History of Irish Dance
A Handbook of Irish Dances, 1944
This page houses quotes from the famous A Handbook of Irish Dances by J.G. O'Keeffe and Art O'Brien; I am lucky to own a copy of their sixth edition, printed in 1944.
Part 1. - Essay on the origin and history of Irish Dances with some observations on modern methods...
Numerous as are the Irish dance tunes, the steps are even more numerous
Step Dances. - The four principal Irish step-dances, that is, the jig, reel, hornpipe, and hop-jig, are so familiar a feature in modern Irish life that they call for little comment here. No attempt is made in this book to describe the many steps of these dances, but in the section devoted to "Other Dance" a brief account is given of the positions to be occupied by the dancers, and the "figure" movements which are usual between the dancing of the actual steps.
One of the most extraordinary features in connection with these dances is the number of steps which pertain to them. Numerous as are the Irish dance tunes, the steps are even more numerous. And just as the tunes differ, one from another (though in the one time and of the one character) to a considerable degree, so do the steps differ from another in almost every feature except character. Another remarkable feature in connection with these dances is the manner in which the steps have been diffused throughout the whole country. The same steps may be seen dances to-day from Kerry to Donegal, with but slender differences here and there; and even the order in which they are danced is often - as it should be always - the same. In the jig, for example, the traditional dancer invariably begins with the "rising-step" and works up from that simple form through easy gradations to the most intricate steps. In the reel the beautiful "side-step" should be the initial movement.
All the evidence on the point tends to show that they are comparatively modern, that they were, in fact, the creation of the dancing-masters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
Age of Step Dances. - It is of some interest to speculate on the age of these steps. All the evidence on the point tends to show that they are comparatively modern, that they were, in fact, the creation of the dancing-masters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the first place, almost all references to Irish dances, in literature, down to the beginning of the eighteenth century, deal only with Round and Long dances, and in the next place there is a marked absence of any indication of the existence of the dancing-master until about the same time. It was, evidently, this professor of dancing who invented the many intricate "steps," proceeding by a gradual elaboration of the simple forms used in the Round and Long dances. The dancing-master was always expected to invent steps, and, in fact, it was by his powers of invention as much as by his skills in dancing, and his manner of imparting the art to others that he achieved renown. Literature and tradition are lmost silent concerning the dancing-master down to the eighteenth century; but there is abundant proof of his existence, one might add of his ubiquity, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
There were at least three great schools of dancing in Ireland about the year 1800; those of Kerry, Limerick, and Cork
Schools of Irish Dance. - Judging by the number of dancing-masters, and the position to which "step"-dancing had attained at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it is evident that the art was sedulously cultivated during the whole of the preceeding century. There were at least three great schools of dancing in Ireland about the year 1800; those of Kerry, Limerick, and Cork. There were, doubtless, others, but they do not appear to have attained the renown of the three great Munster schools. The fame of Munster dancing is attested to by many writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Carolan, for example, speaks of:-
[Gaelic is in the old Gaelic font, and is currently illegible to me.]
In Kerry alone there were professors of Irish dance, whose fame was as wide, at least, at Ireland. The great O'Kearin, who flourished in the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, was a man who, in a country like France of the seventeenth century, would have found his way into the history of the period as a man of genius. To O'Kearin was largely due the crystalization, if we may say so, of Irish dances; he it was who helped largely to reduce them to the order and uniformity they have attained, a uniformity which was very remarkable, and which was common to the four principal step dances. The Limerick dancing-master, in the best days of Irish step-dancing, was a worthy and (in the person of a man like Tadhg Ruadh O'Scanlan) a veritable rival of the Kerry man.
The name is derived from the figure which is woven into each of them; in some it is simple, in others it is extremely complex
Figure Dances. - The "Figure" (or as they are sometimes called, "set" and "long set") dances appear also to have been the creation of the dancing-masters of the past century. They consist of measures fashioned mostly to tunes like "St. Patrick’s Day," "The Blackbird," and certain of Carolan’s Plenxtys, which do not conform to the usual structure of "regular" jigs and reels, that is, which do not consist of two parts with eight bars in each. The name is derived from the figure which is woven into each of them; in some it is simple, in others it is extremely complex, but in every case it differs from the figure movement performed between the actual steps of the jig and reel. A list of some of these dances is given in Part V., together with a brief description of the manner in which they are danced.
