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Irish dance

Irish dance refers to the traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, including both solo and group dance forms, for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from various influences such as earlier native Irish dance, English country dancing and later possibly French quadrilles, as it became popular in Britain and Ireland during the 19th century. Dance was taught by "travelling dance masters" across Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries, and separate dance forms developed according to regional practice and differing purposes. Irish dance became a significant part of Irish culture, particularly for Irish nationalist movements. From the early 20th century, a number of organisations promoted and codified the various forms of dance, creating competitive structures and standardised styles. Irish dancers who compete for competitive reasons dance in a dance style that is more modern than traditional Irish dance. It is mainly done solo, but there is some team dancing in groups of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16 and even numbers onwards.

Solo Irish dance includes the most well-known form of Irish dance, Irish stepdance, which was popularised from 1994 onwards by shows such as Riverdance, and which is practised competitively across not only the Irish diaspora but by many people of disparate cultural backgrounds. Stepdance is characterised by the rigid upper body and intricate footwork of its performers. Other forms of solo Irish dance include sean-nós dance, a relaxed and social dance style involving improvised steps, and festival Irish dance, a style which separated from step dance in the mid-20th century.

Irish dancing in groups is made up of a number of styles and traditions, which developed from French and English dances and formations. Ceili dance, practised both competitively and socially, is performed by groups of two to sixteen people, and often uses traditional or codified dances and formations. Its footwork is simple, and emphasis is placed on the figures and formations of the dances. Set dance is primarily a social tradition, for groups of four dancers, and includes elements of the intricate footwork found in step dance.

History
There is very little documentary evidence of dance being practised in Ireland prior to the 7th century; this could be due to the destruction of written records in Ireland during Viking raids. Scholars have hypothesised this is from non-literate nature of the Irish cultural tradition. Indeed, the modern Irish words for "dance", rince and damhsa did not develop until the 16th century. The scant evidence available is primarily that of visitors to Ireland, such as a fourteenth-century song written in the South of England, where the poet invites his listeners to "come ant daunce wyt me in Irlaunde". The first native Irish documentary evidence of dancing is an account of a Mayor of Waterford's visit to Baltimore, County Cork in 1413, where the attendees "took to the floor" to celebrate Christmas Eve. However, the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century may have brought with it the round dance tradition, as it was contemporaneously performed in British camps while every now and then being seen in a Norman stronghold.

Accounts of dancing in the 17th century means that dancing was by that time extremely widespread throughout Ireland. In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland, 'In every field a fiddle, and the lasses footing till they all of a foam,' suggesting some type of Irish step dancing or dance with heavy foot movement. There is ample evidence of Irish jigs or Irish step dancing in the 16th century, in 1569 Sir Henry Sydney sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth in which he expresses his enthusiasm for the Irish jigs, or fiddle of Galway. A report from 1600 mentions that some forms of Irish dances were similar in form to English country dances, and later references mention the "rinnce fada", also known as the "long dance" or "fading". This dance, performed to a jig tune though not to any particular piece of music, became the customary conclusion to balls held in Ireland towards the end of the seventeenth century. At this time, dancing was commonly accompanied by musicians playing bagpipes or the Jew's harp. By the 1760s, the distinctive hornpipe rhythm of the Irish dance tradition had developed, and with the introduction of the fiddle to Ireland from the European continent, a new class of "dancing master" began to emerge. despite the fact that In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland ‘In every field a fiddle, and the girls footing untill they foam up’. Reference to the Irish fiddle can also be found in John Dunton's Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698) he says “on Sundays and Holydays, all the people resorted with the piper and fiddler to the village green, suggesting the fiddle was introduced to Ireland much earlier then 1760.

The dancing traditions of Ireland probably grew in association with traditional Irish music. Although its origins are unclear, it was possibly later influenced by dance forms from the Continent, such as the Quadrille. Travelling dancing masters taught across Ireland as late as the 18th and early 19th centuries. Because local venues were usually small, dances were often demonstrated on tabletops, or even the tops of barrels. As a result, these early styles are characterized by the arms held rigidly at the sides, and a lack of lateral movement. As larger dance venues became available, styles grew to include more movement of the body and around the dance area.

Irish stepdance
Accounts of dancing in the 17th century suggest that dancing was by that time extremely widespread throughout Ireland. In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland, 'In every field a fiddle, and the lasses footing till they all of a foam,' suggesting some type of Irish step dancing or dance with heavy foot movement. There is ample evidence of Irish jigs or Irish step dancing in the 16th century, in 1569 Sir Henry Sydney sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth in which he expresses his enthusiasm for the Irish jigs, or fiddle of Galway A variety of forms of solo Irish Dance have developed which are described as stepdance. These include the well-known "modern" stepdance performed competitively; old-style stepdance, which is closer in style to the dance practised by 19th-century travelling dance masters; and festival dance, which separated from modern stepdance over stylistic and administrative disputes in the mid-20th century.

