Hi. My name is Nora Stewart.
If you have ever:
- Wanted to get started Irish dancing;
- Enjoyed Irish music & wondered how to be part of the fun of Irish culture;
- Wanted to know more because of your Irish heritage;
- Thought Irish dancing is only for girls in wigs & hoped you were wrong;
- Wanted to know more about Irish music for dancing;
- Or wanted to know more about Irish history connections to Irish dance and music;
You’re in the right place!
ABOUT Irish Bliss & Easy Irish Dancing
Irish Bliss blog does the talking, and Easy Irish Dance does the teaching & doing with simple YouTube videos and full tuition online courses at the Easy Irish Dance Academy.
FIND Easy Irish Dance Channel on YouTube
ABOUT Nora Stewart
- 20 years Irish set dancing experience – 1999- 2019
- 13 years teaching Irish set dancing – 2005 – 2019
- 8 years teaching Irish sean nós dancing
- 7 years teaching tai chi
- 5 years ballet dancing
- 2 years Irish step dancing
- Accredited – NCIS Assistant Ski Instructor (Cross Country)
- Film-making short course – Canberra Institute of Technology (2009)
I can’t remember a time when there was no Irish influence in my life. My father, from Northern Ireland, emigrated to Australia in the late 50’s, spoke in that accent now hard-wired for me, as are the sounds of the Clancy Brothers and The Chieftains from the early days in the 70’s. Dance came early in my life too when I was 6, although it was in the form of ballet, not Irish dancing, which I didn’t start until I was in my early 30’s. I first visited Ireland in 1976 in the thick of The Troubles and it was a roasting hot summer there – very memorable.
Two more visits and I decided to live there in 1998, beginning in Cork and then moved to Dublin where I started to learn Irish set dancing with Padraig and Róisín McEneany. Got a real dousing of Irish music and dance in the six years I was there and then moved back to Australia in 2004 with my then-new husband, Martin from Armagh.
Apart from Irish set dancing, I’ve become a fan of old-style Irish or sean nós dancing and I’ve been known to sing a bit, play a bit of guitar, tin whistle and even ukelele – but don’t tell anyone that!
CONTACT
I’m always happy to hear from people with the same interests.
You can email me.
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Nora, I found your blog while doing research for a novel I’m preparing to write. Book 4 in my Dancing through Life series, this one is going to highlight an Irish character and Irish dancing. Is there a “slip step” in Irish dancing? I found one in Scottish dance. I wanted to title the book An Irish Slip Step, making a connection between dance and the fortuitous “slip-ups” in life that take us places we never thought we would go.