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Irish dance

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147-537: Irish dance refers to the traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland , including both solo and group dance forms, for social , competitive , and performance purposes. Irish dance has evolved over centuries and is believed to have its roots in ancient Celtic dance. In the 17th and 18th centuries, dance was taught by "travelling dance masters" across Ireland, and separate dance forms developed according to regional practice and differing purposes. Irish dance became

294-472: A folk dance , a social dance , a group dance such as a line , circle , chain or square dance , or a partner dance , such as in Western ballroom dancing , is undertaken primarily for a common purpose, such as social interaction or exercise , or building flexibility of participants rather than to serve any benefit to onlookers. Such dance seldom has any narrative. A group dance and a corps de ballet ,

441-454: A pan flute played along with a friction drum . Several authors identify the ancient Greek askaulos (ἀσκός askos – wine-skin , αὐλός aulos – reed pipe) with the bagpipe. In the 2nd century AD, Suetonius described the Roman emperor Nero as a player of the tibia utricularis . Dio Chrysostom wrote in the 1st century of a contemporary sovereign (possibly Nero) who could play

588-659: A 13th-century manuscript of northern French origin. Although evidence of bagpipes in the British Isles prior to the 14th century is contested, they are explicitly mentioned in The Canterbury Tales (written around 1380): A baggepype wel coude he blowe and sowne, /And ther-with-al he broghte us out of towne. Bagpipes were also frequent subjects for carvers of wooden choir stalls in the late 15th and early 16th century throughout Europe, sometimes with animal musicians. Actual specimens of bagpipes from before

735-598: A Breton interpretation known as the bagad . The pipe-band idiom has also been adopted and applied to the Galician gaita as well. Bagpipes have often been used in various films depicting moments from Scottish and Irish history; the film Braveheart and the theatrical show Riverdance have served to make the uilleann pipes more commonly known. Bagpipes are sometimes played at formal events at Commonwealth universities, particularly in Canada. Because of Scottish influences on

882-434: A bellows. Materials used for bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. More recently, bags made of synthetic materials including Gore-Tex have become much more common. Some synthetic bags have zips that allow the player to fit a more effective moisture trap to the inside of the bag. However, synthetic bags still carry a risk of colonisation by fungal spores, and

1029-415: A broader nationalist movement concerned with Irish culture. Although a rigid torso may be the initial characterization of Irish dance, modern soft shoe Irish dancers commonly gracefully use their arms in flowing movements, abandoning the traditional form. It is not uncommon for hard shoe dancers to use their arms in strict hand formations other than arms at sides, though competition dance continues to require

1176-601: A characteristic tempo and rhythmic pattern. The tango, for example, is usually danced in 4 time at approximately 66 beats per minute. The basic slow step, called a "slow", lasts for one beat, so that a full "right–left" step is equal to one 4 measure. The basic forward and backward walk of the dance is so counted – "slow-slow" – while many additional figures are counted "slow – quick-quick". Repetitive body movements often depend on alternating "strong" and "weak" muscular movements. Given this alternation of left-right, of forward-backward and rise-fall, along with

1323-617: A clean air flow to the pipes and assist the collection of condensation. The use of a bellows to supply air is an innovation dating from the 16th or 17th century. In these pipes, sometimes called " cauld wind pipes ", air is not heated or moistened by the player's breathing, so bellows-driven bagpipes can use more refined or delicate reeds. Such pipes include the Irish uilleann pipes ; the border or Lowland pipes , Scottish smallpipes , Northumbrian smallpipes and pastoral pipes in Britain;

1470-523: A collective identity among the many cultural and ethnic groups of Latin America . Dance served to unite the many African, European, and indigenous peoples of the region. Certain dance genres, such as capoeira , and body movements, especially the characteristic quebradas or pelvis swings, have been variously banned and celebrated throughout Latin American history. Dance studies are offered through

1617-622: A conical shape. Popular woods include boxwood , cornel , plum or other fruit wood. The chanter is usually open-ended, so there is no easy way for the player to stop the pipe from sounding. Thus most bagpipes share a constant legato sound with no rests in the music. Primarily because of this inability to stop playing, technical movements are made to break up notes and to create the illusion of articulation and accents. Because of their importance, these embellishments (or "ornaments") are often highly technical systems specific to each bagpipe, and take many years of study to master. A few bagpipes (such as

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1764-579: A dancer is generally one of constantly changing work situations, strong competitive pressure and low pay. Consequently, professional dancers often must supplement their incomes to achieve financial stability. In the U.S. many professional dancers belong to unions (such as the American Guild of Musical Artists , Screen Actors Guild and Actors' Equity Association ) that establish working conditions and minimum salaries for their members. Professional dancers must possess large amounts of athleticism. To lead

1911-653: A distinct class. In the early part of the second millennium, representation of bagpipes began to appear with frequency in Western European art and iconography. The Cantigas de Santa Maria , written in Galician-Portuguese and compiled in Castile in the mid-13th century, depicts several types of bagpipes. Several illustrations of bagpipes also appear in the Chronique dite de Baudoin d’Avesnes ,

2058-469: A fixed sequence of steps require phrases and melodies of a certain fixed length to accompany that sequence. Musical accompaniment arose in the earliest dance, so that ancient Egyptians attributed the origin of the dance to the divine Athotus, who was said to have observed that music accompanying religious rituals caused participants to move rhythmically and to have brought these movements into proportional measure. The idea that dance arises from musical rhythm,

2205-415: A formula for dance diplomacy that sought to learn from and express respect for the aesthetic traditions of recently independent states that were former European colonies, such as Indonesia, India, and Burma, as a show of anti-colonial solidarity. In most forms of dance the foot is the source of movement, and in some cases require specific shoes to aid in the health, safety ability of the dancer, depending on

2352-651: A global influence. Dance styles fusing classical ballet technique with African-American dance have also appeared in the 21st century, including Hiplet . Dance is central to Latin American social life and culture. Brazilian Samba , Argentinian tango , and Cuban salsa are internationally popular partner dances, and other national dances— merengue , cueca , plena , jarabe , joropo , marinera , cumbia , bachata and others—are important components of their respective countries' cultures. Traditional Carnival festivals incorporate these and other dances in enormous celebrations. Dance has played an important role in forging

2499-616: A hard heel. Boy's soft-shoe dancing features audible heel clicks and stomps. A new trend includes adding white laces to the soft shoes, and white tape to the straps of the hard shoes to blend in with the sock and give the illusion of elongating the legs. Several generations ago, the appropriate dress for a competition was simply "Sunday best" (clothes one would wear to church). Irish Dance schools generally have school dresses, worn by lower-level competitors, in public performances, and in team competitions. As dancers advance in competition or are given starring roles in public performances, they may get

2646-399: A letter to Queen Elizabeth in which he expresses his enthusiasm for the Irish jigs, or fiddle of Galway. A report from 1600 mentions that some forms of Irish dances were similar in form to English country dances , and later references mention the " rinnce fada ", also known as the "long dance" or "fading". This dance, performed to a jig tune though not to any particular piece of music, became

