A wooden board on a busy Nashville sidewalk doesn’t look like much. But when the Gardiner Brothers step onto it in cowboy boots to perform an Irish dance to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” you know something good is about to happen.
Matthew and Michael Gardiner are known all over the world for their fast feet. The Gardiner Brothers were born in Denver, Colorado, to Irish parents and later moved to Galway, Ireland. They didn’t just learn traditional Irish dance. They mastered it and won five World Championship titles between them. They have always been very clear about their mission as performers. They often tell the media, “We want to show the world how versatile, modern and athletic Irish dancing is.”
Now based in Nashville, they travel the globe, taking this historic style of dance and mixing it with modern music. For this Nashville Broadway street performance, they brought along two talented female dancers and decided to pay tribute to a country music legend.
They chose Dolly Parton’s famous 1973 hit “Jolene.” The song is a desperate plea from a woman asking a beautiful rival not to take her man. It is a story of real heartbreak, but the beat is fast and driving. The four dancers stand side by side in cowboy hats. When the acoustic guitar intro plays, their feet start flying in perfect unison. Every tap and click on that wooden board hits exactly on the beat.
The four dancers start their fast-paced, synchronized footwork on that small wooden board right in front of the giant Hard Rock Cafe guitar sign in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
Their feet move incredibly fast, but their upper bodies stay perfectly still. That is the signature style of traditional Irish dance. Their boots stay locked to that famous guitar-picking track. It takes an incredible amount of stamina and practice to pull off this routine at such speed. The crowd around them starts to notice the loud, rhythmic energy. You can see the pure concentration on their faces as they nail every single step in perfect harmony.
Every day, we are living right in the middle of frightening news. But this group of performers set out to spread joy to others through their talent. We need to be people who make others happy just like that. Sometimes it might be through your words or a song or a dance. If you have that chance, do not step back. The very skills we think are small might be the exact thing that helps someone else smile and forget their pain. As 1 Peter 4:10 tells us, we should use whatever gift we have received to serve others. God gave you your abilities to be a blessing. So go ahead and share that joy with the people around you today.
WATCH: Gardiner Brothers’ Stunning Irish Dance Routine to Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’
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