The original Riverdance line of dancers

During the weekend, 400 Irish Dancers in Charlotte, North Carolina broke a new Guinness World Record for ‘Longest Riverdance line’.  The rules were that the line of people must continue dancing for five minutes with everyone holding hands.  Congratulations to all involved – it looked like a fun event!

Over the past few years, it is amazing to see the efforts of several groups around the world to grab this record.  Although I am not sure when this record was first set (I guess by Riverdance themselves!), here are some of the standout attempts to break it:

1. 2005. Ireland maybe? I think this could be the earliest attempt to set this record and I can’t find much information about it (let me know in the comments below if you know more).  What we do know is that 131 Irish dancers danced in a line under the direction of Fergal Fay at a summer camp. Check out the video here.
2. July 22nd, 2006. Southern England: 114 dancers from schools all over Southern England gathered and were joined by Eileen Martin and Colin Ryan.  This seemed like a great event and was filmed live for BBC television in the UK. Check out the video of it happening here.


216 dancers in Dublin beat the record in 2007

3. November 8th, 2007. Dublin, Ireland: Not to be outdone by the English, 216 dancers from all over the Leinster region gathered to break the record on a wet and windy day in Dublin.  This event was organised by Elaine Kavanagh A.D.C.R.G, Kevin McCormack A.D.C.R.G. and Ronan McCormack A.D.C.R.G.. The weather was awful, but the dancers enthusiasm prevailed.
4. July 20th, 2008. Rockland, New York: Of course, our American friends are always up for a challenge and weren’t going to take this lying down. So 312 participants got together at the Rockland County Feis and smashed the record with ease. “I thought it would be a great way to promote Irish culture and the feis,” said William Lee, organiser of the event. Check out their video here.
5. August 15th, 2009. Charlotte, North Carolina: Then just this past weekend, 400 dancers decided that they could be the record holders during Charlotte’s Irish Summer Festival. And well done to them – they did it! The Rince na h’Eireann School of Irish Dance and their friends are now the proud holders of this title.  But I get the feeling that it won’t be long before we see another attempt to break it.

Will you be part of breaking this record the next time?

Note: This record is not to be confused with another Irish Dancing group record where 10,036 participants took part in the ‘Largest Irish Dance’ at the Dublin Irish Festival in Ohio in 2007.

Related posts:

1. Is Riverdance Too Glitzy?
2. Riverdance In The Heights
3. Riverdance – North American Dates Announced!
4. Competition Time: Win The Best Of Riverdance DVD
5. Is Riverdance Too Glitzy?