In 1994 the world got to know Irish dance thanks to the intermission during the Eurovision Song Contest. In just seven minutes, Michael Flatley's unique choreography, Bill Whelan's innovative Irish music and Jean Butler's dancing skills captured the hearts of approximately 300 million viewers. What was initially intended as a one-off snack to gently promote the carefully nurtured Irish culture, turned out to be a huge and above all completely unexpected success. No performer received more applause that night than Flatley and his dancers. Our very own Irish Teacher, Kelley Byrne, was one of the dancers of the original group.

The success was such that the producer couple John McColgan and Moya Doherty took a huge leap in the dark. With their own financial resources, a full hall show was built. Riverdance, inspired by the power of rivers and with influences from other world dances, was born. After more than 20 years, the almost unchanged show still attracts packed business and standing ovations. Their most recent achievement is the Riverdance Summer School where only 100 dancers per week are allowed to participate.

However, Michael Flatley soon turned his back on Riverdance due to artistic disputes. He choreographed his very own show: Lord of the Dance. This show also turned out to be a huge success and is still touring around the world. Flatley reworked this show several times. The show also appeared under the name Feet of Flames and Dangerous Games. Flatley recently opened a show dancing school in London.

Riverdance and Lord of the Dance made sexy in no time what had been no more than a humble tradition for centuries. Flatley later released Celtic Tiger and Riverdance came up with Heartbeat of Home. Although both shows were warmly received, they never achieved the success of their predecessors. Other dance productions are now also touring the world with dance shows. However, the professional dancers who spawned these shows spread all over the world, taking their talents with them. You can now find Irish dance schools practically everywhere.

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The origins of Irish dance, as is often the case with ancient traditions, are difficult to trace. It is a story of different dance traditions in Ireland itself and assimilation with overseas dances. Summarizing this history in a few sentences is almost impossible, but we make a modest attempt.

All over the island there were different dance traditions where people gathered after Sunday Mass in a pub, a large house or at a crossroads. Music was played and people danced together, on an upturned door or table or competed with each other. People often danced with attributes such as swords, this dance form can still be found in the Scottish tradition.

All regions of Ireland had different traditions, tap dance was very popular in Connemara. This tradition is still alive under the name Sean Nós. In other places people preferred to dance together. Thus, the distinction between solo dances and ceili dances grew (ceili is an Irish word and is now used for traditional group dances and the gatherings at which these dances are still danced).

In the case of solo dancing, the best dancers danced on small stages or pieces of wood. They wore their best clothes, after all, it was Sunday, and they had on their footwear of their choice. Hard shoes didn't exist yet, so nails were hammered into shoes, wooden soles made,… The very best of them became dance masters. They became famous and traveled all over the country to show and teach their arts. They did this in villages or among the more affluent nobility. This is how the dance form spread and the different traditions came into contact with each other.

However, when ceili dances were performed in groups, they remained less traditional. The good observer will also recognize Flemish, French or even Romanian folk dances in many Irish ceili dances. Irish dances used to be round dances, but under the influence of European dance fashion, tighter formations came into fashion. But the line between tradition and European influence is particularly thin and extremely contested in Ireland itself. There the official bodies liked to be very conservative and turned away from the looser ethics of Europe. What exactly was allowed or not is still a point of discussion with one region claiming that the four hand reel was very old with them and the other region claiming at high and low that this was a European foil.

The ceili dances still live on and are still performed today. They are characterized by teamwork, ranging from two to sixteen dancers. Arm movements, albeit tight, are allowed in these dances. They are not to be confused with more modern choreographies in which several dancers dance together, but in which there is more freedom in terms of arm movements, steps and figures.

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Contemporary Irish dance is characterized by some divisions based on rhythms, traditions and of course the dancing shoes. This makes it sometimes difficult for an outsider to fully understand the dance. A distinction is made between a reel, a jig and a hornpipe. The jig is also divided into light jig, single jig, slip jig and treble jig. 

The shoe distinction is well known. On the one hand you have the soft shoes, pumps or ghillies and on the other hand the hard shoes or heavy shoes, a kind of tap shoes. Light dances are more likely to be danced with soft shoes. Dancers stand high on their toes and jump almost continuously, performing intricate jumps. Also with hard shoes the dancers usually stand on their toes, but now they also have to make noise with their shoes on top of the correctly performed dance steps. They use every part of their shoe for this. 

The basic principles are fairly simple but sometimes difficult to implement: always stand on tiptoe and preferably as high as possible, back straight and arms motionless, toes turned outwards, legs and toes stretched as often as possible and feet crossed and then behind each other. There is still no unequivocal answer to the question of where those immobile arms come today, but it does make this dance style fairly unique.

Contemporary costumes attract a lot of interest and meet with much opposition from the outside world. That is not always incomprehensible, but they too grew out of a kind of tradition. The Irish wore their best attire on Sundays, such as embroidered dresses and smart suits. The women often curled their hair and sometimes wore a cape against the ever-changing weather. All these parts can still be found, although you sometimes have to look closely. However, this attire is only worn during competitions and sometimes during performances.

Irish dance is one of the most appreciated and admired dance forms today. The incredibly fast movements, incredible precision and proud execution will delight young and old alike. Be enchanted by what has been making Irish people worldwide since time immemorial forget all misery and misery and let them enjoy life again: Irish dance!

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Sources:

The Story of Irish Dance – Helen Brennan    

Irish Dancing Costumes, Their Origins and Evolution – Dr. John Cullinane