Hornpipe Magazine Irish Dance Abstracts Vol. 5.

Volume 5, Issue 6

Feiseanna: "Laissez les bons temps rouler"

While the rest of the country was hunkered down in teeth chattering cold a soft rain fell on a balmy 70 degree crescent city where the Feis Louisiane and Lagniappe resumed after a one year hiatus. It is indisputably one of the BEST feiseanna in North America.

Lagniappe is one of those twisted American-French-Creole words that means something given in good measure — a little extra and that is exactly what you get. Every year on the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend in January Ms. Mary Ann (Mary Ann McGrath Swaim, TCRG of the New Orleans School of Irish Dance) rolls out the red carpet. This year it was held at the Double Tree Hotel in downtown New Orleans minutes walking distance from the vieux carré, also known as the French Quarter. Where else could you get a room in the French Quarter for $89 a night?

The dance competitions were held on two floors one located on the 16th floor with windows overlooking the city. Between dances once could watch lazy gulls fly above the busy Mississippi River where tugs pushed river barges endlessly.

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Volume 5 Issue 6

This crazy thing called Irish dance
by Amber Murray

When my daughter was two years old, her favorite video in the house was Riverdance. Despite the large collection of children's films on hand, she wanted to watch this crazy thing called Irish Dance, a video that was purchased on a lark after watching a PBS special. She wanted to watch it over and over again. When she was three, she said that she wanted to learn how to do it; when she was five, I found a TCRG .....

Our lives haven't been the same since.

Three years later, I have an 8-year-old on the cusp of Preliminary Champion (just trying to get that dratted reel placement). She's gone from one class a week to four, not to mention inclusion in the audition-only performing company and the never-ending round of feiseanna. A day doesn't go by that our conversation doesn't include words like "slip jig", "treble", and "Oireachtas". I'm in my car now more than I ever was when I worked outside the home; then, I had a ten minute commute. Now, I brave rush-hour traffic to get my daughter to the dance studio, thirty minutes each way. My husband and I write seemingly endless checks to pay for tuition, pay for shoes, pay for wigs, pay for solo dresses and performing company costumes, pay for entry fees and hotel stays.

Why? On the surface, that simple question would require a disturbingly complex answer. However, when I take it apart and look at all its pieces, I see that they're part of a very simple whole:

I love my daughter, that's why.

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Volume 5, Issue 6

Hard Shoes: Of anniversaries, and priorities past and present
by Mary Ann McGrath Swaim, TCRG

In 1987, the great historian of Irish Dance from Cork, Ireland, Dr. John Cullinane, ADCRG, published his compilation entitled Aspects of the History of Irish Dancing: In Ireland, England, New Zealand, N. America and Australia. In the Second Edition (1994), the reader finds one section under the caption "North America", which is in turn bifurcated into two separate, sub-section articles.

The first article (at pages 90-94) is entitled The Irish Dancing Teachers Association of North America, the authorship of which was credited to Michael Bergin, ADCRG. None other is referenced, though a most recent publication by Dr. Cullinane brings more facts to the fore. If any other documents or materials exist that equal or even approximate these original works (or their progeny) in significance as informational ties to originating facts and details, goals and priorities, of the founding organization of the IDTANA, such documents and materials beg to be loosed, to be known, to be published, and to be recognized, remembered and revered. This need for outing was always there, of course, for history's sake and the future — but never perhaps was there more need than now.

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Volume 5, Issue 6

Dancer to dancer: Pursuing the perfect "10"
by Colleen Miner

Someone once said that some people take 10 steps forward and 9 steps back, and it's harder each time to make up for the steps that seem to disappear. I thought about this and compared it to my dancing over the past year. Some times at competitions or during a class I felt like I danced to my fullest and did my best. I would "take steps forward." At the next class or at a competition I would feel like I did not dance up to my potential. It wasn't that I danced poorly, it was just that I was not fully aware of my potential.

