It’s a common origin story among Irish dancers — particularly those belonging to the millennial generation — that they were introduced to the art form when a family member first showed them a VHS featuring the iconic Michael Flatley blazing across a stage. It seems likely, however, that Olivia Graydon’s story is the only one featuring a family member that teasingly posed as the Lord Of The Dance himself.
“My Uncle Chris gave me a video and he told me that he was Michael Flatley,” she explains. “When I was four years old, I said to my mum I wanted to follow in the family footsteps and be an Irish dancer. My mum was like, ‘…Okay?’”
For the record, Uncle Chris taught aerobics on cruise ships, and would frequently mention that he was “going on tour”, continuing to string his niece along.
21 or so years later, Olivia, now 30, would be dancing for and with the actual Flatley in Lord Of The Dance: Dangerous Games, a highlight in her varied and robust Irish dance resume. She has been a part of almost every Irish dance production out there, including — but certainly not limited to — Riverdance and Prodijig. From the very first time she stepped into the Irish dance world, her focus was geared towards becoming a professionally performing Irish dancer — a focus that has fuelled a diverse career and a unique style; creativity and athleticism are hallmarks of Olivia’s standout performances. Her social media feed is full of videos showcasing her incredible dancing — sharp, graceful, and powerful all at the same time, topped off with some truly mind-blowing movements.
After four-year-old Olivia announced her career goals, her mother found a local Irish dance school in the paper, and brought her to a Wednesday night class at The Maguire O’Shea Academy in London. “I was very lucky there, that I hit the jackpot [with] a good school.” And although that class was already over-enrolled, Kathleen Maguire (whom Olivia affectionately calls “a big softy”), took one look at Olivia’s sad expression and said, “Oh, God, let her do one class!” And after that one class, Kathleen ran over to Olivia’s mother and exclaimed: “I’m going to make her a champion in eighteen months!”
Olivia laughs at the memory and notes that while it was a little more than eighteen months, Kathleen gave her an amazing Irish dance education. The foundational training she had with the Maguires not only laid the basis for her incredible competitive journey, but prepared her for the rigours of a professional performing career.
“Competition wasn’t my goal. I didn’t really enjoy it that much, if I’m being honest,” Olivia recalls. “I knew that I wanted to do shows. And I think from a very young age, I knew that if I just got through this little bit, then I would be able to get into a show. And I knew that doing well in competition would really help that.”
“I knew that I wanted to do shows”
Having such determination and focus is a rare and inspiring quality, particularly beginning at such a young age. This mentality paid off over the course of her twenty years of competitions. She first qualified for the CLRG World Championships when she was in Under 13, earning a world medal when she finished in 19th place. “My teachers were like, crying their eyes out and I was like, ‘What does this mean?’” Olivia laughs. “And then I think the year after that, I got sixth. And then pretty much from then on was on the podium for my whole time, which was really incredible.”
Olivia, whose highest spot on the Worlds podium was second, notes that being in such a tough age group was fortunate, pushing her to be her best. “I was in a really, really hard age group as well. All of the girls in the top seven, any of us could have won it on the day,” she says. They all had very different styles of dance as well. “Sinead Carson dominated my age group, and she was very elegant, really graceful. And then you had me, that was running around doing new tricks and trying to jump as high as I can.” She loved that there was a diverse range of styles among the top dancers of her age group, and although she may not have always enjoyed the process of competition, “I enjoyed the company that I was in.”
Olivia originally planned to make the Boston 2013 Worlds her last, but was persuaded to stick around one additional year, finishing off her competitive career in her hometown at the London 2014 Worlds in sixth place.
Her first professional audition was for Prodijig’s Footstorm UK tour while she was in college. “As soon as I went to the audition and learned the choreography, I was like, ‘This is the show I have to be in.’ [I’d] never actually had that feeling…‘This is in me.’” While she didn’t get a part in that particular show, she was later tapped to join them for their China tour. This also gave her the opportunity to finish her education, receiving a degree in Musical Theatre from CPA Studios in 2013.
The timing was fortuitous — Olivia danced her last Worlds on a Saturday, and Footstorm rehearsals started that Monday, also in London. “It was like, ‘Close that chapter, open up a new one!’”
Olivia was immediately in good company, noting how lucky she was to work and learn from the Footstorm cast. “There was me that had never toured before, and then it was the elites of Irish dancing at the time: Andy O’Reilly, Bobby Hodges, Dane McKiernan, Jason O’Neill, Gianna [Petracic] — there were just all these people and I was like, ‘I’m gonna learn a lot here.’ I was just walking around like a sponge, just trying to learn as much as I could about the Irish dancing show world. They were all so kind, helping me out.”
“Joining the cast of Lord Of The Dance on the West End was really a dream come true”
After that, Olivia was off and running. Her castmates helped her assemble a showreel, and she started reaching out everywhere she could. It paid off; she received an email about dancing in Lord Of The Dance at the Dominion Theatre, a West End venue in London. In the five month break between Footstorm and Lord rehearsals, Olivia toured with Celtic Legends, which she would go on to perform with multiple times through her career.
“I was really lucky, [when I] joined the cast of the Dominion — I mean, I was on the West End, right? As a musical theatre lover, all of a sudden I’m at the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road. It was just a dream. That was really a dream come true.” Olivia participated in a six week rehearsal and audition period for the show. While intense and at times, stressful, it was an amazing experience. “You’re in the room with Michael Flatley everyday,” she recalls (spoiler alert: it wasn’t her Uncle Chris). “It was amazing, so much fun. I met some of my best, best friends from that experience.” Olivia also had the opportunity to dance with Flatley himself when she danced the lead role of Little Spirit; truly a full circle moment.