Modern stepdance
The most predominant form of Irish stepdance is that popularised by the Broadway show Riverdance, and other Irish dancing stage shows since the late 20th century. Characterised by a rigid torso and dances performed high on the balls of the feet, this style became distinct from the late 19th century when the Gaelic League began efforts to preserve and promote Irish dance as part of a broader nationalist movement concerned with Irish culture. Although a rigid torso may be the initial characterization of Irish dance, modern soft shoe Irish dancers commonly gracefully use their arms in flowing movements, abandoning the traditional form. It is not uncommon for hard shoe dancers to use their arms in strict hand formations other than arms at sides, though competition dance continues to require the arms be kept by the dancer's sides. In 1929, the League formed An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG, The Irish Dancing Commission) in order to codify and standardise stepdancing competition and education. Over the following decades, CLRG expanded globally, and promoted this particular form of stepdance by developing examinations and qualifications for teachers and competition adjudicators. Today, stepdance in the style codified by the Gaelic League is performed competitively in a number of countries, and under the auspices of a number of organisations which have at various times broken away from CLRG.

Dances
Irish solo stepdances fall into two broad categories based on the shoes worn: 'hard shoe' (also known as jig shoe or heavy shoe) and 'soft shoe' (or light shoe) dances.

There are four soft shoe dance styles: the reel, slip jig, light jig and 'single jig' (also referred to as 'hop jig'). Reels have a (or sometimes  or ) time signature. Slip jigs are in time. Light and single jigs are in time, with different emphasis within the measure distinguishing the music.

Hard shoe dances include the hornpipe in syncopated or  time, the treble jig (also called the 'heavy jig' or 'double jig') in a slow, the treble reel (a short sixteen bar hard shoe dance done to reel music) and 'traditional sets', which are a group of dances with set music and steps. Many traditional sets have irregular musical phrasing. There are multiple traditional sets, including St. Patrick's Day, Blackbird, Job of Journeywork, Three Sea Captains, Garden of Daisies, and King of the Fairies. While theoretically standardised, different organisations recognize different traditional sets and slight variations exist between teachers. There are also "non-traditional sets" done by advanced dancers. These have set music, but not steps; the steps are choreographed by individual dance schools.

Competitive dancers generally dance two or three steps at a time, depending on their dancing level. Each step lasts for sixteen bars of music for the treble jig and the reel. Dances such as the hornpipe and slip jig instead have eight bars of music for their third steps. The dances are each danced starting with the right foot for eight bars, then repeated with the left foot for the last eight bars, doing the same movements with the opposite feet. Set dances, however, have a different format. The dancer usually dances one step, which is limited to the length of the first part of the music that is repeated (often eight bars, though this varies depending on the specific set dance), and is then repeated, resembling the steps of other dances. Then the dancer usually dances a "set" which is not repeated. It is a highly sought after and competitive feat to recall to dance this "third round" — at regional, national, and world competitions, only a small percentage (typically the top half of dancers graded after the first two rounds) of dancers are invited back to perform.

The Céilí dances used in competitions are more precise versions of those danced in less formal settings. There is a list of 30 Céilí dances which have been standardised and published in An Coimisiún's Ar Rinncidhe Foirne as examples of typical Irish folk dances; these are called the "book" dances by competitive stepdancers. Most Irish dancing competitions only ask for a short piece of any given dance, in the interests of time and the endurance of the dancers.

Shoes and costume
There are two types of shoes; soft shoes (also known as ghillies or pumps) and hard shoes. Hard shoes are similar to tap shoes, except that the tips and heels are made of fiberglass, instead of metal, and are significantly bulkier. Another aspect of the hard shoe that sets it apart from a tap shoe is its ability to go "on block" or en pointe. The first hard shoes had wooden or leather taps with metal nails. Later the taps and heels were made of resin or fiberglass to reduce the weight and to make the sounds louder. The soft shoes, which are called ghillies, are black leather lace-up shoes similar to ballet slippers. Ghillies are only worn by girls, while boys wear black leather shoes called "reel shoes", which resemble black jazz shoes with a hard heel. Boy's soft-shoe dancing features audible heel clicks and stomps. A new trend includes adding white laces to the soft shoes, and white tape to the straps of the hard shoes to blend in with the sock and give the illusion of elongating the legs.

Several generations ago, the appropriate dress for a competition was simply "Sunday best" (clothes one would wear to church). Irish Dance schools generally have school dresses, worn by lower-level competitors, in public performances, and in team competitions. As dancers advance in competition or are given starring roles in public performances, they may get a solo dress of their own design and colours or wear the team dress. In the 1970s and 1980s, ornately embroidered dresses became popular. Today even more ornamentation is used on girls' dresses, including rhinestones, sequins, and other bling. Solo dresses are unique to each dancer. Today most women and girls wear a wig, a bun or hairpiece for a competition, but some still curl their own hair. Costumes are heavily integrated into the Irish dance culture and feature traditional elements of classic peasant wear adorned with Celtic designs. Most men wear a shirt, vest or jacket, and tie paired with black trousers. The vest or jacket of the men's costume is also commonly adorned with crystals, traditional knotwork, and embroidery. Each Irish dance school has its own distinctive full skirted dress, often featuring lace or an embroidered pattern copied from the medieval Irish Book of Kells.

