What exactly is Irish dancing?
As the name itself suggests, it is a type of dancing that comes from the „Green Island”. Irish dancing is widespread around the world today and it is very popular, especially in connection with Irish music, which - just like the dance itself - is lively and energetic.
Many people’s idea of Irish dancing is that of (connected with) popular dance shows such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. The fact is that there are several other dance forms included in the term Irish dancing.
You can compete in Irish dancing, perform or just dance for fun with a group of friends. There are solo and group dances, which also differ in style. In one style you have to dance with straight back and arms by your side, on your toes and crossing your legs as much is possible, in other style you can do the opposite - shuffle your feet on the floor and have your body and arms absolutely relaxed. To every style there are different shoes to wear.
Irish dancing is „open“ to all people who love dancing. It doesn’t matter what your age, height or weight is. Sometimes, it is a really hard work and, especially at the beginning, the strain on the lower limbs is quite unusual, but Irish dancing is by all means very entertaining and anybody can truly enjoy it!
History
The Vikings destroyed most books from the 7th and 8th century. So little is known about Irish dance history before then. The Viking raids ended in 1014 when Feisianna began. A Feisianna was the combination of a trade fair, political gathering and cultural event. It also had sporting events, story telling, crafts, music and dance. During the 12th century Celtic traditions declined. In 1366 the Statute of Kilkenny was decreed imposing heavy penalties against anyone practicing Irish customs. Dance declined for a while then continued on in secret.
During the 16th and 17th centuries “crossroads dancing” became very popular. The clergy condemned “crossroads dancing” so the Gaelic League introduced the first Ceili in 1697. This let dancers dance indoors under supervision. The Ceili was not held in Ireland but in London. Traditional Irish culture continued in secrecy until the 1700s. Around 1750 less strict attitudes allowed Irish dance to flourish. Dance was taught by Dance Masters. A Dance Master would travel around the country staying in villages to teach dance steps. Having a dance teacher staying in your village was cause for pride and boasting by the community.
In 1929 the Irish Dancing Commission was founded to make rules in teaching, judging and competitions. It is still around today. In the 1930s and 40s enthusiasm was low due to immigration and unemployment and interest in music was down.
In the time of the Dance Masters and secrecy, dancers performed on tables and barrel tops. By the 20th century, stages were being built for competitions. New steps like flying leaps requiring more space were introduced.
In the 20th century dance instruction begins at an early age. Girls rarely danced solos before the 1920s. Dance styles also changed, arms and hands were not always held rigid during solo dances. Hands were more relaxed and usually on their waists. It was said that Parish priests considered rigid arms less provocative and were said to increase a girl's self control.
Soft shoes were introduced in 1924 for girls. Boys used them for a while but quit in the 1970s. Hard shoes have also changed in style and technology. Dancers now use fiberglass toe tips and hollow heels. Previously, nails were used to make sound. Bubble Heels were invented around 1985 and were prohibited at the Feisianna (http://library.thinkquest.org).
Irish dance styles
Step Dancing
STEP DANCING is a competitive form of Irish solo dancing, which is very popular especially thanks to Irish dance shows such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. It is danced in soft shoes or hard shoes.
In the past (at end of the 18th century), steps were created by Irish dance masters. They travelled from town to town and taught basic dance combinations to all those, who were interested and could afford it. Dance masters often adapted dances to the appropriate traditional music and layed foundation to most of the traditional dances that we know today – ceilí, step dancing and set dancing. Steps were influenced by different dance movements and foot beats - called battering - that were used for enhancing the rhythm. People used to dance on confined space and, for example, at the competition dancers used to show their performance at a table or a similar small stage.
Written rules and guidelines which define contemporary step dancing were established in the 20‘s of the last century and gave foundation to the competition judging. The emphasis in the early style for step was on close form and posture - legs kept together, with no high kicks or turning. That was changed during the 50‘s and 60‘s mainly thanks to larger stages which allowed to show progressive steps, lead arounds, the sevens and the threes as well as spins, all of which we know so well today.
Steps in Irish step dancing are original with each school or dance teacher. They are invented by Irish dance teachers for their students. Every dance is created from basic elements, or steps, but whole dance composition is unique. These dances are still developing.