2793-526: A limited space. There is an emphasis on making percussive sound with the toes. The Irish dance masters of this period also choreographed particular steps to particular tunes in traditional music creating the solo traditional set dances such as the Blackbird, St. Patrick's Day, and the Job of Journey Work, which also persist in modern Irish stepdancing. In this context, "set dance" signifies a separate tradition from

2940-1150: A long, slow decline that continued, in most cases, into the 20th century. Extensive and documented collections of traditional bagpipes may be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the International Bagpipe Museum in Gijón , Spain, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford , England and the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum in Northumberland, and the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona . The International Bagpipe Festival  [ cs ]

3087-465: A noun differs from the adjective céilí . A céilí is a social gathering featuring Irish music and dance. Céilí dancing is a specific type of Irish dance. Some céilithe (plural of céilí) will only have céilí dancing, some only have set dancing, and some will have a mixture. Irish set dancing (also referred to as "country set dancing") are dances similar to English country dancing and later French quadrilles ; later adapting and integrating forms of

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3234-547: A part of a bagpipe is a chanter found in 1985 at Rostock , Germany, that has been dated to the late 14th century or the first quarter of the 15th century. The first clear reference to the use of the Scottish Highland bagpipes is from a French history that mentions their use at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. George Buchanan (1506–82) claimed that bagpipes had replaced the trumpet on the battlefield. This period saw

3381-500: A pipe ( tibia , Roman reedpipes similar to Greek and Etruscan instruments) with his mouth as well as by tucking a bladder beneath his armpit. Vereno suggests that such instruments, rather than being seen as an independent class, were understood as variants on mouth-blown instruments that used a bag as an alternative blowing aid and that it was not until drones were added in the European Medieval era that bagpipes were seen as

3528-522: A relaxed and social dance style involving improvised steps, and festival Irish dance , a style which separated from step dance in the mid-20th century. Irish group dancing has some French influences, and was particularly influenced by the French quadrille in the late 18th century. Ceili dance , practised both competitively and socially, is performed by groups of two to sixteen people, and often uses traditional or codified dances and formations. Its footwork

3675-871: A school in Parnell Square. The "Worlds" outgrew its original location and moved around the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In 2002, for the first time, the "Worlds" left Ireland for Glasgow . In 2009, for the first time, the World Championships were held in the United States, in Philadelphia . The 2010-2019 championships were held in Glasgow , Dublin , Belfast , Boston , London , Montréal , Glasgow , Dublin , Glasgow , and Greensboro , respectively, always taking place during

3822-445: A score. As far as competitive categories go, most competitions base their categories according to the dance style, age, experience level and the number of dancers competing in the routine. Major types of dance competitions include: During the 1950s and 1960s, cultural exchange of dance was a common feature of international diplomacy, especially amongst East and South Asian nations. The People's Republic of China , for example, developed

3969-399: A short piece of any given dance, in the interests of time and the endurance of the dancers. There are two types of shoes; soft shoes (also known as ghillies or pumps) and hard shoes. Hard shoes are similar to tap shoes, except that the tips and heels are made of fiberglass , instead of metal, and are significantly bulkier. Another aspect of the hard shoe that sets it apart from a tap shoe

4116-406: A significant part of Irish culture , particularly for Irish nationalist movements. From the early 20th century, a number of organisations promoted and codified the various forms of dance, creating competitive structures and standardised styles. Irish dancers who compete for competitive reasons dance in a dance style that is more modern than traditional Irish dance. It is mainly done solo, but there

4263-445: A social partner dance and a pas de deux , differ profoundly. Even a solo dance or interpretive dance may be undertaken solely for the satisfaction of the dancer. Participatory dancers often all employ the same movements and steps but, for example, in the rave culture of electronic dance music , vast crowds may engage in free dance , uncoordinated with those around them. On the other hand, some cultures lay down strict rules as to

4410-492: A social setting, a céilí dance may be " called " – that is, the upcoming steps are announced during the dance for the benefit of newcomers. The céilí dances are typically danced to Irish instruments such as the Irish bodhrán or fiddle in addition to the concertina (and similar instruments), guitar, whistle or flute. The term céilí dance was invented in the late 19th century by the Gaelic League . Céilí as

4557-433: A solo dress of their own design and colours or wear the team dress. In the 1970s and 1980s, ornately embroidered dresses became popular. Today even more ornamentation is used on girls' dresses, including rhinestones, sequins, and other bling. Solo dresses are unique to each dancer. Today most women and girls wear a wig, a bun or hairpiece for a competition, but some still curl their own hair. Costumes are heavily integrated into

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4704-923: A successful career, it is advantageous to be versatile in many styles of dance, have a strong technical background and to use other forms of physical training to remain fit and healthy. Dance teachers typically focus on teaching dance performance, or coaching competitive dancers, or both. They typically have performance experience in the types of dance they teach or coach. For example, dancesport teachers and coaches are often tournament dancers or former dancesport performers. Dance teachers may be self-employed, or employed by dance schools or general education institutions with dance programs. Some work for university programs or other schools that are associated with professional classical dance (e.g., ballet) or modern dance companies. Others are employed by smaller, privately owned dance schools that offer dance training and performance coaching for various types of dance. Choreographers are

4851-450: Is The Cygnets' Dance in act two of Swan Lake . The ballet developed out of courtly dramatic productions of 16th- and 17th-century France and Italy and for some time dancers performed dances developed from those familiar from the musical suite, all of which were defined by definite rhythms closely identified with each dance. These appeared as character dances in the era of romantic nationalism . Ballet reached widespread vogue in

4998-522: Is an account of a Mayor of Waterford 's visit to Baltimore , County Cork in 1413, where the attendees "took to the floor" to celebrate Christmas Eve . However, the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century may have brought with it the round dance tradition, as it was contemporaneously performed in British camps while every now and then being seen in a Norman stronghold. Accounts of dancing in

5145-547: Is from non-literate nature of the Irish cultural tradition. Indeed, the modern Irish words for "dance", rince and damhsa did not develop until the 16th century. The scant evidence available is primarily that of visitors to Ireland, such as a fourteenth-century song written in the South of England , where the poet invites his listeners to "come ant daunce wyt me in Irlaunde". The first native Irish documentary evidence of dancing

5292-433: Is generally, but not exclusively, performed with the accompaniment of music and may or may not be performed in time to such music. Some dance (such as tap dance or gumboot dance ) may provide its own audible accompaniment in place of (or in addition to) music. Many early forms of music and dance were created for each other and are frequently performed together. Notable examples of traditional dance-music couplings include

5439-662: Is held every two years in Strakonice , Czech Republic . During the expansion of the British Empire , spearheaded by British military forces that included Highland regiments , the Scottish Great Highland bagpipe became well known worldwide. This surge in popularity was boosted by large numbers of pipers trained for military service in World War I and World War II . This coincided with a decline in

