So You Think You Can Dance

by Lydia Uncategorized

SYTYCD_Google_Profile

So You Think You Can Dance

According to a non-dancer (Emily Pau)

 

I honestly have never watched an entire episode until this review so…don’t hurt me!  So, in case you all missed last week’s Top 14 performances, here is my take on the episode.

The Top 14 performed a beautiful opening number with all of the dancers dressed in gorgeous white flowing robes adorned with gold braces and crowns obviously paying tribute to the ancient Greeks. However, one of the dancers is dressed in a normal/ modern white outfit and the others perform their routine around him. The modern man is left standing in the middle with a gold-like paint on his pure white shirt as the others gather at his feet. This routine could be a symbolic tale of how the Greek gods blessed the human race with brilliant artistic skills and that this one man has been “artistically touched” by the gods.  All in all it was a very interesting piece.

Team Bridget and Emilio were the first to perform that night and I have to say their routine was a little odd at first–a couple of demons on a mission from Hell to steal someone’s soul. Ok. At first their choreography looked like something out of Black Swan especially since Bridget kind of resembled Mila Kunis and I wasn’t that impressed. It wasn’t until their final product was complete that their jazzy dance moves and flashy red 1920s garb made the theme a fun and exciting dance routine!

Team Rudy and Tanisha’s stunning routine was absolutely breathtaking from beginning to end. It was a gorgeous story of seduction; it was like watching a contemporary Argentinean Tango. Rudy was definitely right when he said that you really can’t tell who is seducing whom. They were equally talented in their dancing and were perfectly synced throughout their performance. Everyone was completely wowed by their powerful choreography. That truly was an amazing routine!

Zack and Jacque, well more like “Count Zack and Lady Jacque,” were sensational with their hot vampire-ish routine. It was a wonderful twist to the Spanish Paso Doble as the judges mentioned but also seemed to give a slight nod to the dramatic American Tango. “Count” Zack did a wonderful job of being the vampire who brings the beautiful “Lady” Jacque back to life who doesn’t give in to his commanding yet enticing presence.  Her striking twists and turns prove that she is just as powerful and is not easily won over by his devilish charm. Their constant battle of dominance was absolutely thrilling to watch to the point of not knowing who really “won” the battle.  Perhaps it was a respectful tie…

Teddy and Emily did a great job taking everyone down the road of Broadway.  Their opening moves were fantastic which wonderfully progressed to the tight leg work. It looked like it did a number on their thighs just from watching it. The couple tried their hardest to channel the flairs of Bob Fosse but considering this was a difficult routine to imitate I thought they did a decent job.

Jessica and Casey were the essence of perfection with their sweet country love story. A flawless routine that gave the judges chills with their “porch swing” turns and steady lifts. Casey did a wonderful job complimenting Jessica’s shy and gentle nature as the loving boyfriend who adores her very being. Their amazing chemistry spent “electro shocks” through the audience and judges. It was certainly a routine you would want to watch over and over again.

However, the Quick-Step styles of Carly and Serge undoubtedly possessed cat-like glides, slides and hops. Their little Charleston steps were so much fun to watch after seeing them practice so hard to perfect it. Serge and Carly were incredible as the flirty yet modest cats of the Quick-Step.

The final paring, Ricky and Valarie come together to create a slightly creepy story about a witch doctor bringing a voodoo doll to life. I was completely blown away by their insane hip-hop moves and I don’t really care for hip-hop. It was as if I could imagine puppet strings on Valarie’s arms and legs as Ricky perfectly controlled her gangling body throughout their marvelous routine.

I wasn’t too crazy about the solos except for one of two and they definitely should not have been in the bottom 6. However, I thought some of them were better dancers when they were with a partner instead of their solo. Without a doubt each of the dancers was amazingly talented, but like in anything some stand out more than others.