Every step, in soft shoes as well as in hard shoes, is a sequence of feet, legs and jump movements which takes exactely 8 bars (in music) on „right leg“ after which the same sequence is repeated on „left leg“. Hard shoes steps include additional clicks (heels beat together), trebles (beats of toes in forward and backward movement), stals (distinctive beat with whole foot to the floor) and increasing number of other complicated combinations of toe and heel beats.
Step dances are danced on four levels – Beginners, Primary, Intermediate and Open – in different rhythms of traditional Irish music – reel, jig and hornpipe.
Basic step dances are: Reel, Light jig, Slip jig, Single jig, Treble (heavy) jig, Hornpipe, Set dance.
Reel – music in 2/4 or 4/4 time. From dancer’s view it is the most basic dance in soft shoes. Usually, it is learnt first and includes basic step combinations, which are then being developed in the other basic dances.
Light (double) jig – music in 6/8 time. Fast tempo. It is the second basic music and dance rhythm. Typical step combinations are „Rise and Grind“ and „Sink and Grind“, the jig steps. Due to the speed of the music, this type of dance rarely includes high jumps. On the contrary, the emphasis is put on sharpness in steps and opened position.
Single jig – music in 6/8 time. Again, it is in fast tempo but slightly different (lighter) rhythm from Light jig. There are plenty hops to see.
Slip jig – music in 9/8, rarely in 12/8 time. This dance is danced only in soft shoes. For it’s lightness and grace it is sometimes dubbed Irish ballet. With the exception of exams, only ladies mostly dance it.
Heavy/Treble/Double jig – music is in 6/8 time as with Light jig and Single jig, but speed is much slower, because it is a hard shoe dance, which can be very fast. Usually it is taught as the first hard shoe dance.
Hornpipe – music is in 4/4 or 2/4 time. It is probably the most difficult rhythm and it is danced in hard shoes. Every beat has its place, whether it’s danced by beginners or advanced dancers. Once the dancer understands and masters this complicated rhythm, hornpipe is guaranteed to become his/her favorite hard shoe dance.
Set Dance –is a hard shoe solo dance. It is consist of two parts – step, which is danced from right and left leg; and set, which has the same length or is longer than step and is not repeated on the other leg. A teacher creates a set dance on special music (list of 38 dances is given by An Coimisiún) in jig or hornpipe rhythm. Every dance also has different length and, depending on difficulty of steps, there is a choice of speed as well. The interesting fact of these dances is, that not all of them fit into 8-bar pattern. So for example, a part of the tune can sometimes be 6 bars long, sometimes 14 bars and so on. Set dance is showed by Open dancers on championships, when they get recall (the pass to the final round) from the first two rounds (hard shoes + soft shoes).
NOTE: The same name, Set dances, is also linked to a completely different kind of Irish dancing. In this case, they are social dances. Their characteristics is described below.
Traditional Set dance – sconsists of two parts – step, which is danced from right and left leg; and set. Music and steps of every dance were determined by dance masters in the past and they were handed over under the patronage of An Coimisiún as a part of rich history of step dancing. That’s why they are called traditional. These dances are the same at every school with possible slight differences in technique execution and few versions at the end parts of some sets. They are danced to the tune with the same name. These dances are at the beginners and primary level and their speed is quite fast. Basic dances in this category are: St. Patrick’s Day, The Blackbird, Job of Journeywork and Garden of Daisies, followed by King of the Fairies, Jockey to the Fair and Three Sea Captains, which are not performed very often.
