Irish dance

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Shramore Set, 1st figure, Polka: Swing with "Céilí-hold" '

Irish dance includes various folk dances that can be danced alone, in pairs or in groups. In addition, there have recently been Irish dance shows such as Riverdance . The traditional dance forms include, for example, the set dance , céilí and sean nós dance , the traditional tap dance from Connemara and Munster .

history

History records a variety of dances danced by the Irish in the mid-15th century. Three main dances are often mentioned: "Rince fada" or "Fading", in which two rows of partners face each other, "The Irish Hey", probably a round or figure dance, and "The Trenchmores", which appears as a large "free form" - Country dance is described.

During the mid-16th century, dances were performed in the halls of the newly built castles. Some of these dances were adopted by the English invaders of the century and brought to Queen Elizabeth I's court .

Influences

The appearance of the "Dance Masters" around 1750 had a great influence on Irish dance and Irish culture. These were traveling dance teachers who traveled from village to village in a district and taught the rural population to dance. Group dances were invented by these masters, whose standard was very high. Solo dances were held in very high esteem and doors were often taken off their hinges and placed on the floor for the soloist to dance on. Each “Dance Master” had its own district and never encroached on the area of ​​another “Master”. When “dance masters” met in a large market , they challenged themselves to a public competition (the first competitions - called “Feis” or in the plural called “feiseanna” - were born). Each "dance master" had a repertoire of steps and created new ones from time to time, so the winner of this public contest was the one with the most steps.

Modern Irish dance

The modern period began in 1893 when the Gaelic League was founded. This group encouraged the reawakening of Irish culture, a culture that the British had suppressed for centuries. The first Céilí took place in London in 1897 ; the " Céilí -" or "Figure Dances", which are so popular today , only emerged afterwards. The Irish word “céilí” originally referred to a gathering of neighbors in a house to have a fun time making music, dancing and storytelling. Nowadays it refers to an informal dance evening where young and old enjoy group dances together. The Céilí can be traced back to times before the great famine, when “dancing at cross roads” was a popular rural pastime.

In 1902 the "Handbook of Irish Dances" was published by O'Keeffe and O'Brien, which describes the variety of Irish dances. Most of the dances described were later adopted by the Irish Dance Commission as céilí dances.

A Handbook of Irish Dances, 5th edition, 1934

In 1929 the Irish Dance Commission (An Cóimisiún lé rínci 'Gaelacha) was founded to establish rules for teaching, values ​​and competitions. The Commission's concern was to standardize too many local differences in dance, music, costumes, shoes and the rules of the competitions.

Costumes

The costumes of today's dancers pick up on the clothing of the past, even as the designs become more modern, with glitter and lighter fabrics. Originally, the girls' costumes are based on the clothes of the country women, which were worn 200 years earlier. For a long time these dresses were adorned with hand-embroidered Neoceltic motifs, nowadays the dresses look less and less traditional, which is due to the striking colors and new fabrics. In addition, "poodle socks" (white stockings that go up to about the middle of the calves) and black tights are worn by adult women. In addition, "woman" often wears a curly wig or a hairpiece (tig). The hair is very rarely worn in its natural state. The clothes worn by boys and men are a bit simpler, but seem to have been subject to temporal and / or regional fashions. In the oldest photos (1902), the men wear long trousers or knee breeches and later a monochrome kilt with matching knee socks and a jacket. It was only the well-known dance shows that influenced the costume, so that today most men wear black pants again. Male and female dancers nowadays wear hardshoes (also called "heavies") and softshoes similar to ballet slippers .

present

There are many organizations these days that promote Irish dance. Competition has become an important part of cultural life. Children, young people and adults compete in separate competitions for titles and prizes. There are group and solo competitions in which dancers are divided into age groups. The worldwide success of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance brought Irish dance to the international stage. Dance schools around the world are filled with students eager to learn this modern dance style.

