Origins and History of Irish Dance
Irish Dance Article By Breathnach, Breand
Added Thursday 9th November 2006It is claimed that there is little in the written record about the dances and culture of Ireland in ancient times. Most history has been handed down orally through the nation's dance, music, and stories (Flynn 13). Indeed, a visit to the university?s library confirms the lack of a detailed written record. One example of the scarcity of authoritative sources of information is this: On page 41 of Duggan?s Folk Dances of the British Isles first published in 1948 there is a section describing Irish Folk Dances that appears to be plagiarized from page 174 of Kinney?s The Dance published in 1914. Fortunately, a swift visit to the bibliography of Duggan?s book provides a better explanation; it shows Kinney?s book listed in it.
The middle of the fifth century was Ireland?s ?Golden Age.? Poetry and music flourished. The Church built monasteries, schools, and Ireland became a great center of learning (Duggan 28). Unfortunately in the eighth century Vikings destroyed most of the books, and in the twelfth century, the English created laws to ban dancing and other aspects of Irish culture (Flynn 9-10).
The Irish are said to have, ?or have had, at any rate,? possessed an unrivaled reputation for fun and humor, and that it should be no surprise that dance flourishes in Ireland. Apparently, they took their merriment very seriously and were quite competitive. As also practiced in the courts of the Sun King, and while drowned in Irish whiskey, the gatherings took notice of a dancer?s missteps. The crowd would promptly tease the subject for their error (Grove 198-199).
One such example of Irish joviality is the Sunday cake. Not exactly a competition, more of a festivity connected to sporting events, cakes date back to the nineteenth century but are no longer performed. On Sunday afternoons, after five hours of Church attendance, it was tradition to hold a cake. It was called a cake because the most talented dancer would receive a cake for their efforts (Grove 208). The participants split the cost of the purchase of the cake that was usually provided by the wife of the innkeeper or pub operator, and the cake was placed on a pole about ten feet high (Flynn 35). The contestants also paid the piper to play music at the cake. The piper would sit on the ground, near the cake, and into a hole he dug besides him each participant would deposit money after dancing (Grove 208).
Irish style dance has influenced American dance styles including jazz and tap. Irish music has also provided quite an influence in other nation?s dances. One source reports that nearly one-third of British broadsides are Irish in origin (Myers 74).