Competition structure
An organised dance competition is referred to as a feis (plural feiseanna). The word feis means "festival" in Irish, and strictly speaking would also have competitions in music and crafts. Féile is a more correct term for the dance competition, but the terms may be used interchangeably. Dance competitions are divided by age and level of expertise. The names of the levels and other organising rules vary between countries and regions. Dancers are scored based on technique (placement of the feet, turn out, off of their heels, etc.), style (grace, power, etc.) and other items such as timing, rhythm, carriage, choreography and sounds in their hard shoe dances.

An Coimisiún dancers take part in their annual regional Championship competition, which is known as an oireachtas. An Coimisiún also holds various "national" championship competitions. These are qualifying events for Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne, or "The World Championships". An Coimisiún's World Championships are the largest of all Irish step dance organisations, with over 6,000 dancers competing from over 30 countries worldwide. The Aisling Award (pronounced 'Ashling', Gaelic for dream) is awarded to the highest placing dancer in each solo dancing category from outside of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the US and Canada to encourage them to continue their dream of dancing. Other smaller Irish step dance organisations host their own premier championship.

Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne, or "The World Championships" (for An Coimisiún dancers), first took place in Dublin in 1970 at Coláiste Mhuire, a school in Parnell Square. The "Worlds" outgrew its original location and moved around the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In 2002, for the first time, the "Worlds" left Ireland for Glasgow. In 2009, for the first time, the World Championships were held in the United States, in Philadelphia. The 2010-2019 championships were held in Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast, Boston, London, Montréal, Glasgow, Dublin, Glasgow, and Greensboro, respectively, always taking place during the week leading up to Easter Sunday, when the championships end. The BBC documentary film Jig provided an insight into championship level dancers competing in the 2010 World Championships held in Glasgow. Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne planned return to Dublin in 2020 for the 50 year anniversary of the championships was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the competition was held in Belfast.

An Coimsiún also holds Oireachtas Rince na hÉireann, or "The All Irelands" which took place in Killarney in February 2019. It is the oldest Irish dancing competition in the world.

An Comhdhail's World championships also take place each Easter week, with the competition being held in Dublin in 2018 and Killarney in 2019. WIDA (World Irish Dance Association), which mainly consists of dancers from European countries, also hold their own World and International Championships over the Easter week, with the competition being held in Maastricht in 2018, Eindhoven in 2019, digitally in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in Moers in 2022.

Old-style step dancing
Old-style step dancing is a tradition related to, yet distinct from, sean-nós dancing, though it is sometimes called "Munster-style sean-nós". Old-style step dancing evolved in the 17th-18th century from the dancing of travelling Irish dance masters. The dance masters slowly formalized and transformed both solo and social dances. Modern masters of old-style step dancing style can trace the lineage of their steps directly back to 18th century dancers.

The Irish Dance masters refined and codified indigenous Irish dance traditions. Rules emerged about proper upper body, arm, and foot placement. Also, dancers were instructed to dance a step twice—first with the right foot then with the left. Old-style step dancers dance with arms loosely (but not rigidly) at their sides. They dance in a limited space. There is an emphasis on making percussive sound with the toes. The Irish dance masters of this period also choreographed particular steps to particular tunes in traditional music creating the solo traditional set dances such as the Blackbird, St. Patrick's Day, and the Job of Journey Work, which also persist in modern Irish stepdancing. In this context, "set dance" signifies a separate tradition from the social dance tradition also called set dance.

Festival dance
Following criticism of CLRG for its emphasis on certain regional forms of stepdance to the detriment of others, dance teacher Patricia Mulholland developed a new style of stepdance, beginning in the 1950s. It was described as a form of "folk ballet" which appealed to dancers of both Catholic and Protestant religious persuasions. Like other forms which share the heritage of modern stepdance but have departed from its codification, festival dance emphasises individuality and practises more relaxed style and posture.

Sean-nós dance
Sean-nós, or "old style" dance is a form of Irish dancing which originated from western regions of Ireland. It has been described variously as a regional style of stepdancing, and as an entirely separate style that was virtually unknown outside small areas until the late 20th century. It is distinguished by footwork which is percussive but low to the ground in comparison to step dancing, and by its more freeform nature. Performers use a more relaxed posture, and improvise steps to fit with music. Typically, sean-nós dances are performed in small spaces, traditionally doors laid flat and table tops.

Irish céilí dances
Irish social, or céilí dances vary widely throughout Ireland and the rest of the world. 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 (such as in "The Walls of Limerick", "The Waves of Tory", "Haymakers Jig", "An Rince Mor" or "Bonfire Dance"). Céilí dances are often fast and some are quite complex ("Antrim Reel", "Morris Reel").

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. The céilí dances are typically danced to Irish instruments such as the Irish bodhrán or fiddle in addition to the concertina (and similar instruments), guitar, whistle or flute.

The term céilí dance was invented in the late 19th century by the Gaelic League. Céilí as a noun differs from the adjective céilí. A céilí is a social gathering featuring Irish music and dance. Céilí dancing is a specific type of Irish dance. Some céilithe (plural of céilí) will only have céilí dancing, some only have set dancing, and some will have a mixture.

