Even though Irish dancing is to have been created for a sense of nationalism, it is said to have roots in the Druids who lived in Ireland and the Celts' folk dancing. Ireland is a land that is connected to its past and this is one way to honor and celebrate the past.
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Irish dancing is a performance. According to Sims and Stephens in Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions, state that a performance is "Performance is an expressive activity that requires participation, heightens our enjoyment of an experience, and invites response." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 131) Irish dancing performances and competitions would fall into those categories. They also stated that, "in order for a performance to happen, a recognized setting must exist (participants have to know a performance is taking place) and participants (performers and audience) must be present.)" (Sims and Stephens 2011, 131). The setting is the competition or performance, the participants are the performers and the audience.
Folklore
Even though Irish dancing and its competitions were created for a sense of nationalism, it is said to have roots in the Druids who lived in Ireland and the Celts' folk dancing. Ireland is a land that is connected to its past and this is one way to honor and celebrate the past.
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Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/293930313162603647/
Out of the three genres of folklore, Irish Dance falls mostly into the Customary lore. According to According to Sims and Stephens in Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions, "a custom is a repeated, habitual action, a usual way of doing something." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 16) Another definition is a "custom refers to patterned, repeated behavior in which a person's participation indicates involved membership." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 16) Irish dance and competitions require membership into the dance, especially the Major and Championships. The dance has specific moves that makes it Irish dance and separates it from other dance genres. There is also repeated dance moves along with the specific type of moves.
Irish dancing is a performance. A performance is "Performance is an expressive activity that requires participation, heightens our enjoyment of an experience, and invites response." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 131) Irish dancing performances and competitions would fall into those categories. They also stated that, "in order for a performance to happen, a recognized setting must exist (participants have to know a performance is taking place) and participants (performers and audience) must be present.)" (Sims and Stephens 2011, 131). The setting is the competition or performance, the participants are the performers and the audience.
Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance#/media/File:Irish_dancers_in_team_costume,_Davis_Academy,_USA.jpg
Sims and Stephens speak of tradition as "Some folklorists theorize that groups select traditions, choosing events and heroes from their cultural past that shape that past to match their present conception of themselves." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 71) They also go onto say, "Selecting traditions reinforces the values and beliefs of the current group’s makeup." (Sims and Stephens 2011, 71) This can be used to help explain why the dancers keep their arms straight. Some say that the reason the dancers in Irish dancing keep their arms straight is due to tradition. Some say it was to help break the English stereotype that the Irish are 'unruly' or 'out of control'. Or it could be that in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, they had to hide their dancing from the English. (Wulff 2005, 50) The position of the arms in the dancing as helped identify the dance has an Irish dance and to help separate themselves from the English. Wanting to be seen as separate from the English, the arm placements and specific dance moves, shows that the Irish have a strong sense of nationalism and they value what makes them Irish. The Irish dance is one way to show nationalism, help set them a part and show pride in their identity and culture.