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Dance
Most people, when they think of Irish dance, immediately conjure up just one image: Riverdance.
No doubt about it, Riverdance probably accounts for the huge popularity of Irish dance in the United States.
That said, the kind of dance performed in that juggernaut of a show is not the only kind of Irish dance there is. (No need to wear a puffy shirt and a rubber band on your head, a la Michael Flatley. And while you might need a fancy costumes or shoes with taps on them, depending on what kind of Irish dance you plan to do, you could get along fine in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers for much of the rest.)
Irish dance generally is divided into three categories:
Ceili and set dancing generally are categorized as social dances. That is, people just dance them for the fun of it.
No doubt about it, Riverdance probably accounts for the huge popularity of Irish dance in the United States.
That said, the kind of dance performed in that juggernaut of a show is not the only kind of Irish dance there is. (No need to wear a puffy shirt and a rubber band on your head, a la Michael Flatley. And while you might need a fancy costumes or shoes with taps on them, depending on what kind of Irish dance you plan to do, you could get along fine in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers for much of the rest.)
Irish dance generally is divided into three categories:
Ceili and set dancing generally are categorized as social dances. That is, people just dance them for the fun of it.
Latest page update: made by irishphilly
, Apr 20 2008, 1:15 PM EDT
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| Marimac | Types of Irish Dancing... | 4 | Apr 18 2008, 12:53 PM EDT by irishphilly | |
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Thread started: Apr 15 2008, 1:35 PM EDT
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There is an additional type of Irish dance which is recently coming back into the spotlight. Sean-nos (or old-style) dancing is a lovely form of solo dancing. It used to be the primary domain of men with an emphasis on flat-foot battering (the closest comparison would be American tap-dancing which it is believed had part of its influence through the exchange of steps between Irish working on the railroads and the African-Americans who worked alongside them). One of the finest practitioners of sean-nos dancing is Aidan Vaughan from Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare who visits the Delaware Valley every May with the Matt Cunningham Band. Aidan always steps it out at said ceili. There are numerous videos on YouTube showing both old clips and more recent ones. There is also a close similarity to Cape Breton stepdancing which is also undergoing a revival.
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sean nos dancing steps
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