The seven ladies of the show performed a beautiful final routine in their fluid purple gowns. It was as if the choreographer was still using the Greek mythologies as a canvas for their stage drama. The ladies were breathtaking as they seemed to embody the world of the Muses. Even as a group, each dancer added her own special flair to the story. The seven dazzling “muses” constantly lifted each other up as if to symbolize the essence of sisterly love regardless of competition. It was a piece that could bring tears to your eyes.

Another tip of the hat to the Greeks was the final male group enactment of the seven lost souls of the sea. The men gave life to these isolate creatures of the sea with their wave-like upper body movements perfectly linked together similar to men in a row boat. Their flying jumps provided were just the right touch to give the audience the feel of a high-rolling tide sweeping them throughout the gloomy tale.

At first I really didn’t care for the show because I thought the stories were the typical “artsy” stories were everything had a meaning and unless you were a dancer you didn’t really get it. Also, I thought some of the dance routines were a little predictable in how the ladies would move their hips, thighs, bum and whatever else the choreographers wanted to emphasize.

I totally understand that dance is like that sometimes and I have to admit it’s a little fun to dance like that. But I’ve also seen dance routines where it is still sensual but respectful.

I did like how the girls were seen outside of the dance studio. They showed how many dancers led normal lives that are not constantly surrounded by dancing. One girl worked at a grocery store and another was a tomboy. I was very glad to see that!

The men were even stereotypical in the way they carried themselves because almost all of them seemed to have the same metro-sexual look. Not every male dancer is like that, that’s seems to be what Hollywood wants to portray. I know several guys who are professional dancers and who are very masculine in their dancing and stature. They are nothing like the guys on TV.

The costumes, however, were gorgeous! I wanted a couple of them but have no place to wear them.

All in all it was a fun show to watch. I didn’t like it that much after the opening number and even a little bit of the first routine but I quickly enjoyed watching the ups and downs of the show.

Tuesday Tunes: 1940’s!

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

           1940’s!

 

 

The 1940’s were dominated by World War II and  pulled the US out of the Great Depression. Women were needed in factories, agencies, companies and even baseball teams and the military to replace men who had gone off to war. Food, metals and various materials were rationed to help the Allies win against the Axis Powers that threatened the world. However, swingin’ new music from Glenn Miller, The Andrew Sisters, Artie Shaw, Count Basie and many others provided fast and up-beat songs for the latest dance crazes of the decade.

 

Glen Miller …. In The Mood (A tribute to the 1940’s)!

 

Andrews Sisters and Swing Dancing

 

The Jitterbug

Tuesday Tunes: The 1930’s!

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

 

           The 1930’s!

 

 

 

 

The 1930’s was a time of celebration and hardship. Talking pictures were all the rage at the local theaters and radio became a household item where everyone could tune in to hear Orson Wells tell the American public of a pending alien invasion from War of the Worlds. The Depression sent many families into poverty and many businesses were closing up shop, but that didn’t stop America’s optimism and ingenious designers from opening the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge for the whole world to see. The 1930’s had its ups and downs throughout the decade but that didn’t stop people from dancing! Dances like the Foxtrot, Tap and the Waltz were becoming popular once again on the dance floor while others like the Jitterbug and Swing were just getting started!

 

 

A Dutch instructional film from 1930, demonstrating the ballroom Foxtrot of the time.

 

Keep Punchin Jitterbug Contest

 

Fred and Ginger – Waltz in Swing Time (Waltz, Tap and Swing all in one)

Tuesday Tunes: Buddy Ebson

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

 

Before he was Jed Clampett…

       

         Buddy Ebson

 

You get more negative reactions than positive reactions as you go through life, and the big lesson is nobody counts you out but yourself…I never have, I never will.