5586-461: Is its ability to go "on block" or en pointe . The first hard shoes had wooden or leather taps with metal nails. Later the taps and heels were made of resin or fiberglass to reduce the weight and to make the sounds louder. The soft shoes, which are called ghillies , are black leather lace-up shoes similar to ballet slippers. Ghillies are only worn by girls, while boys wear black leather shoes called "reel shoes", which resemble black jazz shoes with

5733-661: Is known by the name " mezwed ". It is used in the Tunisian pop music genre, also called mezwed , that is named after the instrument. Since the 1960s, bagpipes have also made appearances in other forms of music, including rock, metal, jazz, hip-hop, punk, and classical music, for example with Paul McCartney 's " Mull of Kintyre ", AC/DC 's " It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) ", and Peter Maxwell Davies 's composition An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise . Periodicals covering specific types of bagpipes are addressed in

5880-598: Is one early text. It mainly deals with drama, in which dance plays an important part in Indian culture. A strong continuous tradition of dance has since continued in India, through to modern times, where it continues to play a role in culture, ritual, and the Bollywood entertainment industry. Many other contemporary dance forms can likewise be traced back to historical , traditional , ceremonial , and ethnic dance. Dance

6027-428: Is quite possible to develop the dance without music and... music is perfectly capable of standing on its own feet without any assistance from the dance", nevertheless the "two arts will always be related and the relationship can be profitable both to the dance and to music", the precedence of one art over the other being a moot point. The common ballad measures of hymns and folk-songs takes their name from dance, as does

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6174-412: Is rhythm and form more than harmony and color which, from the beginning, has bound music, poetry and dancing together in a union that is indissoluble." Concert dance, like opera , generally depends for its large-scale form upon a narrative dramatic structure . The movements and gestures of the choreography are primarily intended to mime the personality and aims of the characters and their part in

6321-503: Is simple, and emphasis is placed on the figures and formations of the dances. Set dance is primarily a social tradition, for groups of four dancers, and includes elements of the intricate footwork found in step dance. There is very little documentary evidence of dance being practised in Ireland prior to the 7th century; this could be due to the destruction of written records in Ireland during Viking raids. Scholars have hypothesised this

6468-460: Is smaller than the rest and usually consists of a small tube that is made out of metal or a chicken or duck feather. Uncovering the flea-hole raises any note played by a half step, and it is used in creating the musical ornamentation that gives Balkan music its unique character. Some types of gaida can have a double bored chanter, such as the Serbian three-voiced gajde. It has eight fingerholes:

6615-519: Is some team dancing in groups of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16 and even numbers onwards. Solo Irish dance includes the most well-known form of Irish dance, Irish stepdance , which was popularised from 1994 onwards by shows such as Riverdance , and which is practised competitively across not only the Irish diaspora but by many people of disparate cultural backgrounds. Stepdance is characterised by the rigid upper body and intricate footwork of its performers. Other forms of solo Irish dance include sean-nós dance ,

6762-594: Is structurally between a kaba and dzhura gaida and described as a medium pitched gaida. In Southeastern Europe and Eastern Europe bagpipes known as gaida include: the Albanian : gajde, mishnica, bishnica , Aromanian : gaidã , Bulgarian : гайда ( gaida ), Greek : γκάιντα ( gáida ) τσαμπούνα ( tsaboúna ) or ασκομαντουρα ( askomandoura ), Macedonian : гајда ( gajda ), Serbo-Croatian : gajda/гајда , Turkish : gayda also tulum and Ukrainian : gayda / ґайда . In Tunisia, it

6909-549: Is suitable for use as dance music. Numerous types of bagpipes today are widely spread across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa as well as through much of the former British Empire . The name bagpipe has almost become synonymous with its best-known form, the Great Highland bagpipe , overshadowing the great number and variety of traditional forms of bagpipe. Despite the decline of these other types of pipes over

7056-498: Is taught to all ages ranging from two years old to the adult level outside of a professional dance setting. Typically this dance education is seen in dance studio businesses across the world. Some K-12 public schools have provided the opportunity for students to take beginner level dance classes, as well as participate in dance teams that perform at school events. Professional dancers are usually employed on contract or for particular performances or productions. The professional life of

7203-643: Is the oldest Irish dancing competition in the world. An Comhdhail's World championships also take place each Easter week, with the competition being held in Dublin in 2018 and Killarney in 2019. WIDA (World Irish Dance Association), which mainly consists of dancers from European countries, also hold their own World and International Championships over the Easter week, with the competition being held in Maastricht in 2018, Eindhoven in 2019, digitally in 2021 due to

7350-415: Is the place of origin of Bhangra . It is widely known both as a style of music and a dance. It is mostly related to ancient harvest celebrations, love, patriotism or social issues. Its music is coordinated by a musical instrument called the 'Dhol'. Bhangra is not just music but a dance, a celebration of the harvest where people beat the dhol (drum), sing Boliyaan (lyrics) and dance. It developed further with

7497-424: Is to provide a fun and educative place for dancers and give them the opportunity to perform their choreographed routines from their current dance season onstage. Oftentimes, competitions will take place in a professional setting or may vary to non-performance spaces, such as a high school theatre. The results of the dancers are then dictated by a credible panel of judges and are evaluated on their performance than given

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7644-414: Is typically performed with musical accompaniment , and sometimes with the dancer simultaneously using a musical instrument themselves. There are two different types of dance: theatrical and participatory dance. Both types of dance may have special functions, whether social, ceremonial , competitive , erotic , martial , sacred or liturgical . Dance is not solely restricted to performance, as dance

7791-468: Is used as a form of exercise and occasionally training for other sports and activities. Dance performances and dancing competitions are found across the world exhibiting various different styles and standards. Theatrical dance, also called performance or concert dance , is intended primarily as a spectacle, usually a performance upon a stage by virtuoso dancers. It often tells a story , perhaps using mime , costume and scenery , or it may interpret

7938-846: The Breton biniou , the Balkan gaida , the Romanian cimpoi , the Black Sea tulum , the Scottish smallpipes and pastoral pipes , as well as other varieties. Bulgaria has the Kaba gaida , a large bagpipe of the Rhodope mountains with a hexagonal and rounded drone, often described as a deep-sounding gaida and the Dzhura gaida with a straight conical drone and of a higher pitch . The Macedonian gaida

8085-547: The COVID-19 pandemic , and in Moers in 2022. Old-style step dancing is a tradition related to, yet distinct from, sean-nós dancing , though it is sometimes called "Munster-style sean-nós". Old-style step dancing evolved in the 17th-18th century from the dancing of travelling Irish dance masters. The dance masters slowly formalized and transformed both solo and social dances. Modern masters of old-style step dancing style can trace