Dance styles

Due to Irish history, there are different - more or less - traditional folk dance styles in addition to dance:

dancing shoes

In principle, people in Ireland danced in normal street shoes, although barefoot was danced in the past due to the great poverty of the population. In Irish dance competition, a distinction is made between "Heavy Shoes" or "Hard Shoes" and "Soft Shoes":

Heavy Shoes

Jig Shoes

The Heavy Shoes (Irish Step Shoes, Hard Shoes, Hornpipe Shoes, Jig Shoes) are used for the "Solo Set Dances" and Solo Harshoe Dances (Heavy Jig / Hornpipe). These are dances to fixed melodies. The shoes have a special elevation on the heels. On the underside of the shoe sole, the so-called "tips" are attached under the toes and the so-called "heels" are attached under the heels. These parts, which today are mostly made of plastics such as glass fiber reinforced plastic , are the sound generator together with the floor. They used to be made of either hardened leather, hard wood, or wood with nails. There are also different types of heels. In Ireland, many children start with "single heels" that are straight or tapered towards the bottom. The latest development is the "Bubbleheel", which has a bulbous shape and greatly simplifies the whip-crack-like "clicks" (back clicks and front clicks) with the heels. However, bubble wheels are not permitted in competitions. However, "click heels" that only have a bump on the inside are allowed.

Soft shoes

Ghillies

The soft shoes (light shoes, dance pumps, ghillies , brigadoons) are used by women for the silent dances, the so-called soft shoe dances or light dances. Women wear light, ballet-like shoes (dance pumps) made of leather. Soft shoes are only used by boys up to the age of max. Worn for 11 years, then boys and men use Reel Shoes (Boys Reel Shoes), which have a heel and an appearance similar to Heavy Shoes. In contrast to Heavy Shoes, Reel Shoes do not have any "tips" (mostly the same Hard Shoes, but without tips).

organization

About the dance commissions

Little is known that Irish dance is a strictly regulated and now commercialized competitive sport. As a rule, you start at the age of 4 to 5, go through 4 levels or 12 ranks (depending on the organization) and retire from the competitions in your mid-20s. All of this is monitored, controlled and regulated worldwide by several commissions and umbrella organizations. The most influential of these associations - and most frequently represented worldwide - is the "Irish Dance Commission", in Gaelic "An Coimisiún le Rinci Gaelacha (CLRG / An Com)". It is not, as is often wrongly assumed, an organization of dance teachers, but a rule committee of the "Gaelic League" founded in 1893, an organization for the promotion of the Irish language, which use dance as a means of transport for the spread of Irish Gaelic should. At Coimisiún, which itself consists of only about 80 appointed functionaries, there are several regional organizations of dance teachers and judges. When the founding members (Tomas O'Fairleacheallaigh (O'Farrely) died in 2005) met for the first time in 1929 and discussed their rules, no one could have guessed what would become of it. An Coimisiún was not the first organization to issue guides and rules for teachers and adjudicators, but it was able to enforce its views in Ireland through coercive measures and boycotts until around 1950. This also included the suppression of many traditional Irish dances that were regarded as “not Irish enough”, such as the sets, which were replaced by 30 so-called “national dances”, some of which were fabricated, published in the Céilí dance manual. In 1969, An Coimisiún organized world championships for the first time, raising Irish dance to an international level. On the European mainland, the CLRG teachers have joined together to form RTME, the "Registered Teachers Mainland Europe" and have been organizing the European championships since 2003 - the "Mainland Europe Irish Dancing Championships" with qualifying competitions for the world championships.

