JENNIFER's STORY
Rediscovering Who You are
“Lord, I pray, please don’t take any more of my hearing, how will I survive without music? If you must, leave me just enough to hear the tapping of dance shoes, or let me still see it in my mind, and please Lord, color my visions in shades of emerald green.” (an excerpt from a series of poems about Irish dance and Michael Flatley, written by Jennifer G.
You cannot deny your ancestry. There is some reason why my favorite color is emerald green, why my Nannie told me fairy tales, and flute music makes me cry. We all gravitate to different things that we enjoy in our lives for a reason, I think. Michael Flatley is drawn to all things Irish because of his family heritage and Celtic culture. He’s drawn to ancient history because Ireland is an ancient place full of old buildings and castles, beautiful old writings, and it possesses an ancient history of political struggle. “He IS where he came from,” so to speak, and so am I, so is everyone. He knows who he is, and thankfully, so do I. He had dancers and musicians in his family history, and followed in their footsteps, as have I, and because of his sharing and caring for others I am surer than ever before of who I am. I am proud to be a dancer, an athlete, a musical person, and a woman of Celtic descent.
When my dear Dad died a year and a half ago, (and his brother 10 months later), needless to say, I was profoundly sad. My Dad and I shared a lot of things, but the most beloved bond we had besides our love for each other was the love of Baseball. I know you’re not supposed to idolize people, and I knew then and I know now that he was not perfect, but I did idolize him, and to me he was bigger than life sometimes. Some people just are. I grew up hearing stories of Baseball, about playing in an exhibition game against the Yankees, the sorrow of lost dreams, tales of my Dad and cousins playing professionally in the forties. (89.00 a month) He was forced to give up his dream of playing ball, because of World War II. I have many good childhood memories to cherish in my heart and mind, and not only of Baseball. He was also a professional musician here in my hometown, (a guitarist) and loved his years spent singing and playing music. Similar to my Dad, and my husband of 27 years, Michael Flatley enjoys and works at a lot of things in his life, and has a good effect on many people. I think that is part of the reason why I admire so much what Michael can do with his kind of genius, he works very hard at things and is able to do many things well, to the benefit of others, like my Dad and my husband are able to do. My Dad never gave up, neither did my husband, and neither has Michael, no matter how tough it became, and that attitude will take you a very long way in life. I thank God every day for rescuing me from my sadness and turning me in another direction.
So, to me the love of dancing seems natural, having musicians and athletes in my family history. I know my love of dance comes from God, it’s a free gift, and in an almost Spiritual way, Dance chose me, I did not choose Dance. God opened that door for me to allow me to be happy again after the death of my father, and to fill up the emptiness that I felt. Dance involves athletic ability and rhythmic and musical understanding, which is something I love and can relate to, and which also happily reminds me of my father. I think Einstein was right, “All things are relative.” Many things overlap, as in dancing, music, and athletics. I am drawn to dancing mostly though because it is one of the most beautiful sort of Artforms that exists, and I see dancing and Art in sports, which I love. I would love dancing whether I knew anything about it or not though, I think, because Michael Flatley is such a phenomenal dancer, and someone to be admired for his great talent. He makes any kind of dancing a thing of sheer beauty and a wonderful escape from the trials of life. He is the most unique performer I have ever seen, very graceful, athletic, creative, innovative and strong in every aspect of his dancing. God uses people as He uses Angels to help us see what we are supposed to be doing, where we are supposed to be going and down which particular road. God is the reason I am a dancer today, Michael Flatley and my husband are the motivation, encouragement, and example, and dance is a big part of my happiness now.
I felt so empty after the loss of my Father, I began looking for something to take me out of my tears and I remembered hearing in the mid nineties, I believe, that Michael Flatley had performed his Irish dancing here in my city. I began to think of how much I loved the sound of Irish music and about my Celtic background, and recalled thinking (a long time ago), about pursuing it some day in the future. I was very busy with my three babies at that time and hardly had time to turn around, much less to dance. I had always been interested in geneaology and family history, and I knew my descendants came from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England, and for that reason I never really wondered why I was so drawn to the sound of bagpipes, flute music, violins and Irish dancing. It’s only natural I think if that’s where you come from. You cannot deny your heritage, you know? So I began to listen to his music and dancing every day on the internet, and eventually found Michael Flatley.com, and then actually began to study what a fantastic dancer and artist he really is. My spirits were lifted to a new level. Very shortly I bought a video tape of Irish dance instruction and that was it, I was hooked for life. I used to say jokingly to my coaching friends, “yes, just put an I.V. in my arm.” (meaning a constant stream of baseball.) Now I feel this way about Irish dancing and Flamenco. I never thought I could stand up to a rigorous workshop with Timo Lozano, (Maestro of Flamenco Dance) The King of the Bulerias, but I did, and with no pain at all. All I had to do was take what Michael Flatley had taught me and I did well, even keeping up with 4 other professional dancers in the class. I can’t tell you what that did for my self esteem. Then I bought Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, the CD’S, Michael Flatley Gold, and when I saw him talk, heard his philosophy, internalized the way he aggressively and intelligently approaches life and works through all the pitfalls, listened to the confidence in his voice and attitude, I knew I had at least found some of the answers to my weaknesses and sadness. Michael Flatley reminds me some of my Dad and husband. God revealed something to me through an artist, someone who enjoys sharing his love of Art with others, even with people he has never seen or met before. He has a generous heart, and after thinking through what he had to say about hardships, I knew then that I could dance as much as I wanted to. Even at my age, I had not quite fully realized who I was until I got into dance. Now I know, completely. I have redefined who I am at 52 years of age.
