Born
on March 14, 1971 in Minneola, Long Island, Jean Butler began dancing ballet
at the young age of 4. However, at 6 years of age, Jean started taking Irish
dancing lessons with the renowned Johnny Golden.
Jean went to Wheatly High School before proceeding to Hofstra University. She
then received an Honours degree in Theatre and Drama from the University of
Birmingham in England. While in England, she met Colin Dunne and they performed
a number together for the Mayo 2000, where the future producers of Riverdance,
Moya Doherty and John Whelan, were in attendance.
In 1995, Jean Butler and Michael Flatley, along with Mavis Ascot, choreographed
Riverdance, an intermission number for the Eurovision competition held
annually in Ireland. The rest as they say, is history, as Riverdance
propelled the young Jean Butler and her talented partner, Michael Flatley, into
superstardom with Riverdance, The Show.
Although Jean has long retired from Riverdance, she is working on a new Irish dance show with Colin Dunne, Dancing on Dangerous Ground, scheduled to open later this year. Currently Jean can be found contributing her dance talents and skills as tutor, along with Colin Dunne, to the University of Limerick's Irish Traditional Dance courses, featured in the Irish World Music Center.
Jean has also completed her first movie, acting alongside Gabriel Byrne, in The Brylcreem Boys, released last year. Please refer to the links on the left to learn more about Jean Butler, featured here in the Celtic Cafe.