Associations and groups

In 1968, a number of dance teachers separated from the commission and founded their own umbrella organization: "An Comhdháil na Muintéori le Rinci Gaelach - the Body of Teachers of Irish Dance" or "An Comhdháil" for short. Today, this second largest organization is as recognized as the commission (just as an example: the original choreographies for the Riverdance spectacle came from An Comhdháil), has over 360 teachers worldwide and organizes major tournaments that are comparable to those of the commission. Somewhat smaller associations are "Cumann Rince Naisiunta - National Dance Club" (CRN), "Cumain Rince Gaelacha" (CRG) and "Cumann Rince Dea Mheasa" (CRDM). The “World Irish Dance Association” (WIDA) and Irish Dance Germany eV (IDG) are also active in Germany. In 2009, 12 German dance schools merged to form the IDG professional association. The association, which is recognized as a non-profit and tax-privileged association, organizes German championships in Irish dance and other dance competitions (Feisanna). The well-known “Irish Dancing Network” (IDN) stopped its activities as a general sports and cultural association at the end of 2012.

Exams for teachers at "An Coimisiún"

1st subject: Ceilí Teaching - the candidate to be examined must teach one or two of the 30 official group dances to a group of children. 70% must be achieved.

2nd subject: Solo teaching - the candidate to be examined must teach one or two children one step in soft shoes and one step in step shoes, whereby the examination board determines the level of difficulty shortly beforehand. 70% must be achieved.

3rd subject: Written exam - the candidate to be examined must take a 2-hour written test on the 30 official group dances. 70% must be achieved.

4th subject: Music test - the candidate to be tested must recognize 19 of the 30 official set dances in timing and number of bars, as well as one reel , jig , slip jig , single jig and hornpipe . 70% must be achieved.

5th subject: Practical test in solo dance - the candidate to be examined must first state in a list 9 of the 30 official set dances - 3 in Jig Timimg, 3 in Hornpipe Timimg and one of their choice - which they can perform themselves, and they must also be able be able to perform at least two of the four traditional solo set dances. Furthermore, the candidate to be examined will be asked to audition two steps in soft shoes and two steps in step shoes to reel, jig, single jig, slip jig, treble jig and / or hornpipe music. 75% must be achieved in this test.

If the candidate to be examined falls below 70 or 75% but above 50% in a test, he is allowed to repeat this test at a later point in time if he wishes. However, if a candidate to be examined falls below 50% or below 50% in a subject, he must repeat all 5 subjects at a later point in time if he so wishes.

Music theory

The jig (Irish: port) is of Irish origin, so it can be assumed that many old jig melodies were composed by Irish musicians. It is also believed that Reel (Irish: Cor) and Hornpipe (Irish: Cornuphiopa) came to Ireland from England and Scotland, respectively. Reels, jigs and hornpipes are similar in structure. Usually a melody consists of two parts of eight bars each (A and B part). Each melody is played twice, so that one pass of the piece results in 2 × 16 bars = 32 bars. These 32 measures are usually repeated again. Then the musicians switch to a new melody that is played according to the same pattern.

One can distinguish the following rhythms :

  • Single jig played in 6/8 time
  • Light jig played in 6/8 time
  • Treble Jig played in 6/8 time, mostly slower than the above (danced in hard shoes)
  • Slip jig played in 9/8 time
  • Slides, played for set dances in 12/8 time, is a quickly played single jig
  • Reel played in 4/4 time
  • Hornpipe played in 4/4 or 2/4 time can also be called slow reels, the melody arc is played more dotted.
  • Polka, played in 2/4 time, is played faster than "normal" polkas and is - like slides - popular for set dances like "Kerry Polka Set".

Dance theory

  • Single jigs: soft shoe dance with solo steps
  • Double Jigs: in softshoes: the normal dances known as light jig with solo steps; in hardshoes: quick tapping steps to slightly slower jig music (also known as heavy jig).
  • Heavy / Treble Jigs: in Hard Shoes: quickly danced step steps to very slow jig music.
  • (Double) Reels: in Soft Shoes: the completely normal reel dances with solo steps; in Hard Shoes: the fast tapping steps popular from the shows.
  • Slow Hornpipes: in Hard Shoes: difficult, fast steps to slow music. Mostly from intermediate level
  • Fast Hornpipes: in Hard Shoes: easy, slow steps to fast music for beginners up to primary level.
  • Slip Jigs: mostly only women and girls danced solo steps in soft shoes (but are now also practiced by men and boys)
  • Hop Jigs: quick slip jigs
  • Traditionals: Traditionals are understood to mean both traditional steps - that is, step or soft-shoe steps that every dancer can master - and the four old set dances.