 

Buddy Ebsen began his career as a dancer in the late 1920s in a Broadway chorus. He later formed a vaudeville act with his sister Vilma Ebsen, which also appeared on Broadway. In 1935 he and his sister went to Hollywood, where they were signed for the first of MGM’s Eleanor Powell movies, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935). While Vilma retired from stage and screen shortly after this, Buddy starred in two further MGM movies with Powell. Two of his dancing partners were Frances Langford in Born to Dance (1936) and Judy Garland in Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937). They were a little bit taller than Shirley Temple, with whom he danced in Captain January (1936). MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer offered him an exclusive contract in 1938, but Ebsen turned it down. In spite of Mayer’s warning that he would never get a job in Hollywood again, he was offered the role of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Ebsen agreed to change roles with Ray Bolger, who was cast as the Tin Man. Ebsen subsequently became ill from the aluminum make-up, however, and was replaced by Jack Haley. He returned to the stage, making only a few pictures before he got a role in the Disney production of Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (1955). After this, he became a straight actor, and later won more fame in his own hit series, The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) and Barnaby Jones (1973).

 

BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936 (Buddy & his sister Vilma)

 

 Buddy Ebsen dancing 1978

 

Donald O’Connor and Buddy Ebsen (a RARE clip)

 

 

Fun Facts about Mr. Buddy Ebson

 

Got the nickname ‘Buddy’ from his aunt, so Christian changed his name to Buddy Ebsen.

Was a Boy Scout.

In the 1930s, Disney animators filmed him dancing in front of a grid to “choreograph”Wayne Allwine’s dance steps for the Silly Symphony cartoons.

Originally cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Buddy was hospitalized as a result of inhaling aluminum powder used as part of his make-up. One chorus of “We’re Off to See the Wizard” in the movie and soundtrack album retain Ebsen’s original vocals as the Tin Man, recorded before he was forced to leave the production. Because of the prolonged hospitalization, he was replaced by Jack Haley (whose reformulated make-up used pre-mixed aluminium dust), and Ebsen’s scenes were re-shot using Haley. Footage of Ebsen as the Tin Man still exists, and was included as an extra with the U.S. 50th anniversary video release of The Wizard of Oz (1939).

After seeing Ebsen in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), the creator of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) wanted him to play family patriarch Jed Clampett. At the time, Ebsen was thinking of retiring, but the producers sent him a copy of the script, and he changed his mind.

Began his television series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) at age 54.

Taught Judy Garland the shim-sham shimmy while they were at MGM.

Was a longtime friend of Dick Van Dyke, who hosted his memorial service on 30 August 2003.

He served in the Coast Guard during World War II as the executive officer on the Pocatello, a submarine chaser in the North Pacific.

Became a bestselling author at age 93.

Buddy Ebsen died on July 6, 2003. Just 3 weeks after his death, his longtime best friend, comedian Bob Hope, passed away.

Buddy Ebsen died just three months before his death, he celebrated his 95th birthday, on April 2.

 

 

Tuesday Tunes: Mickey Rooney

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

 

Tuesday Tunes honors…

           Mickey Rooney

 

I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done. I only wish I could have done more.

Mickey Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. He first took the stage as a toddler in his parents vaudeville act at 17 months old. He made his first film appearance in 1926. The following year, he played the lead character in the first Mickey McGuire short film. It was in this popular film series that he took the stage name Mickey Rooney. Rooney reached new heights in 1937 with A Family Affair, the film that introduced the country to Andy Hardy, the popular all-American teenager. This beloved character appeared in nearly 20 films and helped make Rooney the top star at the box office in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Rooney also proved himself an excellent dramatic actor as a delinquent in Boys Town starring Spencer Tracy. In 1938, he was awarded a Juvenile Academy Award.

