• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Irish America

Irish America

        • Who We Are
          • About Us
          • Irish America Team
        • The Lists
          • Business 100
          • Hall of Fame
          • Health and Life Sciences 50
          • Wall Street 50
        • Highlights
          • History
          • In This Issue
          • Music
          • Politics
          • Sports
          • Travel
        • Columns
          • First Word
          • Hibernia
          • Quote Unquote
          • Slainte
          • Those we Lost
          • What are you like?
          • Wild Irish Women
          • Window on The Past
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About This Magazine
    • Irish America Team
  • In This Issue
  • Hall of Fame
  • The Lists
    • Business 100
    • Hall of Fame
    • Health and Life Sciences 50
    • Wall Street 50
  • Archives
    • Magazine
    • Highlights
  • Travel
  • Events

Our Steps, Our Story: An Irish Dance Legacy

By Mary Gallagher, Assistant Editor
September / October 2018

September 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Jean Butler via the Our Steps org.

For 10 days in July, the New York Public Library (N.Y.P.L.) partnered with choreographer and original Riverdance star dancer Jean Butler to lead a workshop celebrating the history and variety of Irish dance. Titled “Our Steps, Our Story: An Irish Dance Legacy,” the program took the form of live discussion and performance, and was filmed in what will be the first of four installments in a documentary series named The Stepping Fields. The series will explore the lineage of teachers and influencers and the evolution of Irish dance in the U.S. and around the world.
Butler, a dedicated scholar of Irish dance for over four decades, spearheaded the project to preserve the tradition of Irish dance in a visual medium. The final product, which will be released in 2020, will be accompanied by an oral history of Irish dance in the U.S. descending from the McNiff dancers of the 1950s-60s to the work of Butler herself. Archivists Cori Olinghouse, Siobhan Burke, and Kristyn Fontanella worked with Butler on the progam, which was sponsored by N.Y.U.’s Glucksman Ireland House, University College Dublin, the N.Y.P.L., and the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, who embraced the venture with enthusiasm. “Jean Butler is one of the most accomplished Irish dance artists of the last century and a pioneer in the field, expanding and re-imagining the vocabulary and boundaries of Irish step dance,” said Linda Murray, curator of the Dance Division. “We were honored to serve as partners on this project.” Contact info@ourstepsfoundation.org for more information. To donate to the cause, go to ourstepsfoundation.org. ♦

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Highlights

News
Articles and stories from Irish America.....
MORE

Hibernia
News from Ireland and happenings in Irish America.....
MORE

Those We Lost
Remembering some of the great Irish Americans who have passed.....
MORE

Slainte!
Discover Irish ancestry, predilections, and recipes.....
MORE

Photo Album
Irish America readers share the stories of their ancestors....
MORE

More Articles

  • <b>Moores Creek Bridge: A small battle with huge implications</b>Moores Creek Bridge: A small battle with huge implications
    Small bands of Patriots and Loyalists who fought with fierce devotion were formed during the early ...
  • <b>Mick Moloney Remembered at Irish Arts Center</b>Mick Moloney Remembered at Irish Arts Center
    Mick Moloney, a legend in the history of Irish music, who passed away suddenly on July 30, 2022, wil...
  • <b>Meet the man who will lead the 2023 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade</b>Meet the man who will lead the 2023 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade
    Kevin J. Conway, the grand marshal of the 2023 New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade is the gre...
  • Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill. Photo: martinhayes.comA Letter From Your Friend
    Dennis Cahill - Litir ó do chara This intimate portrait tells the story of Dennis Cahill (1954 – ...

Footer

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Give a Gift
  • Newsletter
  • Customer Service

Additional

  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · IrishAmerica Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in