Colin Dunne

Dunne was born in Birmingham, England, to Irish parents{{cite web|url=http://www.celticcafe.com/archive/ceolas/colindunne/colin.htm|title=Colin Dunne|work=CelticCafe.com|accessdate=7 July 2017|archive-date=3 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303200453/http://www.celticcafe.com/archive/ceolas/colindunne/colin.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/birmingham/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8675000/8675458.stm|title=Colin Dunne at International Dance Festival Birmingham|publisher=BBC News|date=11 May 2010|accessdate=7 July 2017}} from Monaghan and Wexford.{{cite web|last=McMillen|first=Robert|url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2018/06/15/news/colin-dunne-the-source-of-irish-dancing-is-the-musicality-and-the-physicality-of-it-1355127/|title=Colin Dunne: The source of Irish dancing is the musicality and the physicality of it|work=IrishNews.com|date=15 June 2018|accessdate=29 November 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129184013/https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2018/06/15/news/colin-dunne-the-source-of-irish-dancing-is-the-musicality-and-the-physicality-of-it-1355127/|archive-date=29 November 2018}} He followed his two older sisters to Irish dance class at the local school when he was just three years old. At the age of nine, he won his first World Championship title and was the first dancer to win the World, All England and All Ireland titles in the same year. At the age of 19, he was the youngest person ever to receive an Irish Post Award in recognition of his achievements in Irish dance. When he retired from competition at the age of 22, he had won a total of nine World, eleven Great Britain, nine All Ireland and eight All England titles.{{cite web|url=https://nac-cna.ca/en/media/newsrelease/3871|title=Colin Dunne presents the provocative moving memoir Out of Time at the NAC on October 27 to 29, 2011|work=nac-cna.ca|date=17 October 2011|accessdate=7 July 2017}}

Dunne graduated from Warwick University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics before going on to work as a trainee accountant at the Birmingham offices of Arthur Andersen. At the same time, he had gained his dance teachers exam (T.C.RG) and was teaching in England, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. He resigned from Arthur Andersen on the day he became a qualified chartered accountant to go on a month long tour of Canada with The Chieftains.{{cite web|url=http://www.colindunne.com/biog.php|title=Biography|work=ColinDunne.com|access-date=9 July 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815181906/http://www.colindunne.com/biog.php|archive-date=15 August 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.colindunne.com/flash/biog/index.htm|title=Biography|work=ColinDunne.com|access-date=2 May 2025|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720172750/http://www.colindunne.com/flash/biog/index.htm|archive-date=20 July 2007}}

Between 1992 and 1995, Dunne toured regularly with musical groups The Chieftains and De Dannan. During this time, he formed a dance partnership with Jean Butler.

{{quote box

| quote="I did over 900 performances. I left Riverdance because when you perform something 900 times in front of 3,000 or 4,000 people every night, I think a little piece of you dies off with every performance."

| source=—Colin Dunne, September 2013

| width=20em

| align=right}}

Dunne joined the cast and creative team of Riverdance in October 1995. He was originally invited to choreograph and perform a new number called Trading Taps. However, the day before the show was set to reopen at The Apollo in London, lead dancer and choreographer Michael Flatley left the production. Dunne subsequently stepped into the principal role on short notice. He toured with the show for the next three years, performing in its U.S. debuts in New York at Radio City Music Hall and in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theatre, as well as in Australia. His performances were featured in the Riverdance: Live From New York City DVD released in 1996. He also performed with the cast at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards.{{cite web|last=Viagas|first=Robert|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/riverdance-wins-grammy-in-upset-com-329099|title=Riverdance Wins Grammy in Upset|work=PlayBill.com|date=26 February 1997|accessdate=11 July 2017}} Dunne left the show in June 1998, after more than 900 performances.{{cite web|last=Mayr|first=Bill|url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/music/2013/09/26/colin-dunne-leaves-behind-rigors/23444025007/|title=Colin Dunne leaves behind rigors of Riverdance in solo show|work=The Columbus Dispatch|date=26 September 2013|access-date=2 May 2025}}

Dunne's next project, Dancing on Dangerous Ground,{{cite web|last=Kisselgoff|first=Anna|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/10/movies/dance-review-a-celtic-legend-told-through-feats-of-footwork.html|title=DANCE REVIEW; A Celtic Legend Told Through Feats of Footwork|work=The New York Times|date=10 March 2000|accessdate=7 July 2017}} was created alongside Jean Butler and was based on the myth of Diarmuid Agus Grainne. The show premiered at The Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London in December 1999 and went on to perform to full capacity at Radio City Music Hall in March 2000. The show closed in June 2000.

