With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler, Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna.

Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into a stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995.

The piece was performed, with accompanying dancers from Dublin City Ballet,[2] during the interval of the contest, and later released as a Planxty single.

Whelan had also produced EastWind, a 1992 album by Planxty member Andy Irvine with Davy Spillane, which fused Irish and Balkan folk music and influenced the genesis of "Riverdance".

[4] Riverdance was first performed during the seven-minute interval of the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin on 30 April 1994.

[16][17] As of 2010, it was still the second highest-selling single of all time in Ireland, behind only Elton John's 1997 double A-side "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight".

[18] After witnessing the initial enthusiasm for the interval act performance in Ireland, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty invested over $1 million into producing a full-length show.

[20] The show's growing success coincided with lead dancer Michael Flatley clashing with the producers over salary and royalty fees.

[22] By early October 1995, a contract dispute over creative control led to Riverdance parting ways with Flatley on the eve of reopening for a second sell-out run at The Apollo.