I miss Irish dancing terribly. I have stepped it out for a lot of years. I miss teaching it as well. This will be the first year where I haven’t performed on St. Patricks day for at least 5 years.
So in honor of the Step here are a few facts
Irish dance is a traditional dance form originating in Ireland. Irish dance can be divided into social dance and performance dances. While Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí (said kay-lee) and set dancing. Irish set dances which are danced by 4 couples arranged in a square, while céilí dances are danced by varied formations of couples of 2 to 16 people. In addition to their formation, there are significant stylistic differences between these two forms of social dance. Irish social dance is a living tradition and variations in particular dances are found across the Irish dance community.
Irish performance dancing is traditionally referred to as stepdance. Irish stepdance, popularized the show "Riverdance," known for its rapid leg movements with the body and arms being kept largely stationary. The solo stepdance is generally characterized by a controlled but not rigid upper body, straight arms, and quick, precise movements of the feet. The solo dances can either be in "soft shoe" or hard shoe".
Soft shoe dances include the reel, slip jig, light jig and single jig . Reels have a 4/4 (or sometimes 2/4 or 2/2) time signature. Slip jigs are in 9/8 time. Light and single jigs are in 6/8 time, with different emphasis within the measure distinguishing the music. Hard shoe dances include the hornpipe in 2/4 time, the hard jig (also called the treble jig) in a slow 6/8, the treble reel and traditional sets, which are a group of 36 dances with set music and steps. Many traditional sets have irregular musical phrasing. There are also more advanced "non-traditional sets" done by advanced dancers. These have set music, but not steps.
The dancing traditions of Ireland probably grew with Irish traditional music. Originating in Pre-Christian Ireland, Irish dance was later influenced by dance forms from the Continent, especially the Quadrille.
As Irish people emigrate all over the world, they took their cultural traditions with them. Many people think that Sean-nós dancing have influenced various other forms of traditional solo dance, especially those found in areas with strong Irish communities. Historically, it is likely that sean-nós dance influenced the development of many American and Canadian traditional percussive dance forms, such as buck dancing, flatfooting, clogging, and tap dancing.
Irish social, or céilí (pronounced kay-lee) dances vary widely throughout Ireland and the rest of the world. A céilí is a social gathering featuring Irish music and dance. Céilí dancing is a specific type of Irish dance. A céilí dance may be performed with as few as two people and as many as sixteen. Céilí dances may also be danced with an unlimited number of couples in a long line or proceeding around in a circle. Céilí dances are often fast and complex. In a social setting, a céilí dance may be "called" -- that is, the upcoming steps are announced during the dance for the benefit of newcomers. Sound familiar?
There are two types of shoes. The first is the soft shoe, otherwise known as ghillies (pronounced gill-ee), and Hard shoes for the heavy dances, such as horn pipe---- The hard shoe is similar to tap shoes, except that the tips and heels are made of fiberglass, instead of metal. The soft shoes, which are called ghillies, resembles a ballet shoe except there is no hard toe box, the ribbons are exchanged for laces, and the pink for black. Gillies are only worn by girls, while boys wear a black leather shoe called a reel shoe, which resembles a black jazz shoe with a hard heel. Boy's soft-shoe dancing features audible heel clicks.
Below is ballet vs. Irish
Guess Whos legs?
Several generations ago, the appropriate dress for a competition was simply your "Sunday Best”. In the 1970s and 1980s, ornately embroidered dresses became popular. Today even more ornamentation is used on girls' dresses, including lace, sequins, silk, extensive embroidery, feathers, faux fur and more. Irish Dancing schools have school dresses, which are worn by "Beginner" through "Novice" dancers. When dancers reach a level decided by their school, may get a solo dress of their own design and colors. Solo dresses can range from 500 to 3000 dollars. Today most women and girls curl their hair or wear a wig for a competition or feis (pronounced fesh), because traditionally in Ireland girls had nicely curled ringlets. Today most men wear a shirt, vest, and tie assigned by their school paired with black trousers or a kilt. But when they get into the higher levels, as the girls do, they get to pick their own vest, shirt and tie.
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