The twists and turns of the Riverdance road
Sunday July 22 2007
MELISSA Convery and her musician husband of just two months, Declan Masterson, are two of the most prominent members of the Riverdance troupe at the Gaiety theatre this summer, but an injury on stage several years ago nearly brought the pretty blonde lead dancer's career to a premature end.
Melissa was dancing in the show in Sydney, when she ruptured her Achilles tendon, which is disastrous for a dancer and similar to an elastic band connecting your calf muscles to your heel snapping in half.
"I was springing from balancing on one toe into a double jump, when the tendon snapped," explains Melissa, who grew up in Banbridge, Co Down.
"It went right up inside my knee and the pain was excruciating. I really thought it was the end of the road for me where dancing was concerned.,Melissa returned home to have surgery on her leg in Belfast, and apart from the pain of the injury and long arduous road to recovery, it also meant that she was forced to spend time apart from Declan.
"It was really hard to see Melissa in so much agony," says Declan, "but she was just so determined that she was going to recover and come back to the show.
"She flew over to see me a couple of times a month, and returned to the show after five months and eased herself back in.,Melissa started Irish dancing lessons on her fourth birthday, following in the footsteps of her mother Kathleen, who had won provincial titles in her own dancing days.
Melissa's talent began to show from an early age, as she won Ulster, British and All-Ireland championships, as well as taking gold twice at the World Championships.
She had planned to become a school teacher, but joined Riverdance ten years ago instead, when she was 19 years old. She is now its principal female dancer and its dance captain on tour.
Declan grew up in a very musical family on the Navan Road. His late father, Jim, was a drummer in ceili bands in the 1950s and his mother Frances played the melodeon.
While Declan is best known for his sublime uilleann pipe and low whistle playing, he started off playing the box accordion at six, progressing to the guitar and other instruments.
He only took up the pipes at 15, and this came about by chance. His father was visiting a neighbour in hospital, and asked the old man in the bed next to him, Matt Kiernan, an uilleann pipe-maker, to make a set for Declan.
After completing a degree in Irish, Geography and Latin, Declan became a teacher, while doing a lot of gigs in his spare time. He was asked to join Moving Hearts in 1983, which featured Donal Lunny and Davy Spillane, and then things began to snowball for him. He has since recorded and toured with people such as Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, John Denver, Christy Moore, Bono, Planxty and Clannad, has written many themes for TV shows, and played on film soundtracks, including In the Name of the Father and Some Mother's Son.
Declan was invited by Bill Whelan to play in the Riverdance band 12 years ago, and is now its longest-serving cast member, notching up an amazing 3,500 performances to date.
He was in the show just over a year when Melissa joined, while Riverdance was running in Edinburgh.
Melissa recalls being very excited upon joining, but also nervous and intimidated and says that Declan was very kind and caring. "He made me a cup of tea, and put me at ease," and I knew instantly that he was a really good person.,Friendship blossomed into romance in 1998, when the pair were on a tour of Australia and New Zealand.
"We were living in apartments next door to one other in NZ, and Melissa doesn't cook, so I fed her for a while," he says.
"We always had great fun together, and what I liked about Melissa was that she didn't seem to have a temper and was very easygoing.
"It's great because whatever each of us wants to do is always cool with the other one, so it's a very easy relationship. We're on the road and in a hotel room, for nine months of the year, which I think is a really good test for a relationship.,The very engaging duo became engaged in October 2005 in New York, and bought a house in Castleknock. They were married just over two months ago, an occasion that saw them being joined by many past and present Riverdancers and musicians, who provided the guests with an added treat.
"It lashed rain, but it was a fantastic day," says Melissa. "It has become a bit of a tradition at weddings for all the dancers to come out and do a bit of Riverdance on the dance-floor to the backing of the CD. I danced with Padraic Moyles, who is the lead male dancer, and my veil flew off in the middle of it."
As for the future, the couple will be heading off to Europe with the show when its run in the Gaiety comes to an end.
Declan has released five solo albums and still plays here between tours and while Melissa plans to dance for as long as possible, she eventually hopes to start a family and open up a couple of dance schools in Dublin and Banbridge.
"Even though we've been in the show for so long, it's in blocks of a few months at a time," says Declan.
"We never look on our work as a straight road, but a road with a turn in it. I don't get bored because the music is really fantastic and so good to play, and I keep it fresh by doing something different every night during the impromptu bits.
"We get to see amazing cities and places," adds Melissa, "and have most of the day free, so it's fantastic. And we're delighted to be bringing the show home to the Gaiety for the summer.,Riverdance, Gaiety Theatre until August 25th Tel: (01) 677 1717