At this point in our interview, I ask Olivia what other shows she has danced in, before she rattles off nearly every Irish dance show I have ever heard of. In addition to her multiple runs with Lord and Celtic Legends, she performed with Riverdance, Prodijig: The Revolution, Irish Celtic, Titanic Dance, A Taste Of Ireland, Emerald Storm and Celtic Steps — and this wasn’t even an exhaustive list. “I’ve definitely forgotten some shows, and I’ll feel really bad when I remember them,” Olivia laughs, struggling to keep track of her own CV. While she notes that while the stars didn’t align for a few shows she wanted to perform in, she has been fortunate to dance in nearly every one out there and has loved each and every experience.
“I think I try and keep a tiny sense of tradition in Irish dancing whilst pushing the boundaries of what we can do”
I can’t help but wonder how Olivia could possibly keep all of that choreography straight, especially because she moved between different tours back and forth so frequently. She laughs and shares that fellow dancer and former Lord Of The Dance principal Ciaran Connolly helped her figure it out. “I was doing Irish Celtic and I’d done a mammoth amount of shows. Prodijig was the one just before, and I was learning a whole new show for Irish Celtic. We were three days into rehearsal and I could not sustain anything. I actually don’t know what was wrong with me. I was like, ‘This is not me’. Kieran kind of knew me, and he called me over after rehearsals and said, ‘You’ve learned so much choreography this year already…You have to kind of grab it and throw it away. You have to forget about it.’”
Olivia applied his advice at their next rehearsal and found it was exactly what she needed. She quickly mastered the concept: “Once a show’s done, it goes in a folder somewhere. I’ve gotten really good [at it].”
Currently, Olivia is on tour with Celtic Illusion in Australia — she and her partner, former Lord Of The Dance lead Cathal Keaney, dance opposite one another in the principal roles. And forget just learning new Irish dance choreography — for this show, Olivia and Cathal had to learn a whole new skill set: illusion. “I just fell in love with the whole show. It’s so different, it works so well; magic and Irish dancing just gel,” she explains. “We do all other styles of dancing [as well], so it’s very challenging. I’m really enjoying it. It is a challenge, it is hard, but I find I thrive off that a little bit.”
In June 2024, Olivia announced her retirement from Lord Of The Dance, and performed in her final show in Milan, Italy. While some aspects of the decision to retire were challenging, particularly leaving her close friends in the cast, Olivia’s desire for challenge in her dancing and performance made it clear it was the right time for her to try something new. “[The tour] becomes your family, it becomes your heart, your second home, essentially.” As she wrote in her Instagram announcement: “I’ve had the honour of sharing the stage with not only the most talented people but most importantly the best people inside and out. I have made friendships that will last a lifetime and memories that I will cherish forever.”
But her desire to try something new led to “itchy feet,” so when she and Cathal were asked to join the Celtic Illusion Australian tour, they knew it was the right time for them to go.
Olivia has brought her signature movements with her to Australia. You might have seen her pull off a spinning birdie onstage, which she makes look totally effortless. “I think I try and keep a tiny sense of tradition in Irish dancing whilst kind of pushing the boundaries of what we can do. The turn into a birdie — I think I made that up on stage! I think I did a double pirouette and then just had to land it. If in doubt, I do a jump, that is where my brain goes. It’s become a move now that I put into a lot of things.” Olivia has also had several barefoot choreographies showcased in the different productions she has been a part of. “I love dancing barefoot. When I competed, I never trained in my [light] shoes…I never realised it was a strange thing until I got into shows and people were like, ‘You’re okay with dancing in bare feet?’” she laughs.
While Olivia is not ready to hang up her dance shoes yet (barefoot dancing aside), she does love the idea of eventually pursuing casting or agency work, and plans to continue breaking the confines of traditional Irish dance choreography. But Olivia is hesitant to answer questions about her next steps — not because she doesn’t have a clear vision, but because there are so many clear possibilities, so many ideas and opportunities that excite her. “I always say, ‘You make a plan, and God laughs’. I’ve made, throughout the years, so many plans and something comes up.”
Clearly, Olivia is showing no signs of slowing any time soon. “I think [as you get older], the more that you know your body, the more confident you are, the more comfortable on stage, the less you care about impressing every single person and just perform for yourself,” she explains. “If I look at when I was younger to now, I’ve grown into a better dancer.”
If Olivia has advice for dancers who share her same focus and determination to go into shows, it’s to “be yourself, don’t change yourself. Know that people want to give you a job, they want a good cast. If you’re auditioning, or if you’re sending in a tape, just know that they’re watching it wanting you to do well because it makes their job easier…If you go in with that, it will help your mindset.”
Olivia concludes with a truly spectacular analogy for dancers to remember: “You could be the juiciest orange in the fruit basket. But if someone wants a pear that day, or an apple, they’re not going to pick you. It doesn’t take away from how juicy you are, or what an amazing, amazing orange you’re gonna be. It just means that someone doesn’t fancy an orange that day. So I think that if you can go in thinking that you’re a juicy orange, you’re gonna be absolutely fine.”
Follow Olivia Graydon on Instagram.
Photography: Cathal Keaney
Design: Colleen Falco
Words: Julia Topper
Editor-In-Chief: Hollie Geraghty
