History of Irish dance -- Part 2

Irish dance was seen throughout the countryside from the 16th to 18th centuries. Dancers would perform on the docks while ships sailed in, welcoming English soldiers and travelers to the country.

Dancers also performed at wakes and funerals. It was not uncommon to have Irish dancers dance in a circle around the coffin to bagpipe music.

During the 18th century, Irish villages became home to traveling "dance masters". These men traveled from village to village within a county, teaching the peasant children and adults Irish dances. These dance masters, dressed in brightly colored clothes, would spend a few days in villages throughout a county, living in the home of a peasant and teaching the rest of the village his own set of Irish dance steps and dances.

To help keep the attention of his students, dance masters often developed group dances that could be performed by the peasants. Also to accommodate individual, solo dancers, villagers would often take doors off of their hinges in order to provide these people with a more stable dancing surface.

Each dance master has his own distinct district within a county. No dance master was allowed to teach in another’s territory. They often challenged each other to dance competitions at fairs and gatherings. The winner was, literally, the last man standing.

Dance masters are the beginnings of today’s Irish dance teachers and schools. Just like each dance master had his own distinct district, many schools have their own areas in which they teach. It is amazing that something as simple as modern-day Irish dance teachers developed from 18th century dance masters. It just goes to show how truly timeless the basic concepts of Irish dance are.


Sources:

Flynn, Arthur. (1999). Irish Dance – The History of Irish Dance. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from http://www.irelandseye.com/dance.html

Lynn Academy. (2005). The History of Irish Dance. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from http://www.lynnacademy.com/history.htm

History of Irish dance -- Part 1

Irish dance has one of the most unique histories of any art form that I have ever encountered. No one is really sure of how it originated, but many historians have found early references to dances that Druids performed to worship trees and the sun.

The Druid dances are the most primitive form of Irish dance. After the Normans conquered Ireland during the 12th century, the Norman influences began to emerge throughout the Irish culture, including their dances. According to historians, after Normans would conquer an Irish town or village, they would perform a dance called “The Carol”, in which the leader would stand in the middle of his followers and sing, while the ring of people danced around him.

It wasn’t until the 16th century that there is a clearer history of Irish dance throughout Ireland. At this time, there were three main dances performed by the Irish. These dances are the Irish Hey, the Rinnce Fada or Long Dance, and the Trenchmore. During the 16th century, Ireland was a colony of England and it was not uncommon for the royals to invite Irish dancers over to England to perform for them. In fact, Queen Elizabeth of England frequently invited Irish dancers to her court to perform for her friends and family.

To me, this is the most interesting part of the history of Irish dance. This is the framework for the beautiful dances we have today. To think that this tradition has lasted for thousands of years, through famine and strife, is truly amazing and continually makes me proud to be able to continue the tradition.


Sources:
Flynn, Arthur. (1999). Irish Dance – The History of Irish Dance. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from http://www.irelandseye.com/dance.html

Lynn Academy. (2005). The History of Irish Dance. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from http://www.lynnacademy.com/history.htm

A Little About Me

Hi everyone! My name is Jackie and I am student at Rowan University. For one of my classes at school we have to write a blog on any topic that interests us. I chose Irish dance.

I have been Irish dancing for about ten years with the Peter Smith School of Irish Dance in New Jersey. Like so many other Irish dancers, my first influence was Riverdance. I will never forget the first day I saw it. My mom bought it at the store and made me watch it with her one rainy afternoon. I was less than thrilled, but sucked it up and watched it anyway. Little did I know that that movie would have such an impact on my life. I was instantly hooked and within a year started attending Irish dance classes.

Since then I have won a bunch of regional, national, and world championship medals, including winning the Ladies Over 16 ceili competition at the 2006 North American Irish Dance Championships. (I’ll explain what a ceili is later.) I’ve traveled around the world and met some of my best friends through dance. It’s given me such amazing opportunities while keeping me connected with my Irish heritage.

I thought it would be interesting to write my blog on Irish dance to share what I have learned about the history and workings of Irish dance, and to give others an opportunity to hopefully become hooked too. Hopefully this blog will be informative and give you a chance to see Irish dance as more than something people do on St. Patrick’s day.