March 14
Born Today:
Jean Butler
American-born Irish step dancer Jean Butler (1971-) is best known for originating the lead female role in the stage show Riverdance (1995). Butler began studying Irish dance seriously at the age of nine and won competitions and championships throughout her youth and later toured with musical group The Chieftains. She, along with co-choreographer Michael Flatley (1958-), performed a short piece entitled Riverdance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The dance was a raging success and was immediately lengthened into a full-length show of the same name, which toured internationally for several years and resulted in a resurgence of interest in Irish dance.
Also Born Today: Dance critic Walter Terry (1913-1982) wrote for the Boston Herald, Dance Magazine, and the New York Herald Tribune and wrote several books on dance, including The Dance in America (1971). Russian ballerina Galina Samsova (1937-2021) danced with the Kiev Opera Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, and the London Festival Ballet from 1964–1973. She later directed the Scottish Ballet from 1991–1997. Italian choreographer Amedeo Amodio (1940-) founded Aterballetto in 1979 and directed the company until 1996. Ballet dancer Patrick Dupond (1959-2021) performed with the Paris Opera Ballet and later directed the company. Contemporary dancer Jennifer Monson (1961-) works with themes of dance and the environment and she “proposes that choreography itself is an archival practice for environmental phenomena”.