8232-542: The International Space Station in November 2015. Traditionally, one of the purposes of the bagpipe was to provide music for dancing. This has declined with the growth of dance bands, recordings, and the decline of traditional dance. In turn, this has led to many types of pipes developing a performance-led tradition, and indeed much modern music based on the dance music tradition played on bagpipes

8379-612: The Neolithic period, groups of people are depicted dancing in a line holding hands, and the earliest Chinese word for "dance" is found written in the oracle bones . Dance is described in the Lüshi Chunqiu . Primitive dance in ancient China was associated with sorcery and shamanic rituals. During the first millennium BCE in India, many texts were composed which attempted to codify aspects of daily life. Bharata Muni 's Natya Shastra (literally "the text of dramaturgy" )

8526-546: The Persian Gulf and northern parts of South Asia . The term bagpipe is equally correct in the singular or the plural, though pipers usually refer to the bagpipes as "the pipes", "a set of pipes" or "a stand of pipes". A set of bagpipes minimally consists of an air supply, a bag, a chanter , and usually at least one drone . Many bagpipes have more than one drone (and, sometimes, more than one chanter) in various combinations, held in place in stocks—sockets that fasten

8673-535: The United States have also adopted the tradition of fielding pipe bands. In recent years, often driven by revivals of native folk music and dance, many types of bagpipes have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and, in many cases, instruments that had fallen into obscurity have become extremely popular. In Brittany , the Great Highland bagpipe and concept of the pipe band were appropriated to create

8820-676: The arts and humanities programs of many higher education institutions. Some universities offer Bachelor of Arts and higher academic degrees in Dance. A dance study curriculum may encompass a diverse range of courses and topics, including dance practice and performance, choreography, ethnochoreology , kinesiology , dance notation , and dance therapy . Most recently, dance and movement therapy has been integrated in some schools into math lessons for students with learning disabilities, emotional or behavioral disabilities, as well as for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dance

8967-486: The bilateral symmetry of the human body, many dances and much music are in duple and quadruple meter . Since some such movements require more time in one phase than the other – such as the longer time required to lift a hammer than to strike – some dance rhythms fall into triple metre . Occasionally, as in the folk dances of the Balkans , dance traditions depend heavily on more complex rhythms. Complex dances composed of

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9114-550: The carol , originally a circle dance . Many purely musical pieces have been named " waltz " or " minuet ", for example, while many concert dances have been produced that are based upon abstract musical pieces, such as 2 and 3 Part Inventions , Adams Violin Concerto and Andantino . Similarly, poems are often structured and named after dances or musical works, while dance and music have both drawn their conception of "measure" or "metre" from poetry. Shawn quotes with approval

9261-560: The jig , waltz , tango , disco , and salsa . Some musical genres have a parallel dance form such as baroque music and baroque dance ; other varieties of dance and music may share nomenclature but developed separately, such as classical music and classical ballet . The choreography and music are meant to complement each other, to express a story told by the choreographer and dancers. Rhythm and dance are deeply linked in history and practice. The American dancer Ted Shawn wrote; "The conception of rhythm which underlies all studies of

9408-591: The maypole dance are common to many nations, while others such as the céilidh and the polka are deeply-rooted in a single culture. Some European folk dances such as the square dance were brought to the New World and subsequently became part of American culture. Ballet developed first in Italy and then in France from lavish court spectacles that combined rhythm, drama, poetry, song, costumes and dance. Members of

9555-518: The musette de cour , the musette bechonnet and the cabrette in France; and the Dudy  [ pl ] , koziol bialy , and koziol czarny in Poland. The bag is an airtight reservoir that holds air and regulates its flow via arm pressure, allowing the player to maintain continuous, even sound. The player keeps the bag inflated by blowing air into it through a blowpipe or by pumping air into it with

9702-425: The reel , slip jig , light jig and 'single jig' (also referred to as 'hop jig'). Reels have a 4 (or sometimes 4 or 2 ) time signature . Slip jigs are in 8 time. Light and single jigs are in 8 time, with different emphasis within the measure distinguishing the music. Hard shoe dances include the hornpipe in syncopated 4 or 4 time,

9849-399: The tonic note of the chanter). Exceptions are generally those pipes that have a double-chanter instead. A drone is most commonly a cylindrically bored tube with a single reed, although drones with double reeds exist. The drone is generally designed in two or more parts with a sliding joint so that the pitch of the drone can be adjusted. Depending on the type of pipes, the drones may lie over

9996-447: The treble jig (also called the 'heavy jig' or 'double jig') in a slow 8 , the treble reel (a short sixteen bar hard shoe dance done to reel music) and 'traditional sets', which are a group of dances with set music and steps. Many traditional sets have irregular musical phrasing. There are multiple traditional sets, including St. Patrick's Day , Blackbird, Job of Journeywork, Three Sea Captains, Garden of Daisies, and King of

10143-528: The 16th century, in 1569 Sir Henry Sydney sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth in which he expresses his enthusiasm for the Irish jigs, or fiddle of Galway A variety of forms of solo Irish Dance have developed which are described as stepdance. These include the well-known "modern" stepdance performed competitively; old-style stepdance, which is closer in style to the dance practised by 19th-century travelling dance masters; and festival dance, which separated from modern stepdance over stylistic and administrative disputes in

10290-412: The 17th century means that dancing was by that time extremely widespread throughout Ireland. In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland, 'In every field a fiddle, and the lasses footing till they all of a foam,' suggesting some type of Irish step dancing or dance with heavy foot movement. There is ample evidence of Irish jigs or Irish step dancing in the 16th century, in 1569 Sir Henry Sydney sent

10437-435: The 18th century are extremely rare; however, a substantial number of paintings, carvings, engravings, and manuscript illuminations survive. These artefacts are clear evidence that bagpipes varied widely throughout Europe, and even within individual regions. Many examples of early folk bagpipes in continental Europe can be found in the paintings of Brueghel, Teniers, Jordaens, and Durer. The earliest known artefact identified as

10584-668: The Anglo-Norman invasion; another mention attributes their use to Irish troops in Henry VIII's siege of Boulogne . Illustrations in the 1581 book The Image of Irelande by John Derricke clearly depict a bagpiper. Derricke's illustrations are considered to be reasonably faithful depictions of the attire and equipment of the English and Irish population of the 16th century. The "Battell" sequence from My Ladye Nevells Booke (1591) by William Byrd , which probably alludes to

10731-608: The Fairies (hornpipe). These dances are set in their choreography, which means that no teacher can vastly change the steps. The organisation Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann promotes and hosts many set and ceili dance events. Dance Dance is an art form , consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography , by its repertoire of movements or by its historical period or place of origin . Dance

10878-461: The Fairies. While theoretically standardised, different organisations recognize different traditional sets and slight variations exist between teachers. There are also "non-traditional sets" done by advanced dancers. These have set music, but not steps; the steps are choreographed by individual dance schools. Competitive dancers generally dance two or three steps at a time, depending on their dancing level. Each step lasts for sixteen bars of music for