Irish set dancing
Irish set dancing (also referred to as "country set dancing") are dances similar to English country dancing and later French quadrilles; later adapting and integrating forms of the dance with the Irish sean-nós steps and Irish music. Distinguishing characteristics of Irish set dancing include that it is danced in square sets of four couples (eight people), and consist of several "figures," each of which has a number of parts, frequently repeated throughout the set. Each part of the set dance (figure) is danced to a music tempo, mostly reels, jigs, polkas and hornpipes. The sets come from various parts of Ireland and are often named for their place of origin; examples are the North Kerry Set, the Clare Set, the Corofin Plain Set, the South Galway Set and the Clare Lancers Set.

There are many solo set dances which can be performed in competition. These include both traditional sets and non-traditional sets. Some traditional sets include Blackbird (hornpipe), Job of the Journeywork (hornpipe), Garden of Daises (hornpipe), St. Patrick's Day (treble jig), King of the Fairies (hornpipe). These dances are set in their choreography, which means that no teacher can vastly change the steps.

The organisation Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann promotes and hosts many set and ceili dance events.

General information

 * Irish Dancing & Culture Magazine
 * Set Dancing News: portal for set dancing information
 * Diddlyi.com: Irish Dance and Music Social Network
 * O'Keeffe & O'Brien – A Handbook of Irish Dance (1902)
 * Diochra.com: Discover Irish dance!
 * Beginners Guide to Irish Dancing
 * The History of Irish Dance
 * Irish Step Dancing
 * Set Dance
 * World Irish Dancing
 * Dance instruction database

Irish Dance Organisations

 * An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha The Irish Dancing Commission
 * World Irish Dance Association (WIDA)
 * An Comhdháil Múinteora Rince Gaelacha Congress of Irish Dance Teachers
 * Cumann Rince Náisiúnta (CRN) National Dance Association
 * Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann Gathering of Musicians of Ireland
 * Cumman Rince Dea Mheasa

title: Irish dance


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Talk:Irish dance

Untitled
Please correct intolerable errors in this article — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.78.131.140 (talk) 09:20, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

Article Quality
There is a need for more inline references; there are hardly any at the moment. I came upon this as an inquiring reader and am unable to decide how much of the material is original research or the level of accuracy within the article. I wonder if the main authors would like to add some referencing? Sejanus Aelianus (talk) 19:59, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

Dance shoes
About dance shoes for boys -- I've never seen a male wear the same style ghillies the girls wear. Even the younger and less experienced ones have shoes resembling jazz shoes, not the ghillies. As for the girls they wear ghillies, similar to ballet shoes.

Both boys and girls wear the same type of hard shoes.

First ghillies are also known as soft shoes And the reason boys have different soft shoes to girls is because boys have stronger legs and are given the option to click there heels together (not as in sticking them together more like hitting them against each other to make a click) to make there dances more of a challenge for them -an irish dance girl

The topics that constitute Irish Dance
This article is a disgrace. :-)

Nothing about set dancing...you'd think only step dancing existed...the article should probably live at Irish folk dance.

 * Set dancing is folk dance too. So is your sentence unclear, or are you confused?

To be clearer: the article should include information about set dancing and the resulting article should live on Irish folk dance. (Of course set dancing is a kind of folk dance!) The category "Irish dance" would include info about ballet and modern dance in Dublin, e.g., which is evidently not part of your subject here. --LMS

I've added some info on set dances. More needs to be written. I've also clarified the usage of irish dance to mean what some refer to as step dancing. Step dancing is more of a slang term, while irish dance is the more formal term for the style of folk dancing that is the topic here. Irish dance would mean something different than any dance that occurs in Ireland. In fact, irish dance is extremely popular in the US, Canada and Australia. 12.250.251.139 05:50, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)

LMS is right. This article is not about Irish dance. It's about step dancing which is just as common in Scotland as Ireland. I'm moving it to that title shortly. -- Derek Ross 15:55, 5 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I do not believe that this was the correct thing to do. The scottish dancing has hand movements that are not found in the irish version. The foot movements while perhaps begun from the same roots do not bear the same resembelence today. The organization for Dance teachers in North America is IDTNA -- the Irish Dance Teachers of North America. Not Step dance teachers. I would like to see some discussion by others on this issue because I believe that the original emphasis was correct. greybeard 04:02, 9 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Let me take your points one-by one. The scottish dancing has hand movements that are not found in the irish version -- Hand movements aren't proscribed in Scottish step dancing but they aren't generally prescribed either. After all the emphasis in step dancing, whether Irish or Scottish, is on the feet not on the hands. So I don't see the presence or absence of hand movements as any more than variation between different dances. It just so happens that in Ireland hand movements are proscribed no matter what the dance. Are you thinking of Highland dancing perhaps ? Because it is definitely not step dancing.

