By Rueben Brock
Ireland is a country oozing with national pride and reverence for its cultural history. Everywhere I went and in everyone I spoke to, I found that the Irish population is a people who deeply appreciate the gifts that their motherland has given to the world and who love to share those gifts with those who visit their soil. One area in particular that I found to come up time and time again was the arts. Ireland has a deep history of excellence and uniqueness in music, art, literature, cinema, and of course, dance. Irish dance is a cornerstone of Irish artistic culture and Irish culture at large with ties to the Irish nationalist movements of the 20th century. As a trained dancer of fourteen years, I knew that I had to take advantage of this trip abroad to learn more about this fascinating and beautiful art form.
What exactly is Irish dance and how does it differ from other dance genres? Irish dan is actually more of an umbrella term than a concrete genre and encapsulates the multitude of traditional dance forms born out of Ireland. Some of these forms include sean-nós dance, festival Irish dance, ceili dance, Irish set dance, competition dance, and what most people think of when they think of Irish dancing, Irish stepdance. The different forms developed according to regional practices and differing purposes. Irish dance has some French roots, being influenced by the French dance style of quadrille. The theatrical show “Riverdance” helped to popularize Irish dance and bring it to the mainstream.
On the eighth day of our trip, we were given a special Irish dancing class. It was fairly elementary, but it showed us some basic and fundamental aspects of Irish dance. And on top of that it was just very fun. Probably my biggest takeaway from the experience was how intrinsic art is to Irish culture and history and understanding each helps you to understand the others. Like how the rigid and stationary placement of the upper body in Irish dancing actually has ties to the religious persecution of the old Irish populations. Or how the music and the stories in the songs people dance to were what inspired the names of certain Irish locations. Storytelling, music, dance. Each an important part of what makes Ireland Ireland.
While I was more than happy to study and explore just the historic “Irish dance”, I wanted to go beyond and explore what the modern landscape of what “dance in Ireland” looks like. Like all other art forms, the dance scene in Ireland is vast and ever-expanding. It is so much bigger than just what people think of when they think “Irish dance”.
I was lucky that our time in Ireland coincided with the Dublin Dance Festival. DDF, as described by the event team themselves, “…celebrates bold new performances from Irish artists and leading choreographic voices from around the world. It’s an exploration of ritual, community and chaos, sharing personal stories and collective wisdom.” It is a two week experience of classes, shows, and guest speakers featuring the best rising talent from Ireland and around the world, such as Oona Doherty, Luail Irish National Dance Company, and Qudus Onikeku.
Due to our trip’s schedule, I didn’t have the time to participate in all that the festival had to offer, however, I was fortunately able to catch the opening performance of the revival of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, a thrilling and modern contemporary revival of the classic ballet. The show premiered in 1995 and updated Swan Lake’s setting, narrative, and genre while also famously changing the female corps-de-ballet to an all male ensemble for the swans. It is a highly regarded reimagining of an already iconic show, so I had high expectations going in. And the show did not disappoint. To be fair, this was my first experience watching any production of Swan Lake in full, but regardless, I found the show to be riveting. For starters, the sheer athleticism displayed by the dancers was awe-inspiring. Coming from a dancer, the choreography was not easy and the dancers were visibly glistening with sweat by the finale, but they never showed a hint of effort and beautifully floated across the stage all the way until the curtain closed. Speaking of choreography, I thought it was interesting and intelligently done. It is so difficult to make something so well known and done so many times feel original and Bourne pulled it off. I found myself gasping and laughing over and over again. The set design and costumes were impeccable and really helped to both accentuate the story and the dancers. Every piece of the show worked together to make something truly incredible. By the end, I felt exhausted in the best way possible. If this show was evidence of what dance in Ireland is like, then it’s clear to me that Irish dance doesn’t get the publicity it deserves.
The culture surrounding Irish dance and dance in Ireland is rich and dense. So much history has led to where Irish dance is now. It is eternally linked to the heart of what Ireland is and it was fascinating to watch and learn about. I’ve been surrounded by dance basically my entire life and I honestly would probably have never known the greatness of Irish dance if it was not for this experience abroad. What I’ve learned will stick with me and has only deepened my appreciation for this art form.