At prelims that I have competed in, more times than not I have been one place away from wining a trophy. When I get my results back and see how I was so close to placing it makes me want to do better. There's 3 steps forward. Then at dance classes I work harder and try to be the best in the class, that's 4 steps forward. I'm almost at 10, the best that I can be. Dancing more at home: 2 steps. Concentrating on competing to my fullest, is my final step. I've reached 10 steps higher and closer to the best dancing that I can dance.

Over time, comes the subtracting. First I start forgetting what it feels like to be so close but so far away from placing at the same time, minus 4. Next I think that I don't need to practice, I already know my steps to perfection: minus 3. Loosing focus at the feiseanna, by not warming up or preparing myself completely to do my best: minus 2. I take 9 steps back without noticing. The thing that keeps me from going under is the 10 steps that I put in before the feis.

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Volume 5, Issue 6

Midwest Oireachtas 2003 winners

Regions' competition qualifies dancers for World Championships and North American Championships.

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Volume 5, Issue 6

The anatomy of Irish figure dancing
by Donagh Corcoran ADCRG — Cork, Ireland

The figure dances are the heart and soul of indigenous dancing — they capture the spirit and social entertainment of Irish society. A prerequisite of planning a trip to Ireland should include a few ceili dance lessons so when the tables and chairs are cleared for dancing you can join in the fun. You definitely will be a hit with the locals!

However, competitive figure dancing requires the precision and practice of a well trained military unit.

The casual observer will see no connection between mathematics and high quality figure dancing. Such a person will merely see a group of dancers working together as a team either enjoying themselves or perhaps going though the motions with boring routines. Teachers, adjudicators and dancers who enjoy figure dance performance will have a different view. They will have accepted the challenges presented by each figure dance. In order to achieve success they will have worked to perfect the movements in a figure dance sequence. These movements normally consist of a lead around, the body of the dance and figures, which show patterns of movement and finally intricate hand formations.

The Circle or Ring Formation

...

The Lead Around

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Side Step

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Hand movements

...

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The more musical variety you practice to, the better. Not only will that prevent your favorite music from getting stale, it will keep your family members, or roommates, from going crazy! Pay particular attention to getting a variety of instrumentation. Most Irish dancing CDs feature piano accordion and keyboard accompaniment. Some Irish dancing families have been known to develop a phobia because of overexposure to accordion music. Variety will also help you prepare for shows and feiseanna, where it's quite likely that the music will be different from your favorite practice CD. Therefore mix up your practice music with different instruments and speeds and there will be little or no surprises at competitions. As with anything else in Irish dancing, Molly Bennett TCRG is my best source for advice. She was a world-class Irish musician (she and the band she played with at the time, St. James's Gate, won the All-Ireland Championship for Groupi Coel in 1986) as well as a widely experienced dancer and teacher of both music and dance.

If you only own one Irish dance music CD, this is the one to own. Its virtue is that it offers all of the dances except traditional sets at a variety of speeds so you can use a slower speed to learn new steps, then use the official speeds to master them. Some newcomers to hardshoe dancing are confused because the (otherwise) helpfully arranged track list doesn't differentiate between light jigs and double or treble figs. The speed determines whether the light-shoe or hardshoe dance is appropriate to that piece of music. This album also uses a variety of instrumentation.

A very popular collection and deservedly so. the music is steady but the style may seem dated compared to the more innovative new collections; some have compared it to a German "Oom PHA" band. It includes dance tunes at three different levels (beginner, intermediate and open) and the four "old" trad sets as well as two of the new ones, Three Sea Captains and King of the Fairies.

If you only own two Irish dance CD's, this should be the other one. Tony is a widely respected feis musician as well as one of the nicest guys on the face of the earth. There is a zest to his playing and arrangements which makes dancing to his accompaniment fun. It's About Time includes the four "old" traditional set dances. Accordion and keyboard.

