Abstract
Shay begins the chapter with a history of Ireland, and its Gaelic origins. He especially concentrates on the fraught relations between the English and the Irish, pointing out that Ireland and Ukraine were the only colonized nations in Europe. Following the disaster of the Potato Famine in the mid-nineteenth century, strong anti-English feelings of nationalism arose. The Gaelic League in 1893 therefore identified two elements—Irish dancing and the Gaelic language—to use as tools to construct Irish national identity. The League established a commission to oversee dance activities in the 1920s. The author describes four stages of Irish dancing: sean-nós, an improvised form of step dancing from the west of Ireland, dancing master-led step dancing from other areas, competition step dancing, and finally the spectacle of Riverdance.
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- 1.
The term “set” in regards to Irish dancing can be confusing because it has several meanings. Frank Hall notes, “In the contemporary world of dancing within Ireland, the word ‘set’ can mean: (1) A genre of social dancing; (2) A sub-genre of step-dancing; (3) A genre of music for step-dancing, (4) A group of dancers; (5) A group of movements done by a group of dancers; (6) A phrase of movements performed by a solo dancer” (2008, 31). Thus, the term refers to both solo and group dancing as well as movements and music.
- 2.
I have encountered two spellings for the word rinci, or rinnci (dance).
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Shay, A. (2016). Chapter 5 Irish Dancing: “When Irish Feet Are Twinkling”. In: Ethno Identity Dance for Sex, Fun and Profit. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59318-4_6
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