Set dancing is a form of
Irish social dance that is organised around couples dancing in groups or a set
of eight.
It is a vibrant and fresh style of dance, based on dancing Quadrilles, which
originally came from France.
The Irish have added their own unique steps and music to this dancing to make
it energetic, rhythmic and great fun.The style is with the feet very low and
flat to the floor, sometimes silently pushing and swishing around the floor,
and other times making a rhythmic tattoo on the floor that is hypnotic. Set
dancing uses the whole body in a relaxed stance.
Sets have evolved differently in different parts of Ireland, with the music and unique
steps of the local area integrated into their own local set. This creates
interest for those learning and dancing sets, with jigs, slides, polkas and
reels being the most common tempo and guide to steps. Each set is made up of a
number of figures, usually between 3 – 6 figures for each set and will take
anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes to complete a full set . Some sets will
be predominantly one type of music or step – jigs for example – while other
sets will have a change of tempo for each figure.
Set dancing had a contemporary revival in the 1980’s after a long dormant
period where ceili dancing and dance bands of the 1960’s were more popular.
Over 120 sets have been revived and danced in recent times, and who knows how
many more?
To see some examples of set
dancing, open the following clips from the YouTube website:
There are a number of other
forms of Irish dancing, as follows:
Sean nós dancing (say shan-nose)
Sean nós literally means
“old style”, and this beautiful style is danced by individuals to their own
steps, and their own rhythm in their own time! These lovely steps have been
integrated over time into various sets and have given Irish set dancing a
unique look and sound when compared with other dance based on Quadrilles –
English country dancing, Scottish country dancing, renaissance dancing. The
closest to Irish sean nós would be the French-Canadian foot percussion and Cape Breton
step dancing. It is generally to be found in the more remote and isolated parts
of Ireland,
some of which are areas where the spoken language is Gaeilge (Irish).
For some excellent examples
of sean nos dancing, see the following clips from the YouTube website:
Step
Dancing - not to be confused with Set Dancing!
Step dancing is the
Riverdance–style of dancing, where individuals dance up on the balls of their
feet, either with hard shoes or soft shoes, with very little movement of arms
or upper body. The emphasis in this style of dancing is on the steps and
footwork. There are many Irish dancing schools in Australia and they, almost without
exception, only teach step dancing.
Ceili
Dancing is different again!
Ceili dancing has a
different repertoire of dances which are commonly danced in Northern Ireland,
England, America and Australia, but uncommon in the south of Ireland now -
people in their forties can remember being taught Irish Dancing
The dances are in many forms, for couples or threesomes, in lines, squares and
circles, including several in four-couple sets. They are danced to steps which
are similar to those used in modern step dancing – up on the balls of the feet
rather than flat feet to the floor, like those for set dancing. This style of
dancing is similar to Australian bush dancing and colonial dancing.
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Page updated 10 January 2008 |
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