Jason Brown’s Riverdance on Ice: The Skate That Brought Boston to Its Feet

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Irish dancing is hard enough on a wooden stage. Now try it on a blade a few millimetres wide, at speed, in front of a packed arena.

That’s what American figure skater Jason Brown did in January 2014. Yes, he somehow manages to Riverdance on ice!

Enjoy the video below, and don’t forget to hit that share button!

Who is Jason Brown?

Jason Brown is an American figure skater, born in December 1994. He grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, outside Chicago. US Figure Skating says he started skating at three, after seeing his sister in an ice show.

He has trained in Toronto with coach Tracy Wilson, according to US Figure Skating. His long-time choreographer is Rohene Ward.

Some of his main results, from his US Figure Skating profile:

• US champion in 2015
• US silver medals in 2014, 2020, 2023 and 2024
• US bronze medals in 2017, 2019 and 2021
• Olympian in 2014 (Sochi) and 2022 (Beijing)
• Olympic bronze in the team event at Sochi 2014, and 9th in the men’s event
• 6th in the men’s event at Beijing 2022
• World Junior silver in 2013
• Four Continents silver in 2020 and bronze in 2018

The Riverdance free skate, Boston 2014

Brown’s free skate for the 2013-14 season was set to “Reel Around the Sun” by Bill Whelan. Rohene Ward choreographed it. US Figure Skating says it first appeared on the Grand Prix at 2013 Skate America.

The big night came at the 2014 US Championships at TD Garden in Boston, on Sunday 12 January. It was an Olympic year, and the Sochi team was being picked that weekend.

From third to the Olympic team

Brown sat third after the short programme. Then he won the free skate with Riverdance and finished second overall, according to NBC and US Figure Skating. That was enough to earn his place on the US team for Sochi.

He was 19. Reports at the time, including NBC’s, said he was the youngest American man to make the Olympic singles team since 1976.

The standing ovation

Riverdance’s own blog, posting three days later, described a huge standing ovation in the arena.

The same post said the video had passed a million views within days. A week later, Riverdance’s blog counted almost 2.8 million views. The upload at the top of this page is past 2.8 million now.

Watch the footwork sequence. That’s the bit where the Irish dancing really shows.

Riverdance noticed

The Riverdance people loved it. They surprised Brown with a Google Hangout with Padraic Moyles, one of their best-known lead dancers. Riverdance’s blog reported it on 23 January 2014.

Bill Whelan sent his own message, which Riverdance’s blog printed. He called it an “emotional and soaring performance”. Not a bad review to get.

Jason Brown talks about his Riverdance programme

The Ravinia Festival, in his home town of Highland Park, made this short interview. It was shown as a surprise to the audience before the US premiere of Bill Whelan’s “Linen & Lace” on 8 July 2014.

Normally a programme takes him about two months to perfect, he says. Riverdance took six and a half.

He skated it all season, right through to Sochi in February 2014. A year later he was US champion.

Riverdance returns: 2025 and 2026

Twelve years on, Brown brought Riverdance back as his short programme for the 2025-26 season.

Its first Grand Prix outing was Skate America in Lake Placid, New York, on 14 November 2025. He placed 5th in the short programme with 82.69 points, US Figure Skating reported.

He told US Figure Skating it was special to skate it again in front of an American crowd and hear them clapping along.

The 2026 US Championships

At the 2026 US Championships in St. Louis in January, he was third after the short programme. A tough free skate dropped him to 8th overall, according to US Figure Skating.

US Figure Skating named him first alternate for the 2026 Olympic team. The three men chosen for Milano Cortina were Ilia Malinin, Maxim Naumov and Andrew Torgashev.

No Olympics this time, then. But the programme got one more run on the big stages, twelve years after Boston.

Riverdance history: where it came from

Riverdance began as a seven-minute interval act. It was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest at the Point Theatre in Dublin in April 1994, according to Bill Whelan’s website.

Whelan’s site puts the European audience at 300 million. Ireland won the contest that night too, with Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan singing “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”. Most people still remember the interval act, though.

Who made it

• Music: Bill Whelan
• Lead dancers: Jean Butler and Michael Flatley
• Voices and orchestra: the choir Anúna and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
• Producer: Moya Doherty

Flatley grew up in Chicago with Irish parents. So Riverdance has a Chicago-area link at both ends of this story.

The music was released as a single. Whelan’s own site says it spent 18 weeks at number 1 in Ireland. The single was a top ten hit in the UK too, Whelan’s site says.

From interval act to full show

Doherty and her husband, director John McColgan, built the act into a full stage show. Riverdance opened at the Point in Dublin in February 1995, and the run sold out.

“Reel Around the Sun”, the music Brown skated to, opens Act 1 of the show, according to Riverdance’s website.

The album won the Grammy for Best Musical Show Album in 1997.

Riverdance says it has played more than 15,000 shows in 598 cities across 49 countries. More than 30 million people have seen it live. Not bad for a seven-minute interval act.

Why Irish music works on ice

No rulebook covers this, so here’s my own take.

A reel has a fast, steady drive. That gives a skater a clear beat to time jumps and spins against, and the audience can feel it.

Then there’s the footwork. Irish dance is all about quick, precise feet. A skating step sequence is too, so the two sit together naturally.

And people can’t help clapping along to a reel. Once a crowd starts clapping, a skater has them.

What did you think of Jason Brown’s performance? Leave a comment below.

Other Riverdance figure skating moments

Brown wasn’t the first to bring Riverdance to the rink. In February 2011, NBC aired a “Riverdance on Ice” special, as Riverdance’s blog reported.

It featured skaters including Sasha Cohen, Todd Eldredge, Jeffrey Buttle and Joannie Rochette. Ice dancers have reached for Irish music since, too. But for me, Brown’s Boston skate is still the one.

Love Irish dancing in odd places? Watch these Galway girls Irish dancing to Ed Sheeran.

Jason Brown Riverdance FAQ

Did Jason Brown make the 2026 Olympic team?

No. He finished 8th at the 2026 US Championships in St. Louis and was named first alternate. The men’s team was Ilia Malinin, Maxim Naumov and Andrew Torgashev.

What song did Jason Brown skate to for Riverdance?

“Reel Around the Sun” by Bill Whelan, the opening piece of the Riverdance stage show.

Who choreographed Jason Brown’s Riverdance?

Rohene Ward, his long-time choreographer.

When did Jason Brown skate Riverdance?

It was his free skate in the 2013-14 season, including the famous Boston skate in January 2014. He brought it back as his short programme for 2025-26.

When did Riverdance start?

As a seven-minute interval act at Eurovision in Dublin in April 1994. The full show opened at the Point Theatre in February 1995.

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• How to Celebrate St Patrick’s Day: 36 Ideas and Traditions
• 25 Easy Irish Greetings, With Pronunciation
• English Words From Irish: 27 Examples and the Fakes

Featured photo: Boston skyline from Longfellow Bridge September 2017 panorama 2 by King of Hearts, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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