The foot movements while perhaps begun from the same roots do not bear the same resemblance today. -- But that's what makes any named dance different from another. Even individual named dances within the Irish step dance tradition use different foot movements: that's what makes the dances differ from each other. Geographically different regions have different styles, which is why Sean-nos gets a mention. The different foot movements that you note, are not so different that either the Scottish and Irish variants, or even the Northern English variant, have become unrecognisable as step dancing.

''The organization for Dance teachers in North America is IDTNA -- the Irish Dance Teachers of North America. Not Step dance teachers.'' -- Fine, but I would expect that, even in North America, Irish Dance teachers would teach not only Irish step dancing but also Irish set dancing, ceilidh dancing, etc., so I wouldn't expect them to be called Step dance teachers. After all, they teach the entire repertoire of Irish dance (I presume).

 * At least in Eastern Canada and the Eastern US, most Irish step dance teachers do not teach set dancing beyond the traditional sets (St Patrick's Day, Blackbird, Garden of Daisies) and many don't teach more than one of these sets (and some seem to not teach any, because they are not mandatory for competitive Irish Dance competitions).

I believe that the original emphasis was correct -- Understood. Unfortunately I'm not so sure. I always feel uncomfortable when reading articles which claim that such-and-such is purely Irish when I know from my own experience that it is in fact Gaelic. I felt that this article fell very much into that category and that is why I renamed it.

I think that there is still a place for an article called Irish dance. It's just that I think that it should cover more than this article does (as LMS says above). Some effort has been made to do that and as a result there is some non-step dancing information in the article. In the meantime, I'll bow to your wishes and move the article back to Irish dance but ideally I'd like to see the step dancing elements in an article of their own. -- Derek Ross 18:19, 11 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Great. I agree. Thank you. I would be glad to help with what I know about step dancing with the new article. greybeard 05:15, 12 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I think that this article does not belong under Irish Dance. I agree with Derek Ross in the first place; the emphasis of the article is on Irish Stepdancing, not Irish dance, and in order to do all the different sorts of Irish dance justice, and also to keep the page size under control, it should be called Irish Stepdancing and other pages on, say, Irish Set Dancing (which I believe already exist as stubs) should be expanded upon. There's actually more clear information on Irish dancing and what makes up the folk/cultural aspects of Irish dancing on the Irish traditional music page than there is here. What's here is often times confusing, poorly written and organized, and sometimes clearly biased information.

A new picture is totally needed! This one makes it look so unprofessional. Darkar 09:06, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

 * I have to agree that the article that this article as it stands does is a poor description of the rich and vibrant threads that make up Irish Dance. What should be an overview of Irish Dance is really little more than a description of 'Step Dance'. Indeed, the very first line of the article reads Irish stepdancing (one type of "Irish dance") which is a pretty blatant acknowledgement of what is contained here.  I do not think that tinkering with this page will get us anywhere and as such a fairly major overhaul is needed and a new structure needs to be agreed as to what exactly should go where.  Obviously covering everything in the one article would be unwieldy and as such much of what is here at present should be moved to a separate 'Step Dancing' page. This not to detract from the hard work that has already gone into this article but I feel that the vibrancy, diversity that is present in Irish dancing, as well as its links to other forms of dance, are not represented here.  In addition a lot more work needs to go into referencing as at the moment it reads like an opinion piece, almost nothing is verifiable at the moment. Having spent an number of years Set Dancing, both socially and in competition, (although I'll admit its been 4 years since my last set)   I do not see much of that represented here. The page on Set Dancing here is somewhat wanting too but it should be integrated here.  The omission of contempory dance in ireland is also a serious ommision, the dance theatre of ireland has been going for some ten years. --Njg 05:21, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I have to disagree about the picture. The dancers there are not strictly "dancing with bent arms", they're holding hands. Something frequently done in Irish dancing when there is a group of dancers dancing together as clearly these three girls are doing. You won't often find this form in competition (the girls are wearing competition-class costumes) but you do very often find this in public performances which a parade clearly is. --MichaelH99 21:50, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm just going to state that there needs to be a lot more effort in making sure that the culture variations for each organization of Irish dance are addressed. For example, CRN does not have oireachtas (yet it does not specify that not everyone does), and while CRN (its where I dance, that's why I keep referencing it) makes you fly out to Orlando or Vegas or Santa Fe or West Virginia or wherever if you want to compete, some organizations let you take a video and send it in (or something like that). I did not once see any mention of these extremely important culture differences, which, if this is an overview of Irish Dance, is very disappointing. I am here to see how my art form is being represented and I am absolutely disappointed. There should be subsections from the exact point where they start, after shoes, because even the attire is different: I once saw a documentary featuring a blonde, but her wig was black. However, this would never happen in CRN. Even if EVERY dancer longs for a Gavin dress, there are many differences between the organizations. Immediately after… attire if not shoes they should begin subsections {oh look I'm being repetitive} so that you can easily say, 'this is how CRN does this that and the other, and this is how TCLRG does all of those same things'. I hope this helps clean up this page. -A CRN dancer for about six years now — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1:C735:2992:21AD:5C1C:4DC6:A4A4 (talk) 02:46, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Split off Irish stepdance
To improve this article, and make it more truly reflect all Irish dance, I've added an introduction and a section on céilí dance, split off Irish stepdance into a separate article, and significantly trimmed down the stepdance stuff. The céilí dance section needs expanding; someone needs to write something about Irish set dance, including how it's different from céilí dance (all I've observed is that set dancers never actually run a dance all the way through), and if Njg wants a section on Modern Dance of Ireland, s/he can add that, too. Argyriou 20:51, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