11025-429: The Irish dance culture and feature traditional elements of classic peasant wear adorned with Celtic designs. Most men wear a shirt, vest or jacket, and tie paired with black trousers. The vest or jacket of the men's costume is also commonly adorned with crystals, traditional knotwork, and embroidery. Each Irish dance school has its own distinctive full skirted dress, often featuring lace or an embroidered pattern copied from

11172-579: The Irish wars of 1578, contains a piece entitled The bagpipe: & the drone . In 1760, the first serious study of the Scottish Highland bagpipe and its music was attempted in Joseph MacDonald's Compleat Theory . A manuscript from the 1730s by a William Dixon of Northumberland contains music that fits the border pipes , a nine-note bellows-blown bagpipe with a chanter similar to that of the modern Great Highland bagpipe . However,

11319-783: The North Kerry Set, the Clare Set, the Corofin Plain Set, the South Galway Set and the Clare Lancers Set . There are many solo set dances which can be performed in competition. These include both traditional sets and non-traditional sets. Some traditional sets include Blackbird (hornpipe), Job of the Journeywork (hornpipe), Garden of Daises (hornpipe), St. Patrick's Day (treble jig), King of

11466-657: The United Kingdom and Commonwealth Nations such as Canada , New Zealand and Australia , the Great Highland bagpipe is commonly used in the military and is often played during formal ceremonies. Foreign militaries patterned after the British army have also adopted the Highland bagpipe, including those of Uganda , Sudan , India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Jordan , and Oman . Many police and fire services in Scotland , Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong , and

11613-551: The Vaisakhi festival of the Sikhs . The dances of Sri Lanka include the devil dances ( yakun natima ), a carefully crafted ritual reaching far back into Sri Lanka's pre-Buddhist past that combines ancient " Ayurvedic " concepts of disease causation with psychological manipulation and combines many aspects including Sinhalese cosmology. Their influence can be seen on the classical dances of Sri Lanka . Indonesian dances reflect

11760-421: The academy, was formed; this troupe began as an all-male ensemble but by 1681 opened to include women as well. 20th century concert dance brought an explosion of innovation in dance style characterized by an exploration of freer technique. Early pioneers of what became known as modern dance include Loie Fuller , Isadora Duncan , Mary Wigman and Ruth St. Denis . The relationship of music to dance serves as

11907-607: The acceptance of dharma religion in the 1st century in Indonesia, Hinduism and Buddhist rituals were celebrated in various artistic performances. Hindu epics such as the Ramayana , Mahabharata and also the Panji became the inspiration to be shown in a dance-drama called "Sendratari" resembling " ballet " in the western tradition. An elaborate and highly stylized dance method was invented and has survived to this day, especially on

12054-452: The advancement of plot and the narration of action, and Furyū Noh , dance pieces involving acrobatics, stage properties, multiple characters and elaborate stage action. Social dances , those intended for participation rather than for an audience, may include various forms of mime and narrative, but are typically set much more closely to the rhythmic pattern of music, so that terms like waltz and polka refer as much to musical pieces as to

12201-403: The ages as having emerged as a response to music yet, as Lincoln Kirstein implied, it is at least as likely that primitive music arose from dance. Shawn concurs, stating that dance "was the first art of the human race, and the matrix out of which all other arts grew" and that even the " metre in our poetry today is a result of the accents necessitated by body movement, as the dancing and reciting

12348-473: The arms be kept by the dancer's sides. In 1929, the League formed An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG, The Irish Dancing Commission) in order to codify and standardise stepdancing competition and education. Over the following decades, CLRG expanded globally, and promoted this particular form of stepdance by developing examinations and qualifications for teachers and competition adjudicators. Today, stepdance in

12495-440: The associated danger of lung infection if they are not kept clean, even if they otherwise require less cleaning than do bags made from natural substances. Bags cut from larger materials are usually saddle-stitched with an extra strip folded over the seam and stitched (for skin bags) or glued (for synthetic bags) to reduce leaks. Holes are then cut to accommodate the stocks. In the case of bags made from largely intact animal skins,

12642-424: The basis for Eurhythmics , devised by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze , which was influential to the development of Modern dance and modern ballet through artists such as Marie Rambert . Eurythmy , developed by Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner-von Sivers , combines formal elements reminiscent of traditional dance with the new freer style, and introduced a complex new vocabulary to dance. In the 1920s, important founders of

12789-427: The body and around the dance area. Accounts of dancing in the 17th century suggest that dancing was by that time extremely widespread throughout Ireland. In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland, 'In every field a fiddle, and the lasses footing till they all of a foam,' suggesting some type of Irish step dancing or dance with heavy foot movement. There is ample evidence of Irish jigs or Irish step dancing in

12936-455: The chanter. The term chanter is derived from the Latin cantare , or "to sing", much like the modern French verb meaning "to sing", chanter . A distinctive feature of the gaida's chanter (which it shares with a number of other Eastern European bagpipes) is the "flea-hole" (also known as a mumbler or voicer , marmorka ) which is covered by the index finger of the left hand. The flea-hole

13083-570: The continent. These may be divided into traditional, neotraditional, and classical styles: folkloric dances of a particular society, dances created more recently in imitation of traditional styles, and dances transmitted more formally in schools or private lessons. African dance has been altered by many forces, such as European missionaries and colonialist governments, who often suppressed local dance traditions as licentious or distracting. Dance in contemporary African cultures still serves its traditional functions in new contexts; dance may celebrate

13230-553: The court nobility took part as performers. During the reign of Louis XIV , himself a dancer, dance became more codified. Professional dancers began to take the place of court amateurs, and ballet masters were licensed by the French government. The first ballet dance academy was the Académie Royale de Danse (Royal Dance Academy), opened in Paris in 1661. Shortly thereafter, the first institutionalized ballet troupe, associated with

13377-530: The creation of the ceòl mór (great music) of the bagpipe, which reflected its martial origins, with battle tunes, marches, gatherings, salutes and laments. The Highlands of the early 17th century saw the development of piping families including the MacCrimmonds , MacArthurs, MacGregors , and the Mackays of Gairloch . The earliest Irish mention of the bagpipe is in 1206, approximately thirty years after

13524-524: The customary conclusion to balls held in Ireland towards the end of the seventeenth century. At this time, dancing was commonly accompanied by musicians playing bagpipes or the Jew's harp . By the 1760s, the distinctive hornpipe rhythm of the Irish dance tradition had developed, and with the introduction of the fiddle to Ireland from the European continent, a new class of "dancing master" began to emerge. despite

13671-433: The dance is something about which we could talk forever, and still not finish." A musical rhythm requires two main elements; a regularly-repeating pulse (also called the "beat" or "tactus") that establishes the tempo , and a pattern of accents and rests that establishes the character of the metre or basic rhythmic pattern . The basic pulse is roughly equal in duration to a simple step or gesture. Dances generally have

