All about Irish/Folk Dancing by Sean Liu.
Solo or not?
Solo
Irish dancing can either be both. When Irish dancing first started it was rituals in groups. But as it has evolved into just footwork. I will show you some examples of both!
Group
The rhythm and music behind Irish Dancing.
The beat behind Irish dancing solely depended on the beat of the steps used in the dance. So the instruments would play differently depending on how the choreographer decided on the dance. The instruments used were the Reels, Jigs, Slip Jigs, and Hornpipes.
The History of Irish/Folk dancing.
Irish dancing was recognized by the world around the 16th century. We know this because in 1569 Sir Henry Sidney who was the former king of Ireland. Sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth talking about his love for Irish Jigs.
When the Celts, the Druids, and the Normans entered the land of Ireland. They introduced each other to their own religious and social rituals. They combined their cultures to create Irish Dancing.
Conclusion! Thank you for sitting down and taking your time to learn more about Irish
What is different about Irish dancing?
What makes Irish dancing especially unique and different from all other dance styles. Is that the main dance routines, set dancing routines, social or céilí routines and sean nós or step routines. The dance is more formal with precise footwork with a strict amount of steps that is needed. You also cannot balance your footwork with upper body movements. The upper body is usually turning or still.
The different clothing and outfits in Irish dancing.
While the boys would wear a vest with some pants.
Girls might wear bespoke. Which is mostly a sparkly dress.
The most important part of the costume is the shoes. The shoes will make the beat of the music behind. There are soft shoes, and hard shoes. The difference is that soft shoes have raised heels for boys and girls that make a clicking and stamping sound. Hard shoes have raised tips and heels covered with fiberglass to make a tapping sound.
The body movements in Irish dancing.
An example of a famous Irish dance, is called Riverdale. We will first watch. Then I will show you my description.
Did you notice anything else special? What did you see? Tell me!
In the dance I could tell it was locomotive because of all the moving around. The dancers used hard shoes to make the tapping sound in the dance. The dancers had energy with a nice flow with the steps. This meant that the dance had good action between the partners. There was twists and turns with the bends. I could tell it was hard for the dancers whole body because the feet and legs needed a good body core to keep it up. The duration of 5 minutes clearly wore out the dancers. In their space they were travelling sometimes but sometimes dancing in one place.
The origins and cultures in Irish dancing.
Around 1600 BC (Before Christ) these dance moves were started in feis which are essentially their parties by the druids and Celts.