Ceilí Dances
CEILÍ DANCES (pronounced [‘keili:]) are danced in soft shoes and they perfectly suit social events with live music accompaniment! Irish word ceilí originally referred to a gathering of neighbors in a house to have an enjoyable time, dancing, playing music and storytelling. Today it refers to an informal evening of dancing. The céili can be traced back to a time when dancing at the crossroads was a popular rural pastime, usually on a Sunday evening in the summer. Some ceilí dances got their names from the traditional Irish tunes which they are danced to, some of them are named after the region, where they were discovered and some of them express a kind of the rhythm or size of the dance. Most of the ceilí dances can be danced to any tune of appropriate rhythm (jig or reel). Ceilí dances were strongly influenced by French quadrilles and most of them are danced in the same formation, but still a lot of them are danced in long lines, circles, or different size sets, in couples and trios. Dance steps are basic soft shoe steps (one-two-threes, sevens, threes). Ceilí dances were standardized in An Coimisiún book - Ár Rince Fóirne (a book of thirty popular ceilí dances), as a sample of typical Irish folk dances that dancers can compete in. Appropriate detailed knowledge of these dances is required at every Irish dance exam. Most ceilí dances are considerably shortened at feisanna because of the time limitation requirement. In actual fact, there exist many more ceilí dances than just the thirty. Some of the better-known dances that are not presented in the book of thirty popular dances are: Every Men Chance, 2-Hand Country Dance, An Lasair Reel or Jubilee Jig.
LIST OF DANCES THAT APPEAR IN ÁR RINCE FÓIRNE:
4-HANDS: The Four-Hand Reel, Humours of Bandon; 6-HANDS: Glencar Reel, The Fairy Reel, The Duke Reel; 8-HANDS: Eight-Hand Reel, Morris Reel, High-Cauled Cap, Eight-Hand Jig, The Three Tunes, St. Patrick’s Day, Trip to the Cottage, The Cross Reel, The Gates of Derry, The Sweets of May; ROUND DANCES: Sixteen-Hand Reel, An Rince Mór, Lannigan’s Ball, Bonfire Dance; LONG DANCES: The Walls of Limerick, Siege of Ennis, Harvest-Time Jig, Rince Fada, The Bridge of Athlone, Haste to the Wedding, The Siege of Carrick, Antrim reel, Heymakers Jig, The Waves of Tory, The Rakes of Mallow
Figure Dances
FIGURE DANCES do not belong in traditional dances from the book, but they are choreographies created by individual Irish dance teachers and therefore there is an original dance composition at every school. Figure dances are specific for changeover from one shape to another. It is the only Irish dance style, where it is allowed to use different arm movements. At the local feis you can find figure dances for two or three dancers – so called “Two-hand“ or “Three-hand“ reel. Figure Team dances, which can be seen on major championships, must have 8-16 dancers and have to portray an Irish theme or item by movements. Choreographies are undemanding on steps – basic steps are recommended, however precision and rhythm is very important, as the dancers should give impression as a whole. The dance has to be in 2/4, 4/4, 6/8 time or a combination of those times and each change of music must last at least 16 bars. It cannot exceed 4 minutes and all dancers of the team have to dance through the whole dance. A story of 200 words or less must be submitted and read by the stage steward prior to the start of the dance.
Set Dancing
SET DANCING is a social dancing form, which has been very popular in Ireland for over 150 years. Sets are usually danced by four couples, which stand in a square shape and consist of three to six figures with short breaks in between. Every figure can be in a different rhythm - polka, reel, jig, hornpipe, slide – but only one rhythm is assigned to each figure. Dancers use various steps in figures – for example the so-called battering – the style of these steps differs according to the part of Ireland the dance comes from. Also, that’s where many of these dances get their name from, e.g. The Newport Set or Claire Lancers Set.
Set dancing originates from French quadrilles, which where brought to Ireland by marching army soldiers after Napoleonic wars in the 19th century. Irish dancers adapted dance figures into their traditional music and steps, which provide dances with great drive and enjoyment. After the decline in the 50’s and 60’s, set dances became very popular again in Ireland and Irish communities around the world.
Sean-Nós
SEAN-NÓS means „old style“ in Irish language. Sean-nós dancing is antecedent to today‘s well-known Irish step dancing. It is a solo dancing form based on improvisation into Irish traditional music. It originally came from Connemara, on the west cost of Ireland, and is characterized by battering – tap dance style, which often includes intensive rhythm, keen musicality, improvisation, playful performance quality, and free, impressive utilization of the upper body. Sean-nós dancing can be described as an improvised, relatively quiet accompaniment to live traditional band. Dancers wear the same shoes as for set dancing.