13818-412: The dance itself. The rhythm of the dancers' feet may even form an essential part of the music, as in tap dance . African dance, for example, is rooted in fixed basic steps, but may also allow a high degree of rhythmic interpretation: the feet or the trunk mark the basic pulse while cross-rhythms are picked up by shoulders, knees, or head, with the best dancers simultaneously giving plastic expression to all

13965-510: The dance with the Irish sean-nós steps and Irish music. Distinguishing characteristics of Irish set dancing include that it is danced in square sets of four couples (eight people), and consist of several "figures," each of which has a number of parts, frequently repeated throughout the set. Each part of the set dance (figure) is danced to a music tempo, mostly reels , jigs , polkas and hornpipes . The sets come from various parts of Ireland and are often named for their place of origin; examples are

14112-622: The elements of the polyrhythmic pattern. Dance in Africa is deeply integrated into society and major events in a community are frequently reflected in dances: dances are performed for births and funerals, weddings and wars. Traditional dances impart cultural morals, including religious traditions and sexual standards; give vent to repressed emotions, such as grief ; motivate community members to cooperate, whether fighting wars or grinding grain; enact spiritual rituals; and contribute to social cohesiveness . Thousands of dances are performed around

14259-692: The fact that In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland ‘In every field a fiddle, and the girls footing until they foam up’. Reference to the Irish fiddle can also be found in John Dunton's Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698) he says “on Sundays and Holydays, all the people resorted with the piper and fiddler to the village green, suggesting the fiddle was introduced to Ireland much earlier then 1760. The dancing traditions of Ireland probably grew in association with traditional Irish music . Although its origins are unclear, it

14406-570: The fur is on the inside of the bag, as this helps to reduce the effect of moisture buildup within the bag. The chanter is the melody pipe, played with two hands. All bagpipes have at least one chanter; some pipes have two chanters, particularly those in North Africa, in the Balkans, and in Southwest Asia. A chanter can be bored internally so that the inside walls are parallel (or "cylindrical") for its full length, or it can be bored in

14553-426: The heritage of modern stepdance but have departed from its codification, festival dance emphasises individuality and practises more relaxed style and posture. Sean-nós , or "old style" dance is a form of Irish dancing which originated from western regions of Ireland. It has been described variously as a regional style of stepdancing, and as an entirely separate style that was virtually unknown outside small areas until

14700-542: The inauguration of a hospital, build community for rural migrants in unfamiliar cities, and be incorporated into Christian church ceremonies. All Indian classical dances are to varying degrees rooted in the Natyashastra and therefore share common features: for example, the mudra s (hand positions), some body positions, leg movement and the inclusion of dramatic or expressive acting or abhinaya . Indian classical music provides accompaniment and dancers of nearly all

14847-716: The islands of Java and Bali . The Javanese Wayang wong dance takes footage from the Ramayana or Mahabharata episodes, but this dance is very different from the Indian version, indonesian dances do not pay as much attention to the " mudras " as Indian dances: even more to show local forms. The sacred Javanese ritual dance Bedhaya is believed to date back to the Majapahit period in the 14th century or even earlier, this dance originated from ritual dances performed by virgin girls to worship Hindu Gods such as Shiva , Brahma , and Vishnu . In Bali, dance has become an integral part of

14994-648: The largest of all Irish step dance organisations, with over 6,000 dancers competing from over 30 countries worldwide. The Aisling Award (pronounced 'Ashling', Gaelic for dream) is awarded to the highest placing dancer in each solo dancing category from outside of Ireland, the United Kingdom, the US and Canada to encourage them to continue their dream of dancing. Other smaller Irish step dance organisations host their own premier championship. Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne , or "The World Championships" (for An Coimisiún dancers), first took place in Dublin in 1970 at Coláiste Mhuire ,

15141-677: The last few centuries, in recent years many of these pipes have seen a resurgence or revival as musicians have sought them out; for example, the Irish piping tradition , which by the mid 20th century had declined to a handful of master players is today alive, well, and flourishing, a situation similar to that of the Asturian gaita , the Galician gaita , the Portuguese gaita transmontana , the Aragonese gaita de boto , Northumbrian smallpipes ,

15288-471: The late 20th century. It is distinguished by footwork which is percussive but low to the ground in comparison to step dancing, and by its more freeform nature. Performers use a more relaxed posture, and improvise steps to fit with music. Typically, sean-nós dances are performed in small spaces, traditionally doors laid flat and table tops. Irish social, or céilí ( / ˈ k eɪ l i / , Irish: [ˈceːlʲiː] ) dances vary widely throughout Ireland and

15435-427: The length of the first part of the music that is repeated (often eight bars, though this varies depending on the specific set dance), and is then repeated, resembling the steps of other dances. Then the dancer usually dances a "set" which is not repeated. It is a highly sought after and competitive feat to recall to dance this "third round" — at regional, national, and world competitions, only a small percentage (typically

15582-661: The levels and other organising rules vary between countries and regions. Dancers are scored based on technique (placement of the feet, turn out, off of their heels, etc.), style (grace, power, etc.) and other items such as timing, rhythm, carriage, choreography and sounds in their hard shoe dances. An Coimisiún dancers take part in their annual regional Championship competition, which is known as an oireachtas ( IPA: [ˈɛɾʲaxt̪ˠəsˠ] ). An Coimisiún also holds various "national" championship competitions. These are qualifying events for Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne , or "The World Championships". An Coimisiún's World Championships are

15729-404: The lineage of their steps directly back to 18th century dancers. The Irish Dance masters refined and codified indigenous Irish dance traditions. Rules emerged about proper upper body, arm, and foot placement. Also, dancers were instructed to dance a step twice—first with the right foot then with the left. Old-style step dancers dance with arms loosely (but not rigidly) at their sides. They dance in

15876-423: The meaning of "primitive rhythmic movements", a situation that began to change in the 20th century with such productions as Igor Stravinsky 's The Rite of Spring with its new rhythmic language evoking primal feelings of a primitive past. Indian classical dance styles, like ballet, are often in dramatic form, so that there is a similar complementarity between narrative expression and "pure" dance. In this case,

16023-445: The medieval Irish Book of Kells . An organised dance competition is referred to as a feis (plural feiseanna ). The word feis means "festival" in Irish , and strictly speaking would also have competitions in music and crafts. Féile ( IPA: [ˈfʲeːlʲə] ) is a more correct term for the dance competition, but the terms may be used interchangeably. Dance competitions are divided by age and level of expertise. The names of

16170-467: The mid-20th century. The most predominant form of Irish stepdance is that popularised by the Broadway show Riverdance , and other Irish dancing stage shows since the late 20th century. Characterised by a rigid torso and dances performed high on the balls of the feet, this style became distinct from the late 19th century when the Gaelic League began efforts to preserve and promote Irish dance as part of

