Kitty O'Neil

Kitty O'Neil (1855 – April 16, 1893) was one of the most celebrated American variety theatre dancers of the late 19th century. From around 1863 until 1892, she performed in New York City, Boston and elsewhere in the United States, and at her death was acclaimed by The New York Times as "the best female jig dancer in the world." O'Neil's name is remembered today chiefly because of "Kitty O'Neil's Champion", a "sand jig" named in her honor that was first published in 1882 and revived starting in the 1970s by fiddler Tommy Peoples and other Irish traditional musicians.