Beyond Riverdance Explaining Irish Step

There is no single true tradition in Irish dancing or Irish anything for that matter, and to suggest that a single coherent little-altered path, runs from Oisn to today, is totally ridiculous. This is romantic wishful thinking. Apart from the fact that Oisn is a mythical character, culture simply doesn’t work that way. These articles are full of hearsay and express very prejudiced views that are not informed by genuine historical research. Knowing how to dance doesn’t make anyone a ‘pre-eminent authority’ on folklore or history. “Never amounted to much more than a type of barn dancing”, this indicates not just a kind of cultural snobbery but also an ignorance of the relationship between social dancing and art dancing. Just because Sean-Ns means ‘old style’ does not mean that that is the oldest form of dancing, anyway it misses the point. Ireland had contact and influence from abroad which it had the confidence to absorb and integrate unfettered by self-conscious pseudo history. Music, song and dance came in and out of the country even from England! Where do you think hornpipes came from?Indeed Gaelic culture was suppressed by the British but it never entirely worked and there were other factors. Queen Elizabeth the First declared that all pipers and harpers were to be hanged but she had an Irish piper and harper in her court and was known to be fond of Irish dancing. It is facile to suggest that people danced with their hands by their sides to fool the British. The relationship between the British Army and the Irish was ambiguous: Irish people played music with them, danced with them married them even joined them! These articles are continuing a tradition of Brit bashing and culture policing as practised by the Irish Dancing Commission who defined their Irishness by being not English, so much so that they banned dances that were not ‘Irish’ enough and dismissed the Dancing Masters who had a repertoire of old dances,which they didn’t collect because some of them had foreign names and are now lost forever. If that wasn’t enough they invented new ‘Irish’ dances with rules and regulations pertinent to the stage rather than the half door, kitchen or cross-roads. They introduced costumes with dubious origin that are now regarded as traditional. The Irish Catholic Church had a huge influence killing off Irish dancing, they banned anything that brought male and females together. They were aided and abetted by the Irish government who banned house dances with the Public Dance-hall Act of 1935. Global culture, jazz, rock n roll and pop did the rest. Let’s have sound critical analysis founded on real knowledge, generosity of spirit and openness. Leave out the snide remarks and bitterness. We should be informed by the past not imprisoned by it. Move on embrace the new and stop trying to stop change. Suggested reading: ‘Folk Music and Dances of Ireland’, Brendn Breathnach ‘A Handbook of Irish Dances’, O’Keefe and O’Brien. ‘Irish Minstrels and Musicians’ Francis O’Neill. Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society