Jane

Maybe somewhere there is a list like ours full of Egyptians debating about country western line dance and how to do it with authenticity and spirit!

Sita

Yes, you are right. My grandfather was an Irish dancer when he was younger (won medal and trophies) and he hates Riverdance it is not worth speaking that word without getting the full lecture.
His dance was the old style (or sean nos; I think is the correct term). Traditional Irish dancing is very strict, with rules which tend to be inflexible. The upperbody torso, shoulders, hips even face/head must remain upright and stiff. The arms are also stiff either straightdown or with the hands bunched in fists on the hips.
One reason I was given about the arms held at the side or the lack of arm movement was because women had to hold up their skirts when dancing (however I have no way of knowing how true this is.)

The use of arms and expressive upper body and face (which should remain expressionless) is one reason why my Grandfather hates Riverdance and why it can be reffered to as non-traditional or a hybrid/fusion form. Among others is the use of non traditional rhythms, the dancing space itself which is traditionally quite small with most solos almost stationary and also the reputation od Michael Flately as an show-off, arrogrant and narcisstic man( though this was expressed to me using different words ).

He changes the tone of the dancing a lot; even just by the flamboyancy of his clothes he makes it very show bizzy and flamboyant which has upset many purists.

There are like Egyptian many different styles from the various regions Munster style I think is now the mainstream style. There are four types of Irish music and associated dances are the jig, reel, hornpipe, and set dances. There are also several main Irish step dances. They are the reel, the light jig, the heavy jig, the single jig, and the hornpipe. Also divisions are made to do with soft or hard shoe. Like MED its quite intricrate and indepth.

My personal experiences of irish dancing and ceili's are that you dance for ages and it kills your feet.

The comparison with BDSS is very appropriate and reversed is actually how I explain BDSS to my friends who do either Irish or Scottish dancing

Sita

__________________
~*Life is like a ghaziya, she dances just briefly for each.*~ - Egyptian proverb

Sita

Sorry to go on but for those intersted I found a good video that shows the difference between traditional and riverdance/michael flately and hopefully explains the debate clearer than my rambling :
the first is a clip of somene dancing a hornpipe



I hope you see the difference and the true soul of the dance in the first clip!

Sita

__________________
~*Life is like a ghaziya, she dances just briefly for each.*~ - Egyptian proverb

Caroline_afifi

Where the F*** do you find them!!!
classic...

On a more serious note, one of my favourite 'dance' movies is Billy Elliot.
I just love this story so much, and the fact that it is based on a true story makes it even better.
It is a great film about macho mens attitude to dance in a working class neighbourhood and is just fantastic.

lizaj

Then there's this......


YouTube - Baby Dabke - Aiwaa...

Aniseteph

I know diddlysquit about Irish dance but I loved the first one. I don't know how to explain, the music and the dancing was straightforward and honest and just plain spot on.