Teaming up with Judy Garland, Rooney also appeared in a string of musicals, including Babes in Arms (1939) the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar in a leading role, Strike up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), and Girl Crazy (1943). He and Garland immediately became best of friends. “We weren’t just a team, we were magic,” Rooney once said. During that time he also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in the now classic National Velvet (1944). Rooney joined the service that same year, where he helped to entertain the troops and worked on the American Armed Forces Network. He returned to Hollywood after 21 months in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946), did a remake of a Robert Taylor film, The Crowd Roars called Killer McCoy (1947) and portrayed composer Lorenz Hart in Words and Music (1948). He also appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Rooney played Hepburn’s Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. A sign of the times, Rooney played the part for comic relief which he later regretted feeling the role was offensive. He once again showed his incredible range in the dramatic role of a boxing trainer with Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). In the late 1960s and 1970s Rooney showed audiences and critics alike why he was one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars. He gave an impressive performance in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 filmThe Black Stallion (1979), which brought him an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. He also turned to the stage in 1979 in Sugar Babies with Ann Miller, and was nominated for a Tony Award. During that time he also portrayed the Wizard in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which also had a successful run nationally.

Rooney appeared in four television series’: The Mickey Rooney Show (1954-1955), a comedy sit-com in 1964 with Sammee Tong called Mickey, One of the Boys in 1982 with Dana Carvey and Nathan Lane, and the Adventures of the Black Stallion from 1990-1993. In 1981, Rooney won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a mentally challenged man in Bill. The critical acclaim continued to flow for the veteran performer, with Rooney receiving an honorary Academy Award “in recognition of his 60 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances”. More recently he has appeared in such films asNight at the Museum (2006)with Ben Stiller.  In 2011, Rooney made a brief cameo appearance in The Muppets and appeared in an episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories, recounting how, during a down period in his career, his deceased father appeared to him one night, telling him not to give up on his career. He claimed that the experience bolstered his resolve and soon afterwards his career experienced a resurgence. In 2014, Rooney returned to film scenes to reprise his role as “Gus” in Night at the Museum 3. It is currently unknown whether he completed his scenes and whether his death will affect the film’s production. Mickey Rooney died April 6, 2014, at the age of 93.

 

Mickey Rooney Jitterbugs With A Woman Twice His Height

 

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney

 

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Yankee Doodle Boy from Babes of Broadway

 

Fun Facts about Mr. Mickey Rooney

Mickey’s son Teddy Rooney appeared with him in Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), portraying – who else? – Andy Hardy Jr.

At age nineteen became the first teenager to be Oscar-nominated in a leading role for Babes in Arms (1939).

During World War II he served 22 months in the U.S. Army, five of them with the Third Army of Gen. George S. Patton. Rooney attained the rank of Sergeant, and won a Bronze Star, among other decorations.

With the death of James Stewart on July 2, 1997, he is the last surviving entertainer of the forty-six caricatured in Hollywood Steps Out (1941).

Tuesday Tunes: April Fools Style!

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

Happy April Fools, Framers! Tuesday Tunes presents the more comical side of dancing in…

             How Not to Dance!

 

John Wayne…doing the Jitterbug (Yes you read that correctly)

 

Wednesday Addams Teaches Lurch the Latest Dance Craze

 

Groucho Marx Dancing in A Day at the Races

 

Lucy VS. Ballet

 

The Carlton Dance

Tuesday Tunes: Leslie Caron

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes


This Tuesday we are spotlighting the elegant and charming…

              Leslie Caron!

 

Unfortunately, Hollywood considers musical dancers as hoofers. Regrettable expression.

French ballet dancer Leslie Caron was discovered by the legendary MGM star Gene Kelly during his search for a co-star in one of the finest musicals ever filmed, the Oscar-winning An American in Paris (1951), which was inspired by and based on the music of George Gershwin. Leslie’s gamine looks and pixie-like appeal would be ideal for Cinderella-type rags-to-riches stories, and Hollywood made fine use of it. Combined with her fluid dancing skills, she became one of the top foreign musical artists of the 1950s, while her triple-threat talents as a singer, dancer and actress sustained her long after musical film’s “Golden Age” had passed.