The first thing that strikes any observer is that ease and grace and beauty of movement are almost invariably sacrified to complexity of steps
Modern Irish Dancing. - There are some features in connection with Irish dancing as it is seen today in Irish towns and cities which call for passing comments. The first thing that strikes any observer is that ease and grace and beauty of movement are almost invariably sacrified to complexity of steps. Which will Irish dancers understand that the simplest steps beautifully danced give more pleasure than the most difficult steps danced with an awkward carriage of the body and obvious physical distress? It must be patent to anybody who has given the subject a moment’s consideration that jigs, reels, and hornpipes, danced without grace and ease, become athletic exercises pure and simple, and very often ugly ones at that. A perfect step-dancer is not always beating the floor violently, neighter is he flying about from one end of the platform to another; his movements are all easy and are performed with a certain stateliness, and the time is clearly but not violently marked. Generally speaking, the step-dances are danced much quicker than they should be. No dance, no matter how accurately the step may be performed or the time marked, can possibly look beautiful if it is danced - as frequently happens - twice as rapidly as it should be.
Generally speaking, the step-dances are danced much quicker than they should be
Another feature very noticeable to-day is that men and women are frequently seen to dance precisely the same steps. This is entirely at variance with the practice of the old dancing-masters, who always taught women steps of a lighter and simpler character than those taught to men. This was in harmony with the general good taste of the old dancing-master, a man usually of courtly ways and fine manners, ever jealous for the dignity of his profession. To such a man it would have been a source of the utmost pain to witness a girl "treble" or "batter" or perform other manly steps; he possessed a large repertory of light, somewhat dainty steps for women, which were so framed as to make up in grace what they lacked in complexity. In this connection Dr. P. W. Joyce, in his contribution on Irish dances to Dr. Petri’s Ancient Music of Ireland, observes that the women of Cork emulated the men of that county, whereas the women of Limerick were far more staid in their dancing, and would have thought it quite unbecoming to dance men’s steps as the Cork women did.
Much has been said from time to time on the hostility shown by many persons in Ireland to dancing. Happily that hostility is rapidly waning, and it is not too much to hope that it will wholly disappear in the presence of Irish dances.
If we have dwelt at length on the historical aspect of Irish dances, it is largely, if not solely, because it is our belief that any true account of them should be an important influence in the spread and development of these same dances in the future. No country, and least of all Ireland, can afford to ignore its pastimes. Besides, it would be impossible to detach the magnificent body of Irish dance music from the dances themselves. We are concerned to-day, all of us, with the study of old Irish music; it would be incongruous if we were not concurrently interested in the dances to which so much of that music pertains. If we are to have a revival of things Irish we cannot in reason pass by the dances. This, however, is only the academic view of the question.
This dulness [sic], this death in life, has often been advanced, and surely with justice, as one of the many reasons for the terrible drain of emigration from our country.
The study of Irish dances can well afford to be put on a higher plane of consideration. No one who has given any thought to our town, and village, and, above all, to our rural life, can deny that it is sadly lacking in the most elementary resources of pleasure. This dulness [sic], this death in life, has often been advanced, and surely with justice, as one of the many reasons for the terrible drain of emigration from our country. Everywhere people tell you that beyond the daily round of labour there is nothing to look forward to in Irish provincial life.
Can it, therefore, be a matter for surprise that the noisy streets and music halls of foreign cities allure our people? It was not so at any time, so far as we are aware, in Irish history down to the end of the eighteenth century. Town and country life in Ireland, for many centuries within the ken of observant travellers, appears to have resounded with the music of the pipes and the accompanying movement of the dancers. We would desire to see once more the village cross-roads peopled with merry groups of dancers, to hear the music of the pipes borne down the lanes between the white-thorn trees, in the interval between the long day of labour and the night of rest.
Samhain, 1912