Traditional Irish Dances

Just as costumes have changed over the years, so too have the Irish dances themselves.
On occasion, these new developments in the style and execution of dances are somewhat controversial as some purists will argue that they interfere with the authenticity of traditional Irish dancing.
These arguments however, are not preventing skilled dancers from continuously pushing the limits of their art.

Traditional Irish Dances

Jigs
Although the jig is known to be an ancient Irish dance, little is known about when it was first performed aside from a few references found in old texts.
Single or soft Jigs are performed in soft-soled shoes with solo competitions only occurring at beginner and intermediate levels.
Often described as the most graceful of the Irish dances, the slip jig is only performed by girls and women.
The dance itself consists of skipping, sliding, light hopping and sliding steps.

Reels
This dance finds its roots in 18th century Scotland, although it was fully developed by Irish Dance Masters during the 19th century.
This dance is performed in a 4/4 time by both men (mostly in hard-soled shoes) and women (soft soles) and features a rapid, energetic approach full of leaps which calls for plenty of stamina on the part of the dancer.
Reel competitions usually pit boys and girls against each other in a display of skill which finds enthusiastic appreciation from its audience.

Hornpipe
Originating in 18th century England, the hornpipe was originally the sole province of male dancers, but is not performed by both men and women with competitions being held at the ‘open’ level and up due to the dance’s inherent difficulty.
It is a hard shoe dance which features the characteristic ankle rocking motion often associated with Irish dances.

The Set Dance
Set dances are always performed to the same tunes, thus providing a more rigid routine for performers.
Once again, competitions begin at the ‘open’ level due to the dance’s (either jigs or hornpipes) inherent difficulties.
Additionally, due to the fact that that the tune to any given dance is always the same, competition judges require dancers to provide much more in-depth interpretations of the music when performing a set piece.
A great source of information about Set Dances may be found here.

Irish Dance Musical Instruments
Irish dances are usually accompanied by a variety of instruments including flutes, violins and accordions, though Uilleann Pipes (pictured to the right) are sometimes used too, especially since the number of Irish pipers has grown steadily in recent years.

Judging in Competitions
The universally adopted 100 mark for judging Irish Dance competitions was laid down by the Irish Dancing Commission (An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha) during the early part of the 20th century.
Consisting of 25% for deployment of style, 25% for method & execution, 25% for timing and 25% for the steps themselves in solo dancing competitions and 40% for effect, 30% for timing and 30% for figures in figure dancing, points are allocated accordingly by the judge(s) within seconds of dancers finishing their performances.

Click here for the Ancient History of Irish Dancing
Click here for the Modern History of Irish Dancing
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