Leslie Claire Margaret Caron was born in France on July 1, 1931. Her father, Claude Caron, was a French chemist, and her American-born mother, Margaret Petit, had been a ballet dancer back in the States during the 1920s. Leslie herself began taking dance lessons at age 11. She was on holidays at her grandparents’ estate near Grasse when the Allies landed on the 15th of August 1944. After the German rendition, she and her family went to Paris to live. There she attended the Convent of the Assumption and started ballet training. While studying at the National Conservatory of Dance, she appeared at age 14 in “The Pearl Diver,” a show for children where she danced and played a little boy. At age 16, she was hired by the renowned Roland Petit to join the Ballet des Champs-Elysees, where she was immediately given solo parts.

Leslie’s talent and reputation as a dancer had already been recognized when on opening night of Petit’s 1948 ballet “La Rencontre,” which was based on the theme of Orpheus and featured the widely-acclaimed dancer ‘Jean Babilee’, she was seen by then-married Hollywood couple Gene Kelly and Betsy Blair. Leslie did not meet the famed pair at the end of the show that night as the 17-year-old went home dutifully right after her performance, but one year later Kelly remembered Leslie’s performance when he returned to Paris in search for a partner for his upcoming movie musical An American in Paris (1951). The rest is history.

 

Lise – An American in Paris (1951)

 

 Daddy Long Legs (1955) – Sluefoot – Leslie Caron & Fred Astaire

 

Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron- An American in Paris

 

 

Fun Facts About Miss Leslie Caron

 

One of the few actresses to have danced with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in the movies, other actresses that have also done this includes Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse, Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds, and Rita Hayworth.

Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980

Was president of the jury at the ‘Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin’ in 1989.

For Peter Hall’s 30th birthday her present was – simply – a Rolls Royce.

Returned to work 3 months after giving birth to her son Christopher Hall to begin filming Gigi (1958).

Received the 2,394th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [December 2009].

Once romantically linked (1995-1996) to handsome “Laredo” actor Robert Wolders who married older actress Merle Oberon and was the companion of older actress Audrey Hepburn until her death in 1993. Leslie is five years older than Wolders.

She and her daughter, Jennifer Caron Hall, co-starred on an episode of The Love Boat (1977), in the parts of mother and daughter, both con artists, engaged in fleecing millionaires.

 

Tuesday Tunes: Michael Flatley!

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

 

 Today is the final day of our St. Patrick’s Day

celebration and what better way to end it than with…

 

 

The Lord of the Dance: Michael Flatley!

 

 

I will be a dancer until the day I die

 

Flatley is a native of the South Side of Chicago.  He is of Irish American background, being born to Irish parents. He began dancing lessons at 12 and, in 1975, became the first non-European resident to win the World Championship for Irish dance. He is a trained amateur pugilist as well as a proficient flautist, having twice won the All-Ireland Competition. In dance, Flatley was taught by Dennis Dennehy at the Dennehy School of Irish Dance in Chicago, then went on to produce his own show. After graduating from Brother Rice High School, on Chicago’s Southwest Side, he opened a dance school.

Flatley created and choreographed the original Riverdance and led the show to great success as the intermission act in the Eurovision Song Contest on April 30, 1994. Flatley then starred in the full-length show that was developed from the seven-minute number.

After the show’s first run in London, Flatley left Riverdance in late 1995 due to problems over creative control. He then produced, directed, and choreographed Lord of the Dance, which played mostly in arenas and stadiums instead of theaters. He also put together a dance production called Feet of Flames in 1998. He later went on to produce another version of that show with around 50% different numbers from the 1998 show. Titled Feet of Flames: The Victory Tour, he toured Europe in 2000 and the U.S. in 2001.

In December 2001, Flatley became the first recipient of the Irish Dancing Commission Fellowship award, an honorary degree in Irish dance, and was simultaneously made a Fellow of the American Irish Dance Teachers’ Association. Irish America magazine named Flatley Irish American of the Year in March 2003. In 2004, Flatley received an honorary doctorate degree from University College Dublin, and that same year received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York.

