Jean Butler

Butler was born in Mineola, New York. Her brother and sister were also born on Long Island.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishconnectionsmagazine.com/archives/v1i1/54.htm |title=Dangerous Dancing An Interview with Jean Butler |author=Ilana Schweber |access-date=April 6, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222101132/http://www.irishconnectionsmagazine.com/archives/v1i1/54.htm |archive-date=February 22, 2014 }} She started ballet and tap classes at the age of four. She eventually quit both. She began Irish dance lessons at the age of six, which she quit promptly. "I hated it," she says. "They made me stand with my arms at my sides for two hours. So, I left. I was too young." She tried Irish dance again at age nine, this time with a different dance teacher, Donny Golden, whom she considers to be one of the most influential people in her life. About a year into Irish dance, she became very serious with it and quit the soccer and baseball teams. From a young age, she competed in regional, national and international championships. Butler won numerous national titles and regional titles, and placed well in international competitions. Butler attended Hofstra University and earned an Honours Degree in Theatre and Drama from the University of Birmingham.{{cite news|newspaper=Daily Express|title=What became of the Riverdance Queen? Jean Butler explains why she left the limelight|url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/502446/Riverdance-Queen-Jean-Butler-explains-why-she-left-the-limelight|date=23 August 2014|author=Jane Warren|access-date=9 August 2021}}

Butler has performed with Green Fields of America and Cherish the Ladies. She debuted with The Chieftains at Carnegie Hall at the age of seventeen, and toured with them on three continents. In England, Butler met Irish dancer Colin Dunne and they performed together in Mayo 5000 in 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.castlebar.ie/TF_Shows/Riverdance_for_Castlebar.shtml |title=Riverdance for Castlebar |date=August 5, 2008 |work=Castlebar.News |publisher=Castlebar |access-date=April 6, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916220639/http://www.castlebar.ie/TF_Shows/Riverdance_for_Castlebar.shtml |archive-date=September 16, 2008 }}

In 1994, under the invitation of producer Moya Doherty, she performed in a seven-minute intermission piece at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 entitled Riverdance. The piece was co-choreographed by Butler with Michael Flatley. The response was so explosive that it was extended into a full show, starring Butler and Flatley. The show toured throughout 1995. After Flatley abruptly left the show over creative control disputes in October 1995, Butler was joined by long-time friend Colin Dunne. The pair were the lead dancers in the performance at the famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City that was filmed and put on DVD. After a long and extremely successful run with the show, Butler eventually left Riverdance in January 1997.{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Riverprancer%3B+JEAN+BUTLER+LIFTS+THE+LID+ON+LIFE+WITH+RIVERDANCE...-a060405266 |title=Riverprancer; Jean Butler lifts the lid on life with Riverdance co-star Michael Flatley |work=TheFreeLibrary.com |access-date=April 6, 2012}}

In 1998, following Dunne's departure from Riverdance, Butler once again collaborated with Dunne to create the show Dancing on Dangerous Ground, which was based on the ancient Irish legend of Diarmuid and Gráinne. It opened in London in 1999 to critical acclaim, and then in New York.{{cite web |url=http://www.ballet-dance.com/200507/articles/JeanButler200506.html |title=Dancing on Dangerous Ground, Irish Dancer Jean Butler |author=Shane McGinley |date=June 2005 |work=Ballet-Dance Magazine |access-date=April 6, 2012 |archive-date=March 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330201802/http://www.ballet-dance.com/200507/articles/JeanButler200506.html |url-status=dead }}

In 1999, she was also presented with the Irish Post Award for "outstanding contribution to Irish Dance".{{cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/jigsnreels/judges.html |title=Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels Judges

|publisher=RTÉ Television |access-date=April 6, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062517/https://www.rte.ie/tv/jigsnreels/judges.html | archive-date= March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}} From 2003 to 2005, Butler was Artist In Residence at the University of Limerick's Irish World Music Centre. In 2009, she received the "Outstanding Contribution to Arts & Culture Alumni Award" from the University of Limerick.{{cite web |url=http://ulaa.ul.ie/?page=JeanButler |title=Ms Jean Butler 2009 Recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Arts & Culture Alumni Award |date=2009 |publisher= University of Limerick |access-date=April 6, 2012}}

