Because the steps make the dance and as a beginner, you may want to see exactly what is in store for you as you move up. Detailed in this section are many things, including lists of official set dances, and how much arm usage there really is (and why).
1.) Official An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha Set Dances
2.) Basic Dances
3.) Posture and Form
4.) Video Tutorials
1.) Official An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha Set Dances
These are some of the official set dances, though they are added to almost every year. The speed of each dance is in parentheses.
Jigs (6/8)
The Blackthorn Stick (66)
The Funny Tailor/The Drunken Gauger (66)
The Humours of Bandon (69)
The Hurling Boys (69)
Hurry the Jug (69)
Jockey to the Fair (69)
Miss Brown's Fancy (69)
The Orange Rogue (69)
Planxty Drury (69)
Rub the Bag (66)<
St. Patrick's Day (Trad.) (92)
The Three Sea Captains (66)
Jig & Slip Jig (6/8 and 9/8)
Is the Big Man Within?
Hornpipes (2/4 or 4/4)
The Ace and Deuce of Pipering (76)
The Blackbird (Trad.) (70)
Bonaparte's Retreat (76)
Downfall of Paris (76)
The Garden of Daisies (Trad.) (76)
The Hunt (76)
The Job of Journeywork (Trad.) (76)
Kilkenny Races (80)
King of the Fairies (80)
The Lodge Road (76)
Madame Bonaparte (80)
The Piper Through the Meadow Straying (76)
Planxty Davis (80)
The Rambling Rake (76)
Rodney's Glory (80)
The White Blanket (76)
Youghal Harbour (80)
2.) Basic Dances
All dancers* learn these six basic dances:
1.) Reel: Danced in 4/4 time, this up-tempo dance is one of the very first learned.
2.) Light Jig: Danced in 6/8 time, the light jig contains more intricate variety than its single/hop jig counterpart.
3.) Single or Hop Jig: Danced in 6/8, the single/hop jig is just as the same sounds: FULL OF HOPPING. The steps match the beat of the dance, often appearing very lively but rarely an interesting dance to watch.
4.) Slip Jig: (*Only girls and young boys dance this.) Danced in the rather exclusive and unusual 9/8 time, the slip jig is a ladies-only dance in most competitions, however, some younger beginner boys do learn them. Slip jigs are graceful but often full of power and combine many hanging leaps and intricate movements to showcase the female dancer's ability.
5.) Treble Jig: Danced in 6/8 time, the treble jig is the hardshoe form of the traditional jig. It is danced in two speeds, slower for advanced dancers and quicker for beginners. Sound strange? Fast means less footwork and slower means more! The only way to full understand that is to see it in action.
6.) Hornpipe: The hornpipe is in 4/4 time with accents on the first and third beat (ONE-and-a two-and-a three-and-a four-and-a). Because of the slow pace of the music, advanced dancers are required to fill the music with very difficult steps and movements. Beginning dancers have a faster beat, but with the different emphasis, there is no real similarity to the reel as you may think. Originally, hornpipes were danced only by males.
7.) Treble Reel: Also in 4/4 time, but with the same beat as the softshoe reel, treble reels are showpieces. Rarely are they danced in normal comeptition, and often a special "trophy" dance is held in which all dancers line up and each one does a step of their treble reel. The idea is power and quick feet and is popular in shows.
As a beginning dancer, you will be required to compete in all of these dances (save for slip jig, depending on your gender) until each is moved up. At the championship levels, both the single and light jigs are dropped and females choose between a reel and slip jig. Males dance reel and both genders choose between a treble jig and hornpipe, with the addition of a set dance.
Another branch of Irish step dance includes FIGURE DANCES, also known as team dances or ceili ("KAY-lee") dances. These dances are, as the other names suggest, danced by two or more people. In these dances, arms are used and save for many larger team dances, most figures are choreographed by the teachers. This is an optional part of Irish dance, but not one you should ever choose to miss out on!
Team dances with or without names are often referred to by the number of people in them. For instance, a two-person dance is a 2-Hand, a three person dance is a 3-Hand, and sixteen person dance is a 16-Hand, and so on.
3.) Posture and Form
“Tall and straight my father taught me, this is how we dance.”
The most distinctive quality of Irish step dance is not the intricate movement of feet or the powerhouse sound of hardshoe. It’s the lack of arm movement. Those intending to mock it shout, “WATCH ME RIVERDANCE!” and lock their arms rigidly at their sides, stomping their feet in a ridiculous manner.