Flately’s latest Irish dance show is Celtic Tiger, which opened in July 2005. The show explores the history of the Irish people and Irish emigration to the U.S., fusing a wide range of dance styles, including jazz. The show also includes popular elements from his previous shows, such as Flatley’s flute solos and the line of dancers in the finale.

In 2007, The Freedom of the City of Cork was conferred on Flatley at a ceremony in Cork’s City Hall. In 2008, he was conferred with the Freedom of the Borough of Sligo at a ceremony in Sligo City Hall. The Variety Club of Ireland presented Flatley with their Entertainer of the Decade Award in 2008.

In the fall of 2007, Flatley and a troupe of male dancers performed on Dancing with the Stars in the U.S. In 2008, he appeared as a guest judge on an episode of the show, filling in for Len Goodman. Also in 2008, he performed the solo “Capone” from Celtic Tiger on the show. Flatley was also the host of the 2009 NBC series Superstars of Dance.

Flatley returned to the stage in 2009 for a limited run of the “Hyde Park” version of Feet of Flames in Taiwan. His return was met with multiple standing ovations and the run of shows had to be extended to meet the demand for tickets.

In 2010, he returned to headline the Lord of the Dance show, with performances in arenas across England and Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Lord of the Dance 3D, the film of the return tour, debuted in theaters worldwide in 2011.

Also in 2010, Flatley launched The Garden of Music and Memory in Culfadda, County Sligo, the village his father left to seek a new life in America. The ceremony included a speech and an impromptu performance of one of his father’s favorite tunes.

In 2011, he was inducted into Irish America magazine’s Irish America Hall of Fame.

Flatley released a flute album titled On A Different Note in 2011. The 25 tracks include airs and tunes he has played in his shows, other traditional tunes, and new compositions.

 

 

Rivedance! Seven minutes that started in all at the 1994 EuroVision Song Contest

 

Feet of Flames Solo 1998 London

 

Dancing with the Stars 2008

 

Fun Facts About Mr. Michael Flatley 

 

Flatley was the first American to win the World Irish Dance Championships and he also won numerous All-Ireland Flute Championships.

From 1978 to 1979 he toured with Green Fields of America, and in the 1980s he toured with The Chieftains.

He received the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship in 1988.

In May 1989, Flatley set a Guinness Book world record for tapping speed at 28 taps per second.

Flatley was named one of National Geographic Society’s Living Treasures in 1991 for mastery of a traditional art form by a living person – the youngest person at that time ever to receive this accolade.

Flatley broke his own record for tapping speed in February 1998, by achieving 35 taps per second.

Flatley also received Guinness Book recognition in both 1999 and 2000 for being the highest paid dancer, earning $1,600,000 per week and for having the highest insurance policy placed on a dancer’s legs at $40,000,000.

Tuesday Tunes: Jean Butler

by Lydia Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

 

 

It’s March! Tuesday Tunes is all about Irish Dancing and its most famous dancers!

 

           Jean Butler

 

 

 

Jean Butler was born in Mineola, New York. Her mother, Josephine, is from County Mayo in Ireland. She has an older brother, Michael, and a younger sister, Cara. 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, Donald 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.

Jean 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.

In 1994, under the invitation of producer Moya Doherty, she performed in a seven-minute intermission piece at the Eurovision Song Contest 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 Jean Butler and Flatley. The show toured for about a year. Flatley then abruptly left the show over creative control; six months later she was joined by Colin Dunne. They then danced at the famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York. This was later put on DVD. After a long and extremely successful run with the show, Butler also eventually left Riverdance.

She and Dunne (who had by then also left Riverdance) collaborated again 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.

She premiered “Does She Take Sugar?” on 12 April 2007 at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin.[10] With Colin Dunne and George Hook she is a judge on the Radio Telefís Éireann reality series Celebrity Jigs ‘n’ Reels.

She retired from active dancing in 2010.

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

 

Riverdance 1995: The Countess Cathleen

 

The Late Late Show: Tribute to Michael Flatley 1998

 

Andy’s Bar  byKila