I apologize to anyone from Wilkes-Barr, but I think it is quite inappropriate to show a lead off picture depicting dancers with bent arms. The straight arms are what most people imitate first when they think of Irish and is one of the hardest things for new dancers to learn. Does anyone have a photo of dancers in the traditional form? (Perhaps better lighting would also be in order...)
 * We need a new PICTURE!***

 * It would be nice to have a non-stepdance picture, anyway, since stepdance has its own article. I'll dig through my archives at home and supply one. Argyriou 19:53, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Recent edits
Is Gay Gordons an Irish dance? I always thought it was a Scottish dance. (And I've never heard of "Shoe the Donkey".) There seems to be some distinction between set dancing and ceili dancing, though most social Irish dancing in the U.S. seems to be set, not ceili. Some of the stuff about dances with particular tunes or series of tunes seems to belong to set dancing. Is there enough about set vs ceili that we can have a section for each? Argyriou 19:53, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Gay Gordons is often done at Irish ceilis, presumably borrowed from the Scottish or English (who also have a version of the dance). Shoe the Donkey is a simple mazurka done to the tune of the same name or other Irish mazurkas - again a case of cultural borrowing. So both dances are "naturalized" Irish dances.--Prairie dancer 19:43, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Step dancing in Britain and Ireland
I have followed traditional dancing in Britian an Ireland for close on 40 years, and the dances are not really related. This last 10 years since Riverdance became popular we find a upsurge in the popularity of hardshoe dancing, which in my experience was the Irish tradition. Clogging recently has emulated the trad Irish style. [Ian]

Granted that 40 years is a long time and I bow to your experience but we're talking here about a dance tradition which is 140 years or more and which has risen and fallen in popularity a few times during that period. Surely it's difficult to say what's related and what's not without doing the research on the late 18th and early 19th century heyday of step dancing. I would of course agree that Riverdance has more recently led to a popularity in all types of step dancing and it doesn't surprise me that it has influenced some of the other forms as a result. -- Derek Ross | Talk 06:32, 2004 Sep 15 (UTC)

Flamenco comparison
"Irish dancing resembles Flamenco"? Both styles strike the floor with hard shoes, that's where the similarity ends; the methods, the postures, the attitude etc. are all very different. The page is named "Irish dance". Let's get some Irish dance experts to contribute. -- Kilclaren

Thought this page was about Irish Dance, what's all this discussion about Scots dance? Kit

i think that you should talk about why they dance and the meaning of Irish Dancing

It is probably convenient to sign your posts with four tildies ( ~ ). It will make reading this page easier. Also, as Kilclaren said, Flamenco dance and Irish dance have little in common.Di4gram 17:48, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Northern Ireland Project
Please do not remove WikiProject tags - it is considered Vandalism. --Mal 01:55, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

What about Sean Nós?
I agree with the comments above this is a poor and confusing article.

I'm not an expert in the field but as I understand it there are too main trends in Irish Dance

 * set dancing which has evolved from the social scene and is mainly participative though there are sometimes displays
 * the other being figure dancing which is performance oriented and is the main form on the competitive feis circuit and which has spawned the Riverdance show.

There is an older form of figure dance which is still around but not not mentioned in the article - Sean Nós (literally "old style") this is a variant of figure dance characterised by a less stiff upper body posture though like most figure dance the arms don't play a role.

Needs work particularly on the terminology and the clarity there of. --Gramscis cousin 02:02, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Please - if you know enough about Sean Nós to write a section on it, do so! If I knew anything about it, I would have done so already, but I know almost nothing about Sean Nós. I'm going to go in and butcher the section on stepdance, since it has its own article. Adding information about Sean Nós will really help balance this article. Argyriou 20:09, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

History of ceili
A couple of references for the antiquity of ceili dance in general, if not of any particular ceili dance: Argyriou (talk) 02:57, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Irish Step Dancing, A Brief History - History records a variety of dances done by the Irish in the mid-1500s. These include Rinnce Fada or Fading where two lines with partners faced each other, Irish Hey (possibly a round or figure dance), jigs (likely in a group), Trenchmores (described as a big free form country dance), and sword dances.
 * A Brief Overview of Irish Dance - Ceili dances represent an informal tradition of dance that is common to much of humanity since prehistory. Many are structured as sword dances, round dances, line dances, and progressive line dances.  The Normans have been credited for introducing the round dance into Ireland around the 12th century.  The "rince fada" [long dance] is actually a family of dances, one of which was described in the end of the 17th century as performed by "three persons moving abreast, each of which held the end of a white handkerchief, followed by the rest of the dancers in pairs".

stepdance taking over
The step dance section is now longer than the rest of the article. Why is that, when there is an entire irish stepdance article on its own? —Preceding unsigned comment added by MichaelH99 (talk • contribs) 09:18, 4 February 2007

