Let’s talk about the history of Irish dance ;)
It’s not certain when this form of dancing was practised for the first time. Ireland is a country shaped by migration and each people brought it’s own forms of dance and music to the island. The Druids were probably the first who used a similar form of dancing for religious rituals. Traces of their circular dances can be found in today’s Irish round dances. The Anglo-Norman conquest in the twelfth century brought Norman customs to Ireland. A very popular dance of this period, in which a singing leader is surrounded by dancers, is called Carol. Later, in the 16th century, the Irish Hey, the Rinnce Fada (a long dance) and the Trenchmore were the best known forms of dancing. All of them were normally accompanied by musicians who played bagpipes and harps. In the 18th century the figure of the dancing master appeared. He was kind of a travelling dancing teacher whose job it was to teach peasants how to dance. The masters were wearing colourful clothes and had an eye-catching attitude. When two or more of them came together, for example at a fair, it was common to have public dancing contests. Pupils of all the masters challenged each other in several competitions. Today many organisations are promoting Irish dance. Additionally, there are dancing championships in all four provinces. The winners of these provincial competitions qualify for the All Ireland Championships (so maybe that’s the event Ciara took part in). Another important factor of promotion are shows such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. I'm sure you have already heard of them ;).
It’s not certain when this form of dancing was practised for the first time. Ireland is a country shaped by migration and each people brought it’s own forms of dance and music to the island. The Druids were probably the first who used a similar form of dancing for religious rituals. Traces of their circular dances can be found in today’s Irish round dances. The Anglo-Norman conquest in the twelfth century brought Norman customs to Ireland. A very popular dance of this period, in which a singing leader is surrounded by dancers, is called Carol. Later, in the 16th century, the Irish Hey, the Rinnce Fada (a long dance) and the Trenchmore were the best known forms of dancing. All of them were normally accompanied by musicians who played bagpipes and harps. In the 18th century the figure of the dancing master appeared. He was kind of a travelling dancing teacher whose job it was to teach peasants how to dance. The masters were wearing colourful clothes and had an eye-catching attitude. When two or more of them came together, for example at a fair, it was common to have public dancing contests. Pupils of all the masters challenged each other in several competitions. Today many organisations are promoting Irish dance. Additionally, there are dancing championships in all four provinces. The winners of these provincial competitions qualify for the All Ireland Championships (so maybe that’s the event Ciara took part in). Another important factor of promotion are shows such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. I'm sure you have already heard of them ;).
If you want to find out more about the debatable business and the hard work behind the quick steps and the nice dresses, check out this video:
Bye bye :)
Bye bye :)
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