Michael Flatley’s natural ability and love for dancing fascinates me and motivates me to accept any and all challenges, and to practice all I can. He has elevated Irish dancing to the “Classical” level as easily as modern day Ball players hit homeruns. He makes the most difficult and intricate things look as easy as George Brett driving a 95 mph fastball all the way to the fence. The depth of his Art is really hard to measure. It’s such a mixture of so many things. When he is on stage, “He is as beautiful as a Michelangelo statue.” His fluid motions, gracefulness, flawless mechanics and the evenness of his steps are truly unsurpassed by any other dancer, and he has been an influence on numerous other dancers, and on me. He radiates confidence in what he does, and he has an eye for perfection, the key components in all of his beautiful shows. He makes me want to practice for the rest of my life. His style is a standard now, Irish dance is what it is today because of his contributions and his courage to interpret dance the way he wanted to and in the way that God created it to be, within him. The drama he brings is very moving. God has blessed him with one of the most lovely ways for a human being to express themselves, through the Art of dancing, and I have tapped into a little of that, and for that reason, I am very blessed.
From listening to the music and watching Michael dance, I recalled my Dad telling me that “If you want to be good at something you have to become a fanatic.” My Dad is right, and Michael is right, and he demonstrates it in his tremendous work ethic. My Dad played pro baseball at age 16, the youngest player playing at that time professionally, and Michael was “World class,” in his teens, (phenomenal) you don’t get there any other way but through hard work coupled with natural-giftedness, given of God. Michael Flatley is certainly a fanatic about his passion, dancing, and his work proves this idea to be true, you have to practice a lot to be good at what you are attempting to master, you have to put your whole self into it. Life is what you make it, in my opinion, therefore you get out of it what you put into it for the most part.
The discipline of dancing has helped me with my balance and hearing loss. Michael Flatley helped me to learn some lessons about happiness, how to find it, and how to progress in that happiness, and most of all he helps people to never give up on their dreams and to have faith. Just as my Dad was forced through circumstances to give up playing ball, I gave up Baseball and coaching also with reluctance and grief. It was just too painful after he died. My Dad kept to his faith and God surely opened another door for him in the music business, and made another way for him to be happy and fulfilled. God has opened many doors for me since he died and dancing is the one that is key for me at this point in my life. I never feel sad when dancing and it ties in with so many other things that I cherish like music and athletics. I always pray that when Michael Flatley retires, if ever, God will open a new door for him and give him another artistic medium, some other way to be around Dance and Art, and I believe He will.
To conclude, I would like to give a personal thank you to my husband, who really does spoil me so much, and lets me do almost anything I want. Without him encouraging me and giving me freedom in our relationship and allowing me to grow and change, I would never have become a dancer, and because he loves me, faults and all, I have bettered my life and outlook. Thank you to Michael Flatley for helping me to alter my life, for aiding me in seeing through my tears what life could still be, and for helping me to view the open door and courageously walk through it. Michael, thank you for teaching me how to escape and get lost in something healthy and extremely beautiful, thank you for showing me how to expand my mind, and for showing me how to dance. At 52 years old, an older woman with arthritis, (thankfully mostly just in my hands) asthma, hearing impairment, vertigo, etc. etc., I would never have thought that I could do any dancing, Flamenco, Irish, or otherwise. I will never be World Class, (at least not in this world,) but I am a dancer none the less, I am out there, doing the best I can and loving it. Seeing you still so vibrant, athletic, and flexible at 48, gives me a lot of hope. I won’t run through my entire litany of trials that Satan has made for me, and everyone has them, but I will say arthritis is the most debilitating, and the loss of some of my hearing definitely is the most scary of all. I started dancing in spite of my arthritis doctor’s advice, and consequently, the complete opposite of what he expected has happened. I feel a lot less pain, I’ve lost weight and gained muscle, I am more flexible, have more range of motion, and the psychological and emotionally healing benefits are astounding. I am never sad or in pain when I am dancing whether at home practicing, at class, or on stage. My life has been transformed and my outlook has changed dramatically because of Michael’s way of seeing things and his willingness to share his thoughts and feelings with others, and more especially, to offer the world his gift of dancing artistry. I have taken lots of his advice about life and have learned how to fight back and be happy anyway, regardless of what the devil throws at me. I will never stop dancing and enjoying my life now. God bless you and keep you Michael, may you always appreciate your marvelous talent, and in sincere Christian affection, I wish you all the best.
I know Michael Flatley probably believes that experience is the best teacher, I do, and I’ll always remember what George Harrison said once, in a song, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” It’s food for thought. Thanks to Michael Flatley’s influence, a lot of hours of hard work, and the love of my family, I am very sure my Dad would be proud of me.
Jennifer G.
The "Yellow Rose" is my dance name. My husband gave me that name, because he brought me 2 dozen yellow roses to my first legitimate show, and called me this name afterwards, and after all, I am from Texas.