She received a commission from the Irish Arts Council to create a solo work in 2004. In 2005 she released an instructional DVD, Irish Dance Masterclass With Jean Butler,{{cite web|url=http://www.awmiv.com/WebStore/Kultur/Jean-Butler-Irish-Dance-Masterclass.htm|title=Irish Dance Masterclass DVD with Jean Butler|access-date=April 6, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203042828/http://www.awmiv.com/WebStore/Kultur/Jean-Butler-Irish-Dance-Masterclass.htm|archive-date=December 3, 2012}} which her sister also participated in,{{cite web |url=http://www.celticcafe.com/celticcafe/Dance/JeanButler/MasterclassDVD/01_MasterClass.html |title=Jean Butler's Masterclass DVD, Jean Butler at the Celtic Cafe |access-date=April 6, 2012 |archive-date=August 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827150810/http://www.celticcafe.com/celticcafe/Dance/JeanButler/MasterclassDVD/01_MasterClass.html |url-status=dead }} and completed a master's degree in Contemporary Dance Performance from the University of Limerick.

She premiered "Does She Take Sugar?" on April 12, 2007, at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin.{{cite web|url= http://www.thedubliner.ie/the_dubliner_magazine/2008/04/jean-butler-how.html|title= Jean Butler - How Sweet...|date= April 21, 2008|access-date= April 6, 2012}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} With Colin Dunne and George Hook she is a judge on the Raidió Teilifís Éireann reality series Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels.

She retired from active dancing in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/irish_dance/Riverdance-star-Jean-Butler-hangs-up-her-Irish-dancing-shoes-for-soft-pumps-93946219.html?page=1 |title='Riverdance' star Jean Butler hangs up her Irish dancing shoes for soft pumps |publisher=IrishCentral |author= Fincham, Kelly |date= May 17, 2010 |access-date=April 17, 2018 }}

In January 2011, it was announced that she had designed and released her own jewellery line. The collection was launched at Showcase Ireland at the RDS later that month.

Butler has appeared in several films: The Brylcreem Boys, Goldfish Memory, The Revengers Tragedy and Old Friends.{{Cite web |url=http://www.guerilla-films.com/bb/jbinter.htm |title=Jean Butler Interview |access-date=December 7, 2010 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728015542/http://www.guerilla-films.com/bb/jbinter.htm |url-status=dead }}[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124965/ Jean Butler on IMDb]

She has also auditioned for large-budget Hollywood films such as, Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt, and The Postman with Kevin Costner.

Butler's father is a firefighter. In the 1990s, he was the deputy chief of the New York City Fire Department.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsCrJsH8Z_A&t=904s|title=Jean Butler & Michael Flatley Interview, Ireland 1994|work=YouTube|publisher=CR's Video Vaults|date=6 July 2019|access-date=5 November 2023}} Her mother is from County Mayo in Ireland. Her sister, Cara, is also a dancer and choreographer.

Butler married Irish designer Cuan Hanly in 2001.{{cite news|newspaper=Independent.ie|date=27 April 2001|title=Jean does a slowstep to marriage|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/jean-does-a-slowstep-to-marriage-26091563.html|access-date=9 August 2021}}

• List of dancers

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0124965}}
• [http://www.michaelseaver.net/IT%20features/2007/butler.html Article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420095932/http://www.michaelseaver.net/IT%20features/2007/butler.html |date=April 20, 2012 }} by Michael Seaver on Does She Take Sugar?
• [http://www.ballet-dance.com/200507/articles/JeanButler200506.html Dancing on Dangerous Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330201802/http://www.ballet-dance.com/200507/articles/JeanButler200506.html |date=March 30, 2012 }}
• [http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/irish_dance/Riverdance-star-Jean-Butler-hangs-up-her-Irish-dancing-shoes-for-soft-pumps-93946219.html 'Riverdance' star Jean Butler hangs up her Irish dancing shoes for soft pumps]
• [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Riverprancer%3B+JEAN+BUTLER+LIFTS+THE+LID+ON+LIFE+WITH+RIVERDANCE...-a060405266 Riverprancer; Jean Butler lifts the lid on life with Riverdance co-star Michael Flatley]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/arts/dance/13day.html New Terrain for Barefoot Riverdancer]

{{Irish dance}}

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Category:1971 births

Category:American female dancers

Category:Dancers from New York (state)

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Living people

Category:Performers of Irish dance

Category:Hofstra University alumni

Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham

Category:Alumni of the University of Limerick

Category:People from Mineola, New York

Category:21st-century American women