Even Riverdance makes fun of it—in the segment “Trading Taps”, the tap dancers lock their arms and attempt to copy their Irish dancing foes. It’s hilarious, of course, and all in good fun, but Irish has become so stereotyped, it beats ballet. (At least no one calls it “Swan Laking”. Yet.)
There is no exact reason why Irish removed the use of arm movement in solo dances. There are many theories, of course, some more accurate than others, but they all date back to a time between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Irish were under persecution by the English. Dancing was the only means of entertainment for many people, and hammering nails into the soles of their shoes and jumping on a broken down door provided just the right amount of it. However, some people believe that, in order to keep this dance form a secret from their English invaders, they kept their upper bodies locked and unmoving.
Seems a bit odd since they would certainly be bouncing up and down.
A more likely reason lies with the Catholic Church’s distaste of “intimate” dancing or hand-holding, thus they forbade people from using their arms or upper bodies. Or perhaps, it was a way to gain control over a new form of dance that seemed a bit too wild for their tastes.
Either way, straight forward Irish step dance has no swing of the hip, so if the second tale is true, they got what they wanted.
Another likely theory lies with Queen Elizabeth I. The story goes that Irish dancers were brought to court to dance for her since she loved to watch them, but they refused to raise their arms to her and kept them locked at their sides. History says that the queen enjoyed Irish dance and music and frequently requested entertainment brought to her court, so the tale of the disrespectful Irish step dancers has some merit.
The most possible legend lies with the original creators of the dance itself, the ones who penned the movements that evolved into what they are today. The Dance Masters of the 1700s and 1800s. Social etiquette disapproved of the arm movements of certain styles of dancing (Sean nós most noted), so the Dance Masters required their students to hold their arms down. Some accounts claim that small objects, such as stones, were held in their hands to keep them at their sides. Some records say that dancers could place one or both hands on their hips, but that is more common in group dances.
Whatever the reason, today it is the most noted feature of the dance. But it’s not just smashing your hands at your sides and locking your back.
Irish step dance POSTURE is tall and straight. The upper body generally should not move. Shoulders back, head high, hands to the sides and back just slightly, with hands in loose fists, fingernails pressed against the high. Dresses with wide panels help hide messy hands, which is a blessing for some dancers and a nightmare for some teachers.
Legs are always crossed and turned out, preferably from the hip. One misguided allegation is that Irish does not use turn out at all. That is absolutely untrue. The more turn out, the better. Dancing in the ballet fifth position is an ideal that is rarely achieved, but is the essential goal.
4.) Video Tutorials
Coming soon, small instructional videos on the movements of both softshoe and hardshoe, both basic and complex.
The STEPS of any given dance are created by the teacher. There are many basic movements, but how these movements are combined into a dance are generally one-of-a-kind. Traditional set dances and many figure dances have traditional steps that were recorded and passed down and generally do not vary, but most solo dances are open to interpretation. And the interpretation begins with the terms. No single movement has one name. It would greatly reduce confusion if this weren't the case, but, fortunately, a majority of dancers can handle it.
The BASIC MOVEMENTS that form all of the dances are threes (or, hop23s, leap overs, leaps, jump23s, or simply 123s), sevens (also known as the side-down, but usually that entails more steps than a simple seven), hops (or, hop-to-the-knees, quivers, hits), whips (or cuts, cut-ups) and a step that is often seen in light jigs but has no 'official' name (hop front, hop back, hop back234 is what my school calls it).
THREES
SEVENS
HOPS
WHIPS
JIG STEP
The BASIC MOVEMENTS of hardshoe consist of trebles (or, rallies, emerlies, bangs, shuffles, brushes), slams (or, bangs, stomps), toe hits, and combinations of the softshoe movements above.
TREBLES
SLAMS
TOE HITS
But, as with any dance form, these steps evolve and others are introduced as the dancer moves up.
In softshoe, the more ADVANCED MOVEMENTS are birds (the hanging leap that threes eventually turn into), double hops (or, double cuts, double ups - these are a quick, double movement of the traditional hop), flutters (or the ballet entrechat), butterflies, shakes (or quivers), and rocks.
BIRDS
DOUBLE HITS
FLUTTERS
BUTTERFLIES
SHAKES
ROCKS
In hardshoe, the more ADVANCED MOVEMENTS are machine guns, drumrolls, front clicks, back clicks, half-clicks, double hits (or, double toes), boxes, and toe stands.
MACHINE GUNS
DRUMROLLS
FRONT CLICKS
BACK CLICKS
HALF-CLICKS
DOUBLE HITS
BOXES
TOE STANDS