It started as a few minutes of Irish dancing in the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994.

Who would have thought then that Riverdance would develop into a worldwide phenomenon?

The company has entranced audiences with their fancy, and ever so fast, footwork over the past 14 years.

It has been seen live by 21 million people in more than 300 venues worldwide, through 32 countries and on four continents. And 1.3 billion people in China watched a Riverdance TV special at New Year.

Executive producer Julian Erskine is overwhelmed by viewing figures like that. Hence the reason the company is upping sticks and moving to the Far East.

But, first the company is heading to Birmingham NIA next week as part of its UK farewell tour. “This is certainly not the end of Riverdance – but it’s the last time we’ll be in the UK,” says Julian. “We’ve been trying to get into the Far East for some time and after the huge reaction to the TV show in China we’ve been invited to go on tour there,” he adds.

After China, they hope to be in India within five years. “We’ve had a great time in the UK and we wanted to go out on a high, rather than fade out gradually.

“The farewell tour is flying, it’s a virtually a sell-out – so maybe we should still stick around,” laughs the Irishman.

Julian admits he never dreamt Riverdance would be such a huge success when it first started out as an interval act on Eurovision 15 year ago.

“Following Eurovision we put on a show in Dublin in 1995 that we thought would run for four weeks,” he says. “The show was actually a by-product. The main idea for doing it was to film it for a TV special,” he admits.

However, the live show was a great success – or as Julian says “took off like a rocket”.

Julian thinks its appeal is down to the fact that its “good, old fashioned entertainment for all ages.”

Julian, who has a theatre background, admits he is in awe of the dancers in the company, who he describes as a “family” – not least because they have celebrated almost 40 Riverdance weddings.

So any regrets about the farewell tour? “If it was an end to Riverdance then it would be sad. But this is a farewell to the UK, not a farewell to Riverdance. If any readers visit the Taj Mahal in the next few years, they should look out for the posters advertising our shows,” he laughs.

l Riverdance is at Birmingham NIA from March 9 to 14. Tickets are available from www.theticketfactory.com or 0844 3388000.