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Looking after your pumps
By Craig CoussinsAftercare for Hullachan soft reel Shoes. The foot has 125 thousand sweat glands and that can produce half a litre of perspiration when wearing your shoes at a competition. Its natural but the shoe will still be wet so the constant wetting and subsequent drying of the shoe will take its toll on the shoe itself. Your Hullachan will therefore need some form of after care treatment. Never put your Read More
Instruments of the Music of Irish Dance
By Kinney, Troy and Margaret WestHard Shoed Foot The most important and most commonly overlooked instrument is the hard shoed foot. Kinney stresses this in his book when he quotes Mr. Hill, a professional Irish dancer of eleven years experience: The thing of great importance in Irish dancing,? Mr. Hill says, ?is the music of the shoes. In the eleven years that I have been dancing, the greater part of Read More
Origins and History of Irish Dance
By Breathnach, BreandIt 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 D Read More
The Jig and Reel
By Emmerson, George SGeorge S. Emmerson notes in A Social History of Scottish Dance the origins of the term "jig." It is quoted below. "It has often been suggested that the word 'jig' is derived from the old French name gigue meaning a small fiddle, and certainly the first recorded use of the word in English in John de Garlandia?s Vocabulary (ca. 1225) seems to confirm this supposition" (Emmerson 193). S Read More
The cost of Irish Dancing
By Danny LewinIrish dancing just grows and grows with each year that passes. There are more teachers, adjudicators and pupils helping to keep our art alive. But what costs come with taking up the flourishing art form? Money The Irish dancer spends on average ?2000 - ?3000+ every year on everything from lessons to a new dress. Lessons start at around ?4.00 per hour. So if you attend 4 classes a week Read More
Report on Ballet dancers
By BBCThis is an article we found outlining the potential risks a ballet dancer could face. There's no direct connection between Irish dancing and Ballet, but there are similarities so we thought we would share it with you! Dancing 'en pointe' can lead to arthritis Young girls who carry out a ballet move too early in their training risk developing arthritis in the ankles, researchers have war Read More
Starting Irish Dancing
By Danny LewinIrish dancing was made popular by dance shows such as Riverdance and Lord Of The Dance. And as a res
Read MoreShin Splints
By Craig CoussinsShin-splints usually involve pain in the front or inside part of the lower leg. This pain frequen
Read MoreWhat is the An Coimisiun Le Rinci?
By Antonio Pacelli'An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha', is Irish for the Irish Dancing Commission and is generally seen
Read MoreShoe Care
By Antonio PacelliAs an Irish Dancer you know that your "tools of the trade" are quite expensive! Here we give you a g
Read MoreWhy the straight arms?
By Antonio PacelliOne of the most distinctive features of Irish dancing is the rigid upper body and straight arms.
Read MoreInterview - Jess Knight
By Danny LewinJess of Jess Knight - Irish Dance Costumes took time from her busy schedule of designing and stitchi
Read MoreBeginners tasks for stamina
By BBC1. Technical Exercise In terms of technique, endurance running is slightly different to spri
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