is a real big thing where they essentially trade steps with each other.
“When he said it I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get involved’.
“And then he was like, ‘Of course you’re getting involved’.
“So I’ve now told everyone, ‘Bring the Irish dancing shoes and we’ll have to battle it out with the tappers’.”
What’s it like working with people with Adam as well as Bayley, Sam and Tom, how is it all coming together?
“Really, really good.
“It’s just been lovely.
“I think everyone’s excited about the project and where this could go.
“Adam Garcia is brilliant.
“He’s just got a lovely energy about him in the room when we’re rehearsing.
“Nothing’s too serious.
“We can have a bit of fun, ‘Oh, why don’t we try this? Try that’.
“He’s very inclusive in that way so that’s been really lovely.
“And then Bayley’s been brilliant.
“I could watch him dance all day he’s so fantastic.
“We’ve all just really gelled.
“It’s been lovely.”
Tell us about your time in Lord of the Dance, you were in that show for years, weren’t you?
“Yes.
“I retired from the show last year.
“That was 10 years so it was brilliant.
“It was my dream come true really.
“I had started dancing when I was four because I watched Michael Flatley on VHS.
“My first show with them was a West End debut.
“Looking back my 19 year old self didn’t understand how big that was.
“And then I got to dance with Flatley and I understudied the Little Spirit lead role as well and got to do that with him which, because he then retired from dancing that following year, was a real special moment.
“And ten years later, I was still there so it was brilliant.
“I toured the world, got to work really closely with Michael and his wife, Niamh: Just brilliant. Had so much fun. Met all my friends there.
“We were like a little family to be honest so it was fantastic.
“And then during breaks for that, I would go off and do maybe something with Riverdance and some other shows that were around so I always tried to keep working and try and keep touring as much as I could.”
Was it incredible working with Flatley, the man himself?
“There’s a number in the show called Finale and he appeared then, that was his moment and the roar from the audience, the energy: People just still loved seeing him on stage.
“I will never forget that moment of the audience hitting you with that much energy and just being so excited to see him.
“And then I’m on stage dancing with him, it was a very surreal moment.
“And even after the show if you’re just sitting chatting with him you’re like, ‘Oh God, this is the guy. This is the reason why we’re all here’.
“It wasn’t just me.
“He was the reason why most of us started dancing, let alone continued so yeah, very surreal moment. Very, very full circle.
“I grew up in East London, in Barking but my family’s all Greek- Cypriot, so I’m the only person in my family that Irish dances.
“My uncle told me he was Michael Flatley and gave me the tape.
“I just said to my mum I wanted to follow in the family footsteps and my mum was like, ‘Olivia, that’s not a thing’.
“And I just wouldn’t let it go so she found Maguire O’Shea Academy of Irish Dancing in East London, took me and then that was it then.”
That’s hilarious your uncle convinced you he was Michael Flatley..
“Yeah, and my mum said I was really adamant to continue that family tradition and up until I was about seven, I genuinely did believe that Michael Flatley was my uncle because my uncle used to do aerobics on cruise ships so he’d go off and then come back home and he’d be like, ‘Oh, I’ve been on tour’.
“And I went into dance class and was like, ‘My uncle’s Michael Flatley’.
“And my teachers were like, ‘Hmm, I don’t think that’s right, Olivia’.
“And then I had to start believing the truth.
“I don’t think he realised what he was doing.
“I don’t think he realised he shaped my entire life just by that one little fib he told all those years ago.”
So is there Irish blood in your family as well as the Greek- Cypriot heritage?
“My granddad was from Dublin so I guess I’m a quarter Irish but I really wasn’t brought up with that Irish culture around me until I started Irish dancing.
“I do feel like I can feel that little quarter of me, it’s definitely in there.
“I really don’t know where my life would be without Irish dancing.
“I’m so close with my family because they travelled the world with me taking me to Chicago, Boston to do these competitions and then in the shows.
“I met my fiancé in Lord of the Dance.
“All my best friends are dancers.
“The big shows that we’ve done- the arenas, the TV appearances and things like that- have been really amazing but I think when I was retired from Lord, it’s the people and the little moments like being in the dressing room with your mates and getting ready for the big shows, they’re the things I really, really miss. They’re the things that I cherish.”
Is there an excitement among the cast that this Emerald Storm show could be something massive, as big as those established shows?
“There is a camaraderie through the cast that’s like, ‘Oh, this could be really big’.
“I’m just buzzing.
“The venue’s amazing.
“I feel like all of the stars are aligned for this show.
“I feel like with the band, it’s a bit immersive.
“It’s going to just be high energy.
“There’s no low points.
“It’s just this infectious energy and that’s what we’re going to bring to the stage and I’m very excited.
“I do think this could go on and tour for 20 years.
“This show is so special.
“I think there’s just an excitement bubbling through it.
“I just can’t wait for the audience to see it really and experience it because if they’re getting half the energy that we’re doing in the rehearsal room, then it’s going to be a great show.”
Emerald Storm is running at the Emerald Theatre until 14 December 2025.
For tickets and more information, click here.
