Irish dance health: Kerry fast!

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My loveJanet + Nora Sneem affair with the Kingdom of Kerry started back one dark, cold winter around New Year Eve in 1989 when I found myself in Sneem, near Kenmare with a group of newish friends I had met in Australia a few years earlier.

They had invited me to join them in a rented house and we had a great time out walking, playing board games and inevitably ended up at the local pub on New Years Eve.

Two important things happened for me that night: a random connection that led directly to my long-term & current friendship with Con Moriarty from the Gap of Dunloe, and I saw my very first Irish set being danced that night in the pub.

Fast friends: Pat Falvey with me on the Skellig Michael 1997

Fast friends: Pat Falvey with me on the Skellig

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Your Top 5 Irish Set Dances

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Well, the results are in and by popular vote, it looks like the classic sets are still the most popular. We had 1,469 votes altogether from many different parts of the globe-thank-you!

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Vote for Your Top 5 Irish Set Dances

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Deciding on the line-up of dances for Irish set dancing can be torture for a dance/ céilí organiser- or not.

Debate has raged for some years now, particularly in Ireland, whether or not to continually expand the range of sets danced or to stick to the ones people know, especially the ones I call the “C” sets – Caledonian, Clare Plain, Cashel, Connemara, Corofin, etc. Learning new sets is great and it can be very disappointing if you never get to dance them at céilís.

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Irish Dance Unbuttoned

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As a child, Gene Kelly was my on-screen dance hero. I loved his athleticism but mostly, it was his mega watt smile and that extra bit of spontaneous lift that really made him unmissable. He radiated joy when he was performing (even though, according to his wife, on the day he filmed the famous Singing In The Rain dance number, he was extremely unwell with a temperature of 104ºF!)

So, it’s with these images in my head that I sometimes wonder how so much Irish dancing became so stiff, so formal and so obviously lacking in delight.

I have often had friends and others telling me how, when they were small, they were sent off to learn the irish dancing only to be whacked with a stick to make them straighter, shouted at to jump higher and to pay attention. Continue reading →

Irish Dance: Real Women DO Batter- The Race Is On

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I had the pleasure of teaching a sean nós & battering workshop in October with a group of 13 dancers from Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Canberra, on the 10th annual October set dancing weekend here in Canberra. We went through and learned our 3 step sean nós routine to hornpipes (see below), which was nervously but well performed to an expectant crowd the next day.

Not surprisingly though, the highlight was really getting stuck in to the battering steps, particularly the Clare battering step. This is a name that is loosely used for steps that are popularly danced in Clare to reels, and experienced dancers will recognise that very familiar tattoo immediately, as heard below:

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Irish Dance: Real Ladies Don’t Batter

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I occasionally overhear fascinating conversations – as a bystander, you understand.

And so it was on this occasion when two women were recollecting their experience of set dancing and tut-tutting about other women dancers who dare to dance battering steps.

“In our day, it was never done” they said, with the implicit message was that “it shouldn’t be done”.  My face was aflame as I sat there, not sure if this missive was being directed at me or not. I kept quiet.

My initial reaction was to feel a bit indignant. Yes, I’ve been known to batter – quite loudly at times and probably over enthusiastically – but I have always found the sound and subtle rhythms used in sets and sean nós completely addictive, and is how I got really hooked in the first place. I really, really wanted to be able to do THAT. Continue reading →

6 simple Irish dances for your Christmas party

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Sharing Irish dancing with my friends and non-dancers is something I love to do, AND it needs to be very, very easy.

Here, I am featuring three of the 6 different Irish dance styles with videos and instructions that are linked to each dance name so you can follow along.

  1. Irish set dancing figures
  2. Irish two hand dancing
  3. Irish céilí dancing

If you’re really keen and this is your first time getting people dancing, see my next post How to work with your party crowd who are keen to dance (and have probably had a few drinks)…

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How to get a party crowd Irish dancing

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6 TIPS FOR WORKING WITH A PARTY CROWD

Dancers036

  1. Have a leader someone who knows what they’re doing & a few more. Preparation is important- know the steps and have the music ready.
  2. Be heard: have a microphone so people can hear you.
  3. Make the moves really big & easy:
    1. Make advance & retires into the circle 4 bars, not 2 bars: in once, out once.
    2. Substitute swinging for right arm or left arm hook
  4. Music:
    1. Not too fast – Try to pick music that’s not too fast at the beginning – give everyone a chance & make it reasonably safe.
    2. Not too long – Music length for each dance at about 2- 2 1/2minutes – most people won’t dance longer than that.
  5. Fun: Get as much clapping and stamping in as you can – we’re all kids at heart!
  6. If- and when- the dancing all goes a bit pear-shaped, laugh as hard as you can. That’s the whole point 🙂Crowd018

Happy dancing this Christmas.

Nora Stewart
Irish Bliss

irish bliss globe of world flags

Irish dance basics: The heel of the reel

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The Paris Opera Ballet School celebrated over 300 years of dance tradition in 2013,  and I recently saw a lovely documentary focusing on the experience of young dancers starting out and doing an orientation of the company. I was entranced by their passion and commitment, particularly their gentle and considered approach to every aspect of the school and it’s tradition.

Part of that tradition is where all the youngest & newest members of the ballet school participate in the annual défilé– a parade of all balleParis Opera Ballet School -defileballett school and company members prior to a proper ballet performance. Everyone is on show, and careful attention is paid to all aspects of the défilé slow walk. One young dancer said her teacher told her to imagine that “our heels light up the room.”

I’m quite taken by that idea- every time you lift your heel there’s a bright shining light that illuminates.

However, it’s all very well to do that in a slow, deliberate ballet walk but trying to light up the room at a fast Irish reel pace can be quite a challenge. Here is some information about reels that might help you.

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Learning Irish dance steps from YouTube

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I often see lovely steps on YouTube I’d love to learn – like this one from Mick Mulkerrin:

But for someone like me, this is just a bit too fast to start learning from.

Technology not only allows generous dancers to film and post great steps, but also helps  to S-L-O-W it all down – both the images and the sound- like this:

It does sound a bit strange with the slowed down audio- a bit like a horror movie- but don’t mess with this as you’ll need the sound of the feet to help guide you with the rhythm of the steps.

TIP: The key to learning new steps is to break it down into simple parts but ALWAYS do it with the rhythm of the music – even if you just hum the music to yourself rather than having the music playing.

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