After an eighteen-month period living in New York, Dunne returned to Ireland in 2001 to take a position as artist-in-residence at the University of Limerick. That year, he took the Masters in Contemporary Dance Performance and began focusing on the creation of short solo works. After finishing his master's degree in 2002, Dunne sought collaborations with contemporary choreographers in parallel with his own solo creative work. In 2005, he joined Michael Keegan-Dolan's Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre for their production, The Bull. His performances in The Bull at The Barbican in 2007 earned him a nomination for a UK Critics Circle National Dance Awards (best male: modern dance).

In January 2008, Dunne's first full-length solo show, Out of Time,{{cite web|last=La Rocco|first=Claudia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/arts/dance/colin-dunne-brings-out-of-time-to-baryshnikov-arts-center.html|title=Untraditional, but Still an Irish Tradition|work=The New York Times|date=14 October 2011|accessdate=7 July 2017}} premiered at Glór Irish Music Centre. The show displayed a love-hate relationship with the dance that made him famous.{{cite web|last=Mackrell|first=Judith|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/19/review-colin-dunne-barbican|title=Dance review: Out of Time|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=20 February 2009|accessdate=7 July 2017}} As of May 2016, his show was still touring the United States.{{cite web|last=Morgan|first=Carmel|url=http://criticaldance.org/colin-dunne-time/|title=Colin Dunne: Out of Time|work=criticaldance.org|date=20 May 2016|accessdate=7 July 2017}}

In September 2016, Dunne's new collaborative show, Edges of Light, began touring Ireland.{{cite web|last=Morgan|first=Carmel|url=https://lastnightsfun.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/david-power-maeve-gilchrist-tola-custy-colin-dunne-edges-of-light/|title=David Power, Maeve Gilchrist, Tola Custy, Colin Dunne in 'Edges of Light'|work=lastnightsfun.wordpress.com|date=14 September 2016|accessdate=7 July 2017}} The show premiered in New York in June 2017{{cite web|last=Burke|first=Siobhan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/arts/dance/dance-in-nyc-this-week.html|title=Dance in NYC This Week|work=The New York Times|date=25 May 2017|accessdate=7 July 2017}} and continued to tour as of July 2018.

In 2018, Dunne won a TG4 Gradam Ceoil award for Musical Collaboration as part of the production Concert.{{cite web|url=https://www.cssd.ac.uk/news/sin%C3%A9ad-rushes-concert-receives-gradam-comharcheoil-tg4-2018-award|title=Sinéad Rushe's 'Concert' Receives the Gradam Comharcheoil TG4 2018 Award|work=cssd.ac.uk|date=19 January 2018|accessdate=29 November 2018}}

As of November 2019, Dunne was living in Limerick, Ireland.{{cite web|last=Harss|first=Marina|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/arts/dance/colin-dunne-irish-dance.html|title='Riverdance' Was Years Ago. Colin Dunne Makes Quiet Music Now.|work=The New York Times|date=8 November 2019|accessdate=14 June 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.colindunne.com/ Dunne's official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822224251/http://www.colindunne.com/index.php |date=22 August 2017 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/19991004205427/http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/3205/ColinPage.html Colin Dunne] at geocities.com
• [http://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/dunne-steps-out-with-the-ghosts-of-dance-26420890.html "Dunne steps out with the ghosts of dance"] at independent.ie
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/arts/dance/for-colin-dunne-life-after-riverdance.html "His Life After 'Riverdance' Is a Braid of Traditions"] at nytimes.com

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Category:1968 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick

Category:English male dancers

Category:English people of Irish descent

Category:National Dance Award winners

Category:People associated with the University of Limerick

Category:People educated at St Paul's College, Raheny

Category:People from County Limerick

Category:Entertainers from Birmingham, West Midlands

Category:Performers of Irish dance

Category:Irish stepdance