Set : the word set has four meanings in Irish dance:

  • 1. Set of Tunes - a set of melodies with the same rhythm.
  • 2. Set of Dancers - the list of dancers required for a dance.
  • 3. Set Dance - the old ones, from the franz. Quadrille-derived four-pair folk dances.
  • 4. Traditional (Solo) Set Dance - traditional and non-traditional tap dances to set melodies.

"Traditional Set Dance" means: tap dances, the steps of which have been determined for a certain music for generations. With the exception of smaller step variations, all traditional sets look and sound the same or must sound the same. Examples of traditional sets are:

  • St. Patrick's Day - Jig Set in 6/8 time
  • Blackbird - Hornpipe Set in 2/4 time
  • Garden of Daisies - Hornpipe Set in 4/4 time
  • Job of journey work - Hornpipe Set in 4/4 time.
  • King of the Fairies - Hornpipe Set in 4/4 time

Non traditional or open / modern set dances : dance teachers create their own step compositions for these melodies and pick up on the sound of the music. The 26 non-trad. Set dances are:

  • In double jig timing:
Blackthorn stick; Drunken Gauger / Sailor; Humor of bandon; Jockey to the fair; Orange rouge; Planxty Drury; Rub the bag; 3 sea captains; Hurling boys; Hurry the jug; Madame Bonaparte; Miss Brown's fancy; Is the big man within (Jig / Slip Jig Timing)
  • In hornpipe timing:
Downfall of Paris; Lodge road; King of the fairies; Planxty Davis; Rodney's glory; Ace and deuce of pipering; Bonaparte's retreat; The Hunt; Piper through the meadow straying; White blanket; Kilkenny races; Youghal harbor; Rambling rake
  • Céilí : The word Céilí is Irish (Irish Gaelic) and means "meeting".
It used to mean a meeting for music, singing and dancing in a neighboring house. Today this term is more commonly used for official dances in larger halls, where young and old together called Céilí- and Settänze - the actual ballroom dancing in Ireland - dance.
  • Figure Dances:
Figure dances are group dances specially created by dance teachers with many movements / figures and up to 16 dancers.

Irish dance shows

Irish show dancers

literature

  • Helen Brennan: The Story of Irish Dance . Mount Eagle Publications Ltd., 1999, ISBN 0-86322-244-7
  • John Cullinane: Aspects of the History of Irish Céilí Dancing . The Central Remedial Clinic, Clontarf, Dublin 3, 1998, ISBN 0-9527952-2-1
  • To Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha: Ár Rincí Fóirne-Thirty Popular Céilí Dances . Westside Press, 2003
  • JG O'Keeffe, Art O'Brien: A Handbook of Irish Dances, 1st Edition . O'Donoghue & Co., 1902, [2]
  • Esther Mitterbauer, Rainer Strzolka: Dancemasters. - epubli, 2012, ISBN 978-3-8442-1685-1
  • Wiltrud Werner: Dances from Ireland . Dieter Balsies Verlag, Kiel, 1997, ISBN 3-925594-47-7
  • Frank Whelan: The Complete Guide to Irish Dance , Appletree Press Ltd, 2000, ISBN 0-86281-805-2

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. John Cullinane: Aspects of the History of Irish Dancing , Cork City, 1987
  2. ↑ Helen Brennan: The Story of Irish Dance , Brandon, Dingle, 1999
  3. ↑ Ár Rincí Fóirne- (DOC download) Thirty Popular Céilí Dances  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rinceoiri.cz  
  4. ^ [1] The Dream of Ireland