The Dancing Queen from Ashbourne leading the line of Riverdance
Ashbourne’s Ellen Bonner was just three when a seven minute interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin took the world by storm.
Riverdance became an overnight sensation and as a little girl, Ellen was hooked.
As she was growing up, competing in Irish dancing competitions around the world, she dreamed she would be dancing to composer Bill Whelan’s famous music some day too.
Her dream came true in 2012 when she joined the cast and today she is lead dancer and dance captain, responsible for the troupe of Irish performers in this phenomenal, long running show.
Ellen, a daughter of Ashbourne’s Cllr Joe Bonner and his wife, Mary is currently enjoying the shows summer run in Dublin, back where it all began.
“Performing in Ireland is really special,” she says.
Ellen has been staying at home in Ashbourne for this Dublin run, catching up with family and friends,
Her family have of course been to see the show, which is currently finishing up in Dublin and they will then move to London’s West End for their new 25th anniversary show “Heartbeat of Home” in the Picadilly Theatre.
Ellen Bonner performing in Riverdance
Ellen grew up in Ashbourne, attending St Declan’s National School and Ashbourne Community School and loved to dance from an early age.
She started Irish dancing classes at around five-years-of-age and continued to compete right up through her college years.
“I went to the O’Shea school of Irish dance in Dublin. One of my best friends who went to both school and dancing classes with me, Aoife Kennedy, joined Riverdance at the same time as me, although she is no longer involved in the show.”
Ellen’s sister Grainne also attended dancing classes and competitions. She has one brother, Fintan Bonner, who is a professional golfing coach in St Andrews in Edinburgh.
Dancing was a huge part of Ellen’s life growing up.
“We travelled the length and breadth of the country to competitions and we also travelled to the USA, England and Scotland for competitions.
“I qualified for the world championships each year and competed in all the major championships and would always have been placed highly.”
As a member of a ‘ceili team’ Ellen won a silver medal in the world championships as a youngster.
“I got great support and encouragement from Mum and Dad. Mum travelled everywhere with me.”
Ellen featured on the Riverdance promo material
As well as dancing, Ellen was very keen on sport as a teenager, swimming every week and playing camogie, even winning Player of the Year with Donaghmore/Ashbourne.
“By the time I was 16, it was clear I would have to pick one or the other, so I chose the dancing,” she recalls.
After her Leaving Certificate, Ellen studied in DCU but kept up her dancing.
“I used to commute to classes and dancing was a great break away from everything for me. I was better able to go back to my studies afterwards.
“I was at all times hoping to join Riverdance, but my parents encouraged me to get a degree first, as it can be hard to rely on dancing as a full-time job.”
Ellen qualified as an accountant in 2012, shortly before she was invited to join the Riverdance cast.
“As soon as I finished secondary school I auditioned for Riverdance straight away, but there were no places available, but as soon as I finished college, I was told there was a slot available and I got called in to get trained for the show.”
The show must go on, and on, and on...Riverdance has been running since 1994
Ellen has travelled the world with Riverdance in the seven years since, dancing in the US, Canada, Asia, Russia, China, Japan, UK and here at home in Ireland.
Today she holds one of the most important roles in the show - as dance captain she is responsible for the Irish dancing troupe.
“On a daily basis I have to check everyone is doing their choreography, that everything is clean and sharp. I have to look at mistakes from the night before to rectify them and look after any injuries arranging physiotherapy, massage therapy and if somebody is injured and unable to dance I have to rejig the rest of the show.
“I also have to make sure morale is high, that there is no negativity. There can be arguments or people can get homesick,” she says.
Ellen says that she misses family events like birthdays and weddings when they are touring but the crew are all so close, they feel like family.
At the moment, she doesn’t have a significant other - she has her hands full with her career, but feels there is plenty of time for romance!
It can be hard work - there are eight shows a week and they usually get Mondays off.
Great support... Ellen with mum Mary and dad Joe Bonner
“The Mondays are very often spent travelling from one venue to the next, but it’s lovely when the show is here in Dublin - the Mondays are a great time to catch up.
She explains the schedule is very hectic when touring but they often get long breaks between shows. “We had a two month break before the Dublin show, but we are going straight into the West End show. It just depends on the work that is lined up.
“We are currently rehearsing every day from 10am -5pm in the Liffey Trust Studios.”
Ellen is very productive person and has done a lot of online courses in her free time, so that her skills will not become obsolete.
“I’m now very interested in sports technology and nutrition,” she says.
She also studied for the Irish dancing teacher exams while on tour two years ago and is now a qualified teacher.
Riverdance is now facing into a brand new 25th anniversary show and is as popular, if not more so, than ever and looks set to run for decades more to come.
Ellen intends to part of the show for as many of those years as possible.
“I’ll keep going, as long as the body will allow it,” she says.
This interview first appeared in INSPIRE magazine with the Meath Chronicle on 7th September