Remembering Rachel Hennelly

It was in the summer of 1991 when I first saw Rachel Hennelly perform, at the New York Renaissance Festival (now called the Renaissance Faire) in the town of Tuxedo in upstate New York.  She juggled bowling pins and gaily mugged for children as she strolled the grounds.  I generally found the Renaissance Festival less than satisfying, but I remember how much I liked Rachel.  I went back to the fair the following summer just to see her.  

This time Rachel was juggling swords and plates, standing in the middle of a field while an adoring audience that included yours truly watched, completely captivated by her charm . . . and her humor.  As she prepared to throw a sword in the air, she told the audience not to try such a stunt . . . unless they had insurance. 😀

Over the years, Rachel would reappear in my travels.  She'd be mentioned in a theater review for her acting  performances.  She'd perform at the Meadowlands Fair in New Jersey.  I'd see her juggle again in Central Park in New York, and then I'd see her perform a marionette act; the string puppets she used were her own creations.  I even got to meet her once, which I documented once in a post on this blog from August 2003.  She was a beautiful woman and a beautiful person.  People wanted to be around her when she performed her magic with hoops and swords or with marionettes, and they wanted to be around her when she was not performing.

Rachel Hennelly died on October 20, 2022, at the age of 62.  She had been battling cancer for two years and had already beaten the odds for having lasted that long, but while being moved from a hospital to a rehabilitation center, she contracted COVID and her fight was soon over.  Her brother Robert Hennelly, an esteemed journalist, wrote a warm tribute to her on the NJ Insider Web site, and it is required reading for anyone who has ever lost a family member and had to deal with grief.  

It was Robert Hennelly who made me aware of her sister's death.  He mentioned me on Twitter after having found my August 2003 blog post when he searched her name online and expressed his appreciation for my 19-year-old comments - but he did not say what prompted him to find and read my blog post.  I was thus prompted to search her name online myself, which I did . . . and when I found out she had died, I felt like I'd had the wind knocked out of me.

She was thirty-one years old when I first saw her.  Neither one of us could have known that her life - a life full of energy and vitality - was already half over. 😟

I only knew Rachel as a fan, and I could never feel her loss as much as her siblings do, but my appreciation of her multiple talents made me feel love for her and joy for her efforts to help make the world a better place.  Anyone who had the good fortune to watch her dance, juggle, or put on a marionette show felt the same love for her that she gave to her audiences.  There are very few performing artists who inspire so much love and can reciprocate it in kind, and Rachel Hennelly was certainly one of them.

Which is why those of us loved her art and loved her feel so sad now.

I stopped seeing Rachel in my travels after awhile.  I went to the area of Central Park where I had once seen her marionette act, hoping to catch her show again, but other street performers had taken up that space.  I still thought about her from time to time.   The night I was informed of her death, I  went to bed feeling numb.  As I lied there, I wanted to cry. 😢

For those who missed Rachel's performances, her brother Chris uploaded this video of her as the "Artful Juggler" on YouTube.  Please watch it.