16317-504: The musette de cour, the uilleann pipes , the Northumbrian smallpipes, the piva and the left chanter of the surdelina ) have closed ends or stop the end on the player's leg, so that when the player "closes" (covers all the holes), the chanter becomes silent. A practice chanter is a chanter without bag or drones and has a much quieter reed, allowing a player to practice the instrument quietly and with no variables other than playing

16464-639: The music in Dixon's manuscript varied greatly from modern Highland bagpipe tunes, consisting mostly of extended variation sets of common dance tunes. Some of the tunes in the Dixon manuscript correspond to those found in the early 19th century manuscript sources of Northumbrian smallpipe tunes, notably the rare book of 50 tunes, many with variations, by John Peacock . As Western classical music developed, both in terms of musical sophistication and instrumental technology, bagpipes in many regions fell out of favour because of their limited range and function. This triggered

16611-476: The musical accompaniment , which is often specially composed and performed in a theatre setting but it is not a requirement. Examples are Western ballet and modern dance , Classical Indian dance such as Bharatanatyam , and Chinese and Japanese song and dance dramas, such as the dragon dance . Most classical forms are centred upon dance alone, but performance dance may also appear in opera and other forms of musical theatre . Participatory dance, whether it be

16758-440: The new style such as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey began their work. Since this time, a wide variety of dance styles have been developed; see Modern dance . African American dance developed in everyday spaces, rather than in dance studios, schools or companies. Tap dance , disco , jazz dance , swing dance , hip hop dance , the lindy hop with its relationship to rock and roll music and rock and roll dance have had

16905-521: The next. The use of dance in ecstatic trance states and healing rituals (as observed today in many contemporary indigenous cultures) is thought to have been another early factor in the social development of dance. References to dance can be found in very early recorded history; Greek dance ( choros ) is referred to by Plato , Aristotle , Plutarch and Lucian . The Bible and Talmud refer to many events related to dance, and contain over 30 different dance terms. In Chinese pottery as early as

17052-484: The octave below and then a drone consonant with the fifth of the chanter. The evidence for bagpipes prior to the 13th century AD is still uncertain, but several textual and visual clues have been suggested. The Oxford History of Music posits that a sculpture of bagpipes has been found on a Hittite slab at Euyuk in Anatolia, dated to 1000 BC. Another interpretation of this sculpture suggests that it instead depicts

17199-477: The ones that design the dancing movements within a dance, they are often university trained and are typically employed for particular projects or, more rarely may work on contract as the resident choreographer for a specific dance company. A dance competition is an organized event in which contestants perform dances before a judge or judges for awards, and in some cases, monetary prizes. There are several major types of dance competitions, distinguished primarily by

17346-591: The particular dances people may or must participate. Archaeological evidence for early dance includes 10,000-years-old paintings in Madhya Pradesh, India at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka , and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures, dated c.  3300 BC . It has been proposed that before the invention of written languages, dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from one generation to

17493-404: The plot. Such theatrical requirements tend towards longer, freer movements than those usual in non-narrative dance styles. On the other hand, the ballet blanc , developed in the 19th century, allows interludes of rhythmic dance that developed into entirely "plotless" ballets in the 20th century and that allowed fast, rhythmic dance-steps such as those of the petit allegro . A well-known example

17640-546: The popularity of many traditional forms of bagpipe throughout Europe, which began to be displaced by instruments from the classical tradition and later by gramophone and radio. As pipers were easily identifiable, combat losses were high, estimated at one thousand in World War I. A front line role was prohibited following high losses in the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1943, though a few later instances occurred. In

17787-511: The previous era, replacing stories with more Islamic interpretations and clothing that is more closed according to Islamic teachings. The dances of the Middle East are usually the traditional forms of circle dancing which are modernized to an extent. They would include dabke , tamzara , Assyrian folk dance , Kurdish dance , Armenian dance and Turkish dance , among others. All these forms of dances would usually involve participants engaging each other by holding hands or arms (depending on

17934-423: The reed is a combination of a cotton phenolic (Hgw2082) material from which the body of the reed is made and a clarinet reed cut to size in order to fit the body. These type of reeds produce a louder sound and are not so sensitive to humidity and temperature changes. Most bagpipes have at least one drone , a pipe that generally is not fingered but rather produces a constant harmonizing note throughout play (usually

18081-424: The rest of the world. A céilí dance may be performed with as few as two people and as many as sixteen. Céilí dances may also be danced with an unlimited number of couples in a long line or proceeding around in a circle (such as in "The Walls of Limerick", "The Waves of Tory", "Haymakers Jig", "An Rince Mor" or "Bonfire Dance"). Céilí dances are often fast and some are quite complex ("Antrim Reel", "Morris Reel"). In

18228-630: The richness and diversity of Indonesian ethnic groups and cultures . There are more than 1,300 ethnic groups in Indonesia , it can be seen from the cultural roots of the Austronesian and Melanesian peoples , and various cultural influences from Asia and the west. Dances in Indonesia originate from ritual movements and religious ceremonies, this kind of dance usually begins with rituals, such as war dances, shaman dances to cure or ward off disease, dances to call rain and other types of dances. With

18375-522: The romantic era, accompanied by a larger orchestra and grander musical conceptions that did not lend themselves easily to rhythmic clarity and by dance that emphasised dramatic mime. A broader concept of rhythm was needed, that which Rudolf Laban terms the "rhythm and shape" of movement that communicates character, emotion and intention, while only certain scenes required the exact synchronisation of step and music essential to other dance styles, so that, to Laban, modern Europeans seemed totally unable to grasp

18522-597: The sacred Hindu Dharma rituals. Some experts believe that Balinese dance comes from an older dance tradition from Java. Reliefs from temples in East Java from the 14th century feature crowns and headdresses similar to the headdresses used in Balinese dance today. Islam began to spread to the Indonesian archipelago when indigenous dances and dharma dances were still popular. Artists and dancers still use styles from

18669-429: The shoulder, across the arm opposite the bag, or may run parallel to the chanter. Some drones have a tuning screw, which effectively alters the length of the drone by opening a hole, allowing the drone to be tuned to two or more distinct pitches. The tuning screw may also shut off the drone altogether. In most types of pipes with one drone, it is pitched two octaves below the tonic of the chanter. Additional drones often add

18816-417: The social dance tradition also called set dance . Following criticism of CLRG for its emphasis on certain regional forms of stepdance to the detriment of others, dance teacher Patricia Mulholland developed a new style of stepdance, beginning in the 1950s. It was described as a form of "folk ballet" which appealed to dancers of both Catholic and Protestant religious persuasions. Like other forms which share

18963-475: The sport of curling , bagpipes are also the official instrument of the World Curling Federation and are commonly played during a ceremonial procession of teams before major curling championships. Bagpipe making was once a craft that produced instruments in many distinctive, local and traditional styles. Today, the world's largest producer of the instrument is Pakistan , where the industry