 * This article, before I got to it, was 95% about Irish stepdance. I generally try to remove material added to the stepdance section, and add it to the Irish stepdance article instead. But there's a lack of good sourced material about other sorts of Irish dance, which is further complicated by the lack of consistency in naming of anything related to Irish dance - something called one thing in the U.S. is called something else in the UK and something else in Ireland. I'd like to make the articles more balanced, but it's not easy. Argyriou (talk) 21:05, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

 * I reverted all the additions on Feb 2 per above. Oh, it really helps if you sign articles with 4 tildes ~ . Argyriou (talk) 21:08, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

To the user editing from 193.1.100.110
Hi! Thank you for having useful information to contribute to the Irish dance article; however, much of what you posted more properly belongs in the Irish stepdance article. If you want to recover the content of what you posted, check the history tab on the Irish dance article. If today weren't so hectic, I'd add your stuff into the Irish stepdance article myself. Argyriou (talk) 22:16, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Edits regarding time
What about the difference between slow and fast hornpipe, and slow and fast treble jig? I don't know what the timing differences are myself (2/4, 4/4, etc) but I assume there must be some. A brief clarification of those would be helpful. K e rowyn Leave a note 21:38, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
 * There's a difference between time signature and tempo. The difference between a slow and fast hornpipe, or slow and fast jig, is purely one of tempo. I've linked to time signature in the article. Argyriou (talk) 17:42, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Ah. Makes sense. Still, I'd like to mention that there are different tempos, so that people who know about slow and fast dances aren't confused. K e rowyn Leave a note 18:26, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Related "detangling" of subjects: Sean-nós song and Sean-nós dance
There now are separate pages for Sean-nós song and Sean-nós dance, and the article for the more general term "Sean Nós" turned into a Disambiguation Page. This is to deal with a similar occurrence to the history of the "Irish dance" page, where the "Sean Nós top-level" page was also 95% about song and 5% about its "sister" dance. When the article/topic distinction was made for "Sean Nós writ large", the few existing links internal to Wikipedia were "arbitrated" as to whether they were for song or dance contexts; and then pointed to the appropriate context.

Then with that extra "breathing room" now created for Sean Nós, appropriate changes within the "Irish Dance" article were made to add inline internal links referring to Sean-nós dance for each initial reference in a section. Likewise, references were added in the "See Also" section.

Also, a short section on "Sean-nós dance in the Irish Diaspora" was added to the "Irish dance" article. (Why not, since there are now more Irish heritage people living outside Ireland than still in Ireland itself?). An additional article about "Sean-nós dance in America" was also started, so that the American permutations on Sean-nós dance don't cloud the "purer" regional forms in Ireland.

If anyone who has information about "Sean-nós dance in Canada" then feel free to add that article and point to it as well (or for any other part of the Irish Diaspora). I know very little about Irish dance in general, but I did the best I could do help with the Sean-nós dance parts.

BTW, one of the more commonly posted contemporary Irish Stepdance videos is of the "Ottawa" Stepdance style as demonstrated by the brothers Jon and Nathan Pilatzke and/or Dan Stacey (who often appear with Irish Stepdancer Cara Butler on YouTube videos). Sean-nós dance would with steps "lower to the floor" of course...

- Folk Life (talk)

Belfast
For most readers, Belfast is in Northern Ireland, not Ireland as stated in the article. Lou Sander (talk) 20:46, 22 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Irish dance is a phenomenon which has roots all over the island of Ireland, not just within the Republic of Ireland. Some particular forms and moves are from Belfast, but they're still Irish.  Argyriou (talk) 22:46, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Reverted move
I reverted the move to Dance in Ireland. This article is not about dance in Ireland, it's about Irish dance, a group of dance forms which originated in Ireland, but which extend well beyond Ireland, and which are not the only dance forms which occur in Ireland. If you want a "dance in Ireland" article, write about Irish dance, and about the Dublin National Ballet, and about American country dancing done in bars, and about all the other sorts of dance which people do in Ireland. Argyriou (talk) 22:44, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Is this the place?
Under the 'Competition Structure' section, the article made reference to the first World Championships being held in "Colaiste Mhuire, Dublin." This version made this look like the name of a town in County Dublin, or some such. (When I searched Wiki using that exact spelling as listed in the article, it took me to a school in County Mayo.) So, I assume the link that I've created with Coláiste Mhuire is the correct place where this initial competition took place??, but I don't know for certain. If this is incorrect, please change the link, but I was trying to word it in a way that made it clearer to an international reader where and what this location is. Nuclare (talk) 20:01, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

 * Nevermind! I figured it out. A source here says it was Colaiste Mhuire at Parnell Square, so I've removed the link I added and reworded to make it clearer what/where this location is. Nuclare (talk) 20:43, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