Advertised as "Inspirational tunes selected by Dean to encourage and lift you while you practice", this is a useful album of standard tunes played on the accordion with a one-note-at-a-time technique similar to Kevin Joyce's earlier CD's but with some interesting lead-ins and accompaniments. It includes the six solo dances (excluding trad sets.) The treble jigs and hornpipes are only played at slow speeds. There is an interesting seventh track called "Showcase", a medley of up-tempo reels and jigs which might make a good performance piece for multiple dancers.

This interesting and inexpensive collection of dance tunes is not only good for beginners but also for parents who want to learn the difference between on kind of dance tune and another. To help you out, a pedantic Irish voice announces each type of tune. Be warned: while the pedantic Irish voice is correct about each track, the track list on the back is not. You get a hint when you notice that one of the selections in the second Reel Medley is "Father Kelly's Jig". You know that either the Reverend Father or the copy writer was confused; it was the copy writer. The hornpipe is played only at traditional speed and there are no treble jigs. However, it includes three of the "old" set dances (St. Pat's, Blackbird and Garden) and one of the new ones, Jockey as well as two figure dances, Three Tunes and Trip to the Cottage.

The sequel to the highly successful Toss the Feathers: Irish Set Dancing, providing a selection of set dances, including some danced in the United States and Canada, to complement the previous volume. It includes dances that have been revived since the publication of Toss the Feathers, among them old traditional sets and some sets more associated with competition set dancing, such as the 'Ballyroan Half Set', the 'Drumgarriff Half Set' and the 'Kildownet Half Set'. There are also two waltz sets and two sets from Canada, one from Cape Breton and the other from Prince Edward Island. The sets are laid out in conventional set terminology and can be easily followed by teachers, pupils and anyone who has an acquaintance with the art of set dancing. $14.95.

This book provides a comprehensive approach to set dancing. It contains sixty-four complete set dances, including all those danced commonly in classes, summer schools, and at feisseanna. $14.95.

The definitive instruction book for teachers and students of ceili dancing. $18.00

The perfect study guide for those wishing to sit for their TMRF or TCRG. Also, this is an excellent companion guide for the intermediate dancer. Includes breakdown of all 30 Ceilis, a walking guide for your practical exam, helpful hints and tips for studying "a mock" exam. "Back to Back" is written by Gary Healy TCFG, current Riverdance cast member.

Editor's note:This article was prompted by many requests from our readers regarding feis rules.

The North American Feis Commission (The NAFC) held its 2003 Annual Convention at the Sheraton Chateau in St. Louis, Missouri, on the weekend of October 24-25. The event was hosted this year by the Clarkson Academy of Irish Dance. Also, attending from Ireland, were three (3) Dublin Office officials of An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha, namely: Seamus O Se (Cathaoirleach), Paddy Lamb (Cisteoir), and Sean Fagan (Oifigeach Tionscnaimh). Present as well were IDTANA President Dennis Dennehy and several ADCRGs and TCRGs. NAFC President Joan Preece did an outstanding job chairing her first meeting as North American President of the NAFC. An impressive total of one hundred ninety one (191) American feiseanna are now officially registered to be held on our continent during the calendar year of 2004.

Topics addressed in varying degrees of depth and concentration of time and interest were the following:

As a second-generation of Irish and Scottish descent, Jennifer began dancing in her grandmother's living room. Her aunt Kerry was teaching her the shedding from the Highland Fling, and the Rise-and-Grind of the light jig. At age 6 she began taking lessons from a registered Highland and Irish dance teacher. At age 8 she was advised by her teacher to choose between Irish and Highland dancing if she wanted to become a champion. She loved both, but chose Highland dancing. At age 12 she reached open championship level in Highland dancing and continued to compete, always placing in the top six at the Eastern Regionals.

In 1990, while competing in Denver, Colorado, at the National Highland Dance championship, she met her future husband, Duane Hale. Dwayne was in the St. Thomas Episcopal Pipe Band of Houston, Texas. Jennifer continued her dancing career, attending Wittenberg University in Ohio. In 1994, she transferred to Texas A&M, where she choreographed two musical productions. She married her sweetheart Scottish piper in 1995 and graduated from college the following year.