19110-524: The statement of Dalcroze that, while the art of musical rhythm consists in differentiating and combining time durations, pauses and accents "according to physiological law", that of "plastic rhythm" (i.e. dance) "is to designate movement in space, to interpret long time-values by slow movements and short ones by quick movements, regulate pauses by their divers successions and express sound accentuations in their multiple nuances by additions of bodily weight, by means of muscular innervations". Shawn points out that

19257-464: The stocks are typically tied into the points where the limbs and the head joined the body of the whole animal, a construction technique common in Central Europe . Different regions have different ways of treating the hide. The simplest methods involve just the use of salt, while more complex treatments involve milk , flour , and the removal of fur. The hide is normally turned inside out so that

19404-470: The style codified by the Gaelic League is performed competitively in a number of countries, and under the auspices of a number of organisations which have at various times broken away from CLRG. Irish solo stepdances fall into two broad categories based on the shoes worn: 'hard shoe' (also known as jig shoe or heavy shoe) and 'soft shoe' (or light shoe) dances. There are four soft shoe dance styles:

19551-468: The style of the dance). They would make rhythmic moves with their legs and shoulders as they curve around the dance floor. The head of the dance would generally hold a cane or handkerchief . Folk dances vary across Europe and may date back hundreds or thousands of years, but many have features in common such as group participation led by a caller , hand-holding or arm-linking between participants, and fixed musical forms known as caroles. Some, such as

19698-421: The style or styles of dances performed. Dance competitions are an excellent setting to build connections with industry leading faculty members, adjudicators, choreographers and other dancers from competing studios. A typical dance competition for younger pre-professional dancers can last anywhere between two and four days, depending whether it is a regional or national competition. The purpose of dance competitions

19845-445: The styles wear bells around their ankles to counterpoint and complement the percussion. There are now many regional varieties of Indian classical dance . Dances like "Odra Magadhi" , which after decades-long debate, has been traced to present day Mithila, Odisha region's dance form of Odissi (Orissi), indicate influence of dances in cultural interactions between different regions. The Punjab area overlapping India and Pakistan

19992-433: The system of musical time is a "man-made, artificial thing.... a manufactured tool, whereas rhythm is something that has always existed and depends on man not at all", being "the continuous flowing time which our human minds cut up into convenient units", suggesting that music might be revivified by a return to the values and the time-perception of dancing. The early-20th-century American dancer Helen Moller stated that "it

20139-759: The top four are covered by the thumb and the first three fingers of the left hand, then the four fingers of the right hand cover the remaining four holes. The note from the chanter is produced by a reed installed at its top. The reed may be a single (a reed with one vibrating tongue) or double reed (of two pieces that vibrate against each other). Double reeds are used with both conical- and parallel-bored chanters while single reeds are generally (although not exclusively) limited to parallel-bored chanters. In general, double-reed chanters are found in pipes of Western Europe while single-reed chanters appear in most other regions. They are made from reed ( arundo donax or Phragmites ), bamboo , or elder . A more modern variant for

20286-539: The top half of dancers graded after the first two rounds) of dancers are invited back to perform. The Céilí dances used in competitions are more precise versions of those danced in less formal settings. There is a list of 30 Céilí dances which have been standardised and published in An Coimisiún's Ar Rinncidhe Foirne as examples of typical Irish folk dances; these are called the "book" dances by competitive stepdancers. Most Irish dancing competitions only ask for

20433-408: The treble jig and the reel. Dances such as the hornpipe and slip jig instead have eight bars of music for their third steps. The dances are each danced starting with the right foot for eight bars, then repeated with the left foot for the last eight bars, doing the same movements with the opposite feet. Set dances, however, have a different format. The dancer usually dances one step, which is limited to

20580-707: The two are separately defined, though not always separately performed. The rhythmic elements, which are abstract and technical, are known as nritta . Both this and expressive dance (nritya) , though, are closely tied to the rhythmic system ( tala ). Teachers have adapted the spoken rhythmic mnemonic system called bol to the needs of dancers. Japanese classical dance-theatre styles such as Kabuki and Noh , like Indian dance-drama, distinguish between narrative and abstract dance productions. The three main categories of kabuki are jidaimono (historical), sewamono (domestic) and shosagoto (dance pieces). Somewhat similarly, Noh distinguishes between Geki Noh , based around

20727-404: The type of dance, the intensity of the movements, and the surface that will be danced on. Bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe , Northern Africa , Western Asia , around

20874-412: The various pipes to the bag. The most common method of supplying air to the bag is through blowing into a blowpipe or blowstick. In some pipes the player must cover the tip of the blowpipe with the tongue while inhaling, in order to prevent unwanted deflation of the bag, but most blowpipes have a non-return valve that eliminates this need. In recent times, there are many instruments that assist in creating

21021-771: The week leading up to Easter Sunday , when the championships end. The BBC documentary film Jig provided an insight into championship level dancers competing in the 2010 World Championships held in Glasgow . Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne planned return to Dublin in 2020 for the 50 year anniversary of the championships was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the competition was held in Belfast. An Coimsiún also holds Oireachtas Rince na hÉireann, or "The All Irelands" which took place in Killarney in February 2019. It

21168-884: Was found in renaissance Europe, in the works of the dancer Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro . Pesaro speaks of dance as a physical movement that arises from and expresses inward, spiritual motion agreeing with the "measures and perfect concords of harmony" that fall upon the human ear, while earlier, Mechthild of Magdeburg , seizing upon dance as a symbol of the holy life foreshadowed in Jesus' saying "I have piped and ye have not danced", writes; I can not dance unless thou leadest. If thou wouldst have me spring aloft, sing thou and I will spring, into love and from love to knowledge and from knowledge to ecstasy above all human sense Thoinot Arbeau 's celebrated 16th-century dance-treatise Orchésographie , indeed, begins with definitions of over eighty distinct drum-rhythms. Dance has been represented through

21315-476: Was performed simultaneously" – an assertion somewhat supported by the common use of the term "foot" to describe the fundamental rhythmic units of poetry. Scholes , a musician , offers support for this view, stating that the steady measures of music, of two, three or four beats to the bar, its equal and balanced phrases, regular cadences, contrasts and repetitions, may all be attributed to the "incalculable" influence of dance upon music. Hence, Shawn asserts, "it

21462-615: Was possibly later influenced by dance forms from the Continent, such as the Quadrille . Travelling dancing masters taught across Ireland as late as the 18th and early 19th centuries. Because local venues were usually small, dances were often demonstrated on tabletops, or even the tops of barrels. As a result, these early styles are characterized by the arms held rigidly at the sides, and a lack of lateral movement. As larger dance venues became available, styles grew to include more movement of

21609-486: Was worth $ 6.8 million in 2010. In the late 20th century, various models of electronic bagpipes were invented. The first custom-built MIDI bagpipes were developed by the Asturian piper known as Hevia (José Ángel Hevia Velasco). Astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is thought to be the first person to play the bagpipes in outer space , having played " Amazing Grace " in tribute to late research scientist Victor Hurst aboard

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