'' Riverdance '' is rooted in a three-part suite of baroque-influenced traditional music called '' Timedance '' composed , recorded and performed for the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest , which was hosted by Ireland . At the time , Bill Whelan and Dónal Lunny composed the music , augmenting the Irish folk band Planxty with a rock rhythm section of electric bass and drums and a four-piece horn section . The piece was performed , with accompanying ballet dancers , during the interval of the contest , and later released as a Planxty single . Whelan had also produced '' EastWind '' , a 1992 album by Planxty member Andy Irvine with Davy Spillane , which fused Irish and Balkan folk music and influenced the genesis of Riverdance . Thirteen years later , Whelan was invited to do the intermission piece for another Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin , and composed Riverdance . In a book about Planxty ( '' The Humours of Planxty '' , by Leagues O'Toole ) , Whelan says , " It was no mistake of mine to call it Riverdance because it connected absolutely to Timedance "
1981 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Riverdance