Separate Ceili Dance Page like Set Dance?
In the absence of a separate entry on ceili dancing, people had been automatically redirected to the "Ceili" page, which describes its meaning as a dance event rather than to a page describing the dance form (rather like the distinction made in "reversed move" above). Set dancing has avoided this problem by having a separate page for set dance, and a while back I created a ceili dance page to remedy the problem. Are there any objections or suggestions about my merging the ceili dance material from this page into that more specialized page, and adjust this one appropriately? CSProfBill (talk) 10:51, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Injuries section
I removed the "injuries" section for several reasons. First, the section is all about Irish stepdance, and isn't nearly as relevant to other forms of Irish dance. (Stepdance is not the entirety of Irish dance!) Also, it places undue weight on injuries as a part of Irish dance. The articles on tap dance and ballet don't discuss injuries at all; having an entire section about stepdance injuries in the overall Irish dance article is really out of proportion. Argyriou (talk) 16:55, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Irish dance


text:
Filet crochet

Filet crochet is a type of crocheted fabric that imitates filet lace. This type of crocheted lace is gridlike because it uses only two crochet stitches: the chain stitch and the double crochet stitch (U.S. terminology; known in some other countries as chain stitch and treble). Old filet patterns used a treble or triple stitch vertically but chained two between the vertical stitches. This was to prevent distortion of some patterns. Chain stitches use less yarn than double crochet stitches, which results in a visual difference in appearance between the two kinds of stitch. Filet crochet forms patterns by filling in parts of a mostly chain stitch mesh with double crochet stitches. Filet crochet is usually constructed from monotone crochet thread made of Mercerised cotton in white or ecru, and worked in rows. Filet crochet is often used for decorative applications, such as window curtains, tablecloths, and place settings, such as coasters and placemats, but can also be used to create clothing, including yokes, as well as accessories and small bags.

Filet crochet is most often worked from a graph or a symbol diagram. Patterns are created by combining solid and open meshes, usually working the design in solid meshes and the background in open meshes. The size of the space is determined by the number of chain stitches between each double stitch. Filet crochet may also be worked by alternating chain stitches with another type of crochet stitch such as (U.S. terminology) half double or triple crochet, and may be worked from yarn instead of thread.

title: Filet crochet


text:
Tunisian crochet

Tunisian crochet or Afghan crochet is a type of crochet that uses an elongated hook, often with a stopper on the handle end, called an Afghan hook. It is sometimes considered to be a mixture of crocheting and knitting. As such, some techniques used in knitting are also applicable in Tunisian crochet. One example is the intarsia method.

Description
The work is begun with the traditional crochet starting chain, a series of chain stitches. Once the chain is completed, the first row is worked by inserting the hook back into the previous link of the chain, and a loop from the free end of the yarn is grabbed with the hook and pulled back through the link. Unlike traditional crochet, however, this new loop is not then pulled through the initial loop. Both remain on the hook and then the process is repeated, working from right to left if the artisan is right-handed, until each link in the chain has been worked. At the end, there will be as many loops on the hook as there are stitches required. This step is called forward pass, it is similar to casting on in knitting. This is the first of two parts for creating a row.

For the "Tunisian simple stitch" and most basic ones, the work is never turned. Once the correct number of loops is obtained, the process is reversed with each loop being worked off from the hook by pulling a fresh loop of yarn through each stitch, working from left to right, called the reverse or backward pass. It is both parts of the process which form a completed row. The tension of the yarn is much looser than in standard crochet or knitting.

Tunisian crochet can also be worked in the round as when making a seamless cap. To work in the round, a double-ended crochet hook and two balls of yarn are used. The first hook and ball of yarn are used to add loops (casting on). When the process is reversed (as described above), the loops are worked off using the second hook and second ball of yarn. When using a flexible cable to connect the two ends of the double-ended crochet hook, a single ball of yarn is sufficient.

There are a variety of stitches that can be created depending on how and where the hook is inserted and how the working yarn is held. Tunisian stitches include variations on knit, purl, post stitch, and entrelac.

The fabric created by Tunisian crochet is slightly less elastic than normal crochet and substantially thicker, particularly the knit stitch. This makes it most suitable for blankets and winter knits, but unsuitable for finer items like babywear and socks. The fabric also has a tendency to curl, and usually needs to be shaped by wetting or steaming the fabric (known as blocking) upon completion. It is slightly faster to create fabric by Tunisian than normal crochet, and approximately twice the speed of knitting.

Naming history
Tunisian crochet has gone by many names including Afghan crochet, Victorian crochet, tricot stitch, Scotch knitting, Princess Frederick William stitch, Princess Royal Crochet stitch, idiot's crochet, fool's crochet, and shepherd's knitting. The first mention of knitting with Tunisian-style hooked needles appeared in what is now Germany around 1787−1800, then in France in 1817. The first use of Tunisian in relation to this form of crochet was found in 1857 in Sweden (tuniska virkstygn, "Tunisian simple stitch"). The term "Tunisian Crochet" is first found in English in an American publication from 1862.

There is no definite link between Tunisia and the Tunisian crochet; it might have been made because similar crafts are practised in Tunisia, or because Tunisia was situated on the trading route from Egypt to Europe where hooked needles were sold. Another possibility is that the name was given to indicate that this is an "exotic" fiber craft.

title: Tunisian crochet