Traditional dance

I'm not really an authority on traditional dance, but I do play for Scottish country dancing and Irish dancing of various sorts from time to time. And if you play for dancing, you really ought to learn something about what those dancers are doing, and why they always complain about the tempo of your tunes even though it took months of practice to get them up to that speed.

Riverdance and its imitators have made Irish dancing (or some semblance thereof) newly popular. Let's hope that this results in at least a few people finding out about real Irish dancing!

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A brief overview of Irish dance

This beginner's introduction by Bill Harrison explains the difference between Irish step dancing, set dancing, céilí dancing, and the couple dances done to traditional Irish music, plus a list of reference material.

Irish step dancing

A brief history of Irish step dancing by Don Haurin & Ann Richens, of the Richens Academy of Irish Dancing (Ohio).

Scottish step dancing

Maggie Moore discusses Cape Breton step dancing and its roots in Scotland, where it is starting to be revived.

Quadrilles and cotillions

What does Irish set-dancing have to do with the court of Emperor Napoleon? The net.gurus of the FIDDLE-L List explain this story and much more.

Sets and céilí dancing

Thanks to Paul Keating for providing an interesting Irish Times article on the controversies in the Irish social dancing world.

The English Dancing Master

Playford's 1651 publication of The English Dancing Master is the first record of dance music in the British Isles. It includes a number of Scottish tunes. I've put it into abc format, which can be found at this page on the Ceolas website.

The origins of Scottish country dance

A brief introduction to Scottish country dance in the 18th century.

Additional information

• Ceolas Irish and Scottish dancing pages.
• The History of Irish Dance from Ireland's Eye
• Full list of traditional Irish set dancing and ceili dancing events. List of traditional Irish events: set dancing, ceili dance, workshops, festivals, ceol agus craic, by location. Most events listed are in Ireland, but the links list is international. Excellent resource for people planning a trip to Ireland who want to get some dancing in.
• Archives of IRDANCE-L@POST.QUEENSU.CA, Irish Traditional Dancers' List. Searchable archive.
• Rinnce na h-Éireann, a simplified work on the performance of the dances of Ireland (New York : Gaelic League of the State of New York, c1907) (from the Library of Congress' American Memory collection).
• Set Dancing News worldwide. In the past, reports have shown a lively prose style. Sample:
  The final stop of the outing was the Battery Castle, a nineteenth century British fort guarding the Shannon from Napoleon, which was a surprisingly good venue for set dancing thanks to the fine wooden floor installed in a renovation. The castle is roofed, but the windows are open and the dancing was accompanied by fierce winds of an American hurricane which completely eliminated any possibility of sweating. As soon as the Plain set had stopped, a bat was blown into the room and circled frantically for a minute or two to the screams of those of us who feared it would land on our heads before being blown out the other side. The organising committee is to be congratulated for providing such unique entertainment.
• Traditional Dance in Wales during the 18th Century, part 1. I hope part 2 gets done some time.
• Morris dancing and mumming, not really Celtic but interesting all the same.

Check out the links page for additional references.

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