Morgan Bullock: From Viral Savage Irish Dance Video To Riverdance

Morgan Bullock: quick facts

From: Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Trained at: the Baffa Academy of Irish Dance, starting as a child.
The viral video: Irish dancing to the “Savage” remix by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé, posted to TikTok in May 2020.
The reaction: millions of views, praise from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and an invitation, live on RTÉ radio, to dance with Riverdance.
History made: she became the first Black female dancer in Riverdance, on its 25th anniversary North American tour.

In May 2020, a college student from Virginia posted a short video of herself Irish dancing to a hip-hop track. The footwork was flawless, the timing was perfect, and the internet couldn’t get enough of it. Within weeks, Morgan Bullock had been praised by the Taoiseach and invited to join Riverdance.

This is the video that started it all.

Who is Morgan Bullock?

Morgan Bullock grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and fell in love with Irish dancing as a child. She trained for years at the Baffa Academy of Irish Dance and competed at a high level, while also studying at Virginia Commonwealth University.

She had grown up watching Riverdance, but, as she later told The Irish Times, she “never saw somebody who looked like me” on that stage.

The Savage video

During the 2020 lockdown, Morgan posted a TikTok of herself doing a hard-shoe Irish dance routine to the “Savage” remix by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé, one of the biggest songs on the platform at the time. She choreographed crisp, intricate rhythms to fit the hip-hop beat, mixing two very different worlds and making it look effortless.

It took off, racking up millions of views across TikTok, Twitter and news sites around the world. Irish dancers loved the skill, music fans loved the mash-up, and plenty of people discovered for the first time that Irish dancing could look like this.

Facing the critics

Not all the comments were kind. A small number of people accused her of “cultural appropriation” for performing Irish dance as a Black American woman. The response from Ireland was loud and clear: Irish dancing belongs to anyone who loves it. Morgan herself pointed out that there are Irish dancing schools all over the world, from Mexico to China to Africa, and that she had trained in the art for years.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar publicly praised her dancing, and the Irish public rallied around her.

Invited to Riverdance, live on air

Then came the moment that made headlines. Morgan was being interviewed on RTÉ Radio’s Liveline with Joe Duffy when Padraic Moyles, Riverdance’s lead dancer and associate director, joined the call and invited her, live on air, to perform with the show.

Morgan went on to join Riverdance on its 25th anniversary North American tour, becoming the show’s first Black female dancer, and later toured the UK with the company too. The girl who never saw herself on the Riverdance stage was now on it.

Why her story matters

Irish dance has spread far beyond Ireland, carried by the diaspora and, since Riverdance burst onto the scene in 1994, by fans of every background. Morgan Bullock’s story shows what that looks like at its best: a young woman with no Irish roots, years of hard work, and a whole country cheering her on.