Fancy footwork is all in family for metro Atlanta brothers in ‘Riverdance’
For the Porter brothers, Cian and Jack, performance is the family business. They grew up watching their mother, Lisa Kelly, and their father, Scott Porter, singing and dancing, respectively, in international theatrical shows.
It stood to reason that both sons would follow in their parents’ footsteps as dancers, but the world of professional artistry can be punishing, and the emotional and physical exhaustion at times outweighed the glitz of the stage for the two of them.
Yet step by step, they made it, and the “Riverdance 30 — The New Generation” shows Friday and Saturday at the Fox Theatre mark a milestone: the first time they’ve performed in the international Broadway tour together. Importantly, it also will be in their hometown with their parents watching.
‘Born into the show’
Both Cian, 23, and Jack, 21, were born in Dublin, Ireland — their lilting accents denoting that part of their lives. Lisa is an native of the city, and Scott is originally from Australia. The two were already performing in “Riverdance” when they welcomed their sons.
“I quite literally was born into the show,” Cian told the AJC. “They brought me on the road with them from day one.”
It wasn’t until the family settled south of Atlanta in Peachtree City in 2011 that the brothers began learning the traditional Irish step dancing featured in “Riverdance” shows. In fact, it took some time for their father, burned out from competing, to agree to it.
“Scott was like, ‘Lisa, if they get involved in Irish dance, you need to sign your life away,’” she said.
They boys began dancing at a local studio, but Scott soon opened his own dance school, Kavanagh Porter Academy in Peachtree City, and took over their competitive education. They grew up watching traditional Irish dance, which involves rapid and intricate footwork combined with a largely rigid upper body, but they still had to learn from scratch.
“People often go on about nepo babies, but those kids have to work twice as hard,” Lisa said. “I always knew it would be hard, and I worried about them.”
A hard road
The strain eventually caught up with both brothers. When COVID hit, they’d each been competing for nearly a decade, often nationally and internationally. Cian felt himself getting older and sensed he was running out of time competitively.
“I was already in a weird headspace about dancing — if I even wanted to dance anymore, let alone join a show,” he said. “I was like, ‘Do I even want to do this anymore?’”
Jack found the COVID shutdown demoralizing. In-person classes moved online, and performances stopped. A bright spot was his runner-up status in his age group at the 2020 Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne, which translates to the World Irish Dancing Championships, but he lost enthusiasm as he kept placing second in the world. At the end of 2024, it happened a fourth time, and he was crushed.
Some of Lisa’s early worries were founded. She watched her sons, particularly Cian, flail between a bone-deep love of dance and disappointment in a competition system where judging is subjective.
“It’s a creative art form,” she said. “Some years, everybody loves you, and then other years, ‘No, there’s somebody better; we like them more.’”
Making it in dance
But the two men found a way to keep going.
In 2021, Cian responded to a virtual audition for “Riverdance,” and he got the call to join the cast for a six-week run in Dubai.
Performance, Jack explained, though it requires a dancer’s complete dedication, is different from competition in that it allows for more individual expression and freedom.
“When it’s competitive, you’re being judged on every single thing you do, whereas for a performance, you’re just trying to be a superstar,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be the most perfect technique.”
Inspired by his brother’s success, Jack attended a “Riverdance” summer school program in 2022. By the end of that week, “Riverdance” had accepted his audition, and he did his first two shows almost immediately. In 2025, he gave dance competition one more shot, and he won the Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne 2025 Men’s 20-21 age group championship.
Carrying on traditions
The brothers perform six months out of the year, doing runs of more than 180 shows. It’s eight 2 1/2-hour shows a week with Mondays off for travel. Cian likened “Riverdance,” which has multiple troupes touring the globe, to the NFL of Irish dance. Dancers have to be so familiar with different roles that they can switch places with other performers and even change troupes.
Lisa, who operates the Lisa Kelly Voice Academy in Peachtree City, remembers her time with “Riverdance” as a familial experience — lots of young people working hard and making memories. She’s thrilled to be watching from the audience now.
“Just the thought of my own children being up on the stage that both my husband and I were on is just the most fulfilling experience, and getting to see my two boys dance together is just amazing,” she said.
With “Riverdance” celebrating 30 years, Cian feels the singularity of carrying on the show’s tradition.
“I have that feeling every time I’m on stage or every time I hear that music,” he said. “It’s just, ‘Wow - full circle.’ There’s a reason we’re — (three decades) later — there’s a reason we’re still here.”
If you go
“Riverdance 30: The New Generation”
8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. $47.25-$129.75. A Regions Bank Broadway in Atlanta presentation at the Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. foxtheatre.org.
