Ireland
Step Dancing
July 2006, Dublin
Image: Michael Flately’s Lord of the dance
Hello from Ireland. We are currently in Ireland’s capital city, Dublin, learning all about step dancing. It is called step dancing because you move to the beat of the music. It involves lots of different rhythmic sounds which are created by using the ball, heel and toe of the foot. First of all you learn the soft shoe dances. More experienced dancers perform hard dances such as the Hornpipe, Treble Jog and Traditional Set Dances and use hard shoes with a kind of tap on the toe and heel.
There are four basic Irish step dances including the Reel, Jig, Slip Jig and Hornpipe and there are many, many variations of these depending on where you study. As beginners we are learning the “threes and sevens” which is the foundation of all the steps. Throughout the dance, you hold your arm stiffly at the side of the body although we learnt today that hand movement does happen in some of the group dances. Did you know that Slip jig is a woman only dance? When they perform it, the women wear elaborately embroidered colourful dresses. The embroidery is often made of Celtic symbols and it is common for the girls to curl their hair into ringlets. Traditionally when men perform they wear kilts which are an ancient Celtic male garment.
Step dancing competitions are very common in Ireland – they are called a feis pronounced “Fesh”. Regional competitions are called Oireachtas pronounced “o-rach-tas”. Irish step dancing can be traced back to 18th century rural Ireland. During this period, stages were very much smaller – table tops and doors were often used and in those days dance masters (teachers) tested the skill of their students by making them dance on the top of barrels and sometimes soaped tables! Dance masters were teachers who travelled around teaching the dances.
Last night we were lucky enough to go and see a performance of Riverdance, a show full of Irish step dancing. The routines we saw involved complex sequences of kicks and leaps with very precise timing. The dancers must have practised for hours as they were all exactly in time with each other. Did you know, Riverdance started off in Ireland over ten years ago and is now so successful that it has three separate companies performing the show all over the world?
Take care