Dancing is not only about competing; you can gain friendships too. Spending time with the same group of people every week for up to five hours at a time can start and build friendships. Going through tough practices, blisters, and feiseanna are all mutual bonding experiences. Dancers that have been with you from beginning to end, who have felt what you have felt are people that you become closer to.

My dance friends and I have become inseparable. In Texas we usually have to travel long distances to feiseanna. This gives us another opportunity to enjoy each other's company on the long road trips. Sometimes our families plan mini side trips together to make the best of these trips. Our dance company also performs at many shows around Texas. This means many more hours of practice and travel and dancing fun.

We have had many good times on these trips, but not everything was fun and games. After a Houston feis I was sad because I did not place in my Preliminary dance. My friend did; she was excited because she had won, and I couldn't stop crying. She came over to me and helped dry my ears and told me that I did a good job and that it was just nerves that threw me off. She and may other friends comforted me because I knew that they cared for me.

In life we spend much of our time preparing for something. From an early age we become aware of this constant need to prepare. Such preparation is always about the future. If people go on a holiday and enjoy it they might say on their return "we had a great holiday and are glad that we made good preparations for it." When a school tour is organized the teachers have to make preparations with detailed plans on everything that is scheduled.

Christmas is a major event in the year and many people make special preparations for that time. In fact when we are traveling to a feis certain detailed preparations have also to be done. Just take a few moments and make a list of what is involved with you going to a feis and you will be surprised by the size of the list.

What is common to all of these activities is that we prepare for a definite outcome. This means we want to achieve certain results and that is our aim or objective. So the key question is can we be better at preparation and therefore have a better result or outcome in many parts of our life? One writer in the past said, "effective preparation is always a good beginning."

More than good weather came to the Virginia waterfront on October 26, 2003. The Rhythm of Ireland School of Irish Dance, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, held their annual feis at the Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center. The feis is fairly young — this was only its third year — but it has grown from a few hundred competitors to nearly 500, including adults. New this year were figures — 4 and 8 hand, and a parent/child competition.

Editor's note: This article was prompted by parent concerns communicated to Hornpipe in significant numbers

As Irish dancing, the art form, has grown in popularity in North America so has its role as competitive business activity largely aimed at young people. And in the U.S., where almost any youngster-based competition reaches near status of a religion, the regions that serve as forums for national competitions have become decidedly busy places, some serving dozens of schools and teachers and thousands of students.

Hornpipe has looked at that evolution of Irish dance into a business of some impact and found that there have been established umbrella organizations to serve necessary components such as teachers, feiseanna and rulemaking. Each of these has a mission aimed at enhancing and supporting Irish dance and its propagation in the U.S., and they have clearly done their job well, but there seems to be one aspect of the entire process that has been overlooked.

On Labor Day Weekend, the Tarheel State became the "Treble-and-Heel" state as the Walsh Keeley School of Irish Dancing held their 5th annual feis. Held in the beautiful Westin Hotel in Downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, the feis hosted 793 competitors in dance and music.

The Walsh Kelley School of Irish Dancing was founded five years ago by Aine Walsh Kelley, TCRG.

The role of an adjudicator is to differentiate the actual performance of each competitor. While it is a difficult task each adjudicator has to operate with clear criteria to make such judgments. The totality of what is presented in the performance of each dancer is of course considered. This naturally includes rhythm.

Dancers should consider the content of what is performed in steps is as important as the style and technique of the dancer in every competition.

Recently I bought a new pair of hard shoes and, of course, I had to break them in. I did not wear them to my regular class but I did wear them when I practiced at home. It was three weeks of pain, seven blisters that were extremely painful and many other foot problems. I could barely walk! After the torture I had to go through I was finally able to go up on block in my new favorite shoes.