This last six months

What an extraordinary year this has been so far. Excuse me not having kept the news up-to-date on a regular basis – there simply hasn’t been time. So, the family headed to the incomparable Cruit Island off the Donegal coast for Christmas. I did take Christmas day off, but continued working on the opera whilst…

100 fiddles, 55° north

The North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, NAFCO, was held in Derry in 2012 and I was commissioned to write a piece for 100 young fiddle-players from Nova Scotia, Sweden, Shetland, Orkney, mainland Scotland and from all over Ireland. The end product was a four-movement, fifteen minute suite, and the performance those young musicians gave still rings…

“this is an Irish dance” The New Yorker review

“Butler and Martin engage in an intense, affectionate, sometimes flirtatious musical conversation. Butler is an extraordinary dancer, the accent of her dancing is distinctly Irish. Her footwork is light and crisp—she skitters across the floor, like a butterfly skimming the surface of a lake.” Marina Hass The New Yorker Jean Butler’s last Danspace commission, hurry…

“this is an Irish dance”

Tuesday, November 17 – Saturday, November 21 at Danspace Project, 131 East 10th Street. The world premier of celebrated dancer/choreographer/GIH faculty member Jean Butler’s new duet, this is an Irish dance, created with Belfast-based cellist Neil Martin in co-presentation of Danspace Project, Irish Arts Center, and Project Arts Centre, Dublin, unearths this iconic artist’s roots by…

Magical clouds in Vermont

Magical clouds in Vermont, where Jean Butler & myself float off in rehearsal on our dance piece. NYC – Nov – be there! Tuesday, November 17 – Saturday, November 21 at Danspace Project, 131 East 10th Street. The world premier of celebrated dancer/choreographer/GIH faculty member Jean Butler’s new duet, this is an Irish dance, created with…