Let's have it for Brian Cunningham from Connemara who shows us what "real" Irish dancing is all about. See http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_272_5_sean_nos_dancing_by_brian_cunningham/ which features Brian at this year's Éigse concert in Tullamore. Having been there at the concert the clip doesn't really do justice to his performance which was electrifying. You'd need a microphone at ground level to pick up the footwork and also one in the audience to hear the audience reaction which was something else and is barely perceptible on the clip. Anyhow this is the dancing of our ancestors and not the "poncey" hands-by-the-side stuff masquerading as Irish step dancing that we're normally subjected to.
I think he's from the same part of the country so he'd know what's required. It also explains why Miss McCleod's reel is so popular in Connemara as it definitely suits the Sean Nós steps.
I find it amazing that although some people rave over this kind of dancing, it leaves an awful lot of people cold. Over the years I've seen Sean Nó dancing done on numerous occasions and played for it many times, so I can take it or leave it. However I have often heard many derogatory remarks such as 'looks like some drunk buck leppin' around the floor' Does it depend on what part of the country/world you come from or what?
I've seen Seamus Devane and his then young lads dancing back in Maam Cross on Fair Days in the middle of the pub with cowsh*t dripping of their wellies, Johnny Connolly on the melodeon and nothing but grown men drinking pints egging them on. It releases a buried instinct that no thin veneer of christianity can contain. Brilliant stuff.
Brian's sister, Irene, is also a great sean nós dancer and what about Colm O'Donnell from Sligo who's also so entertaining to watch. What's so good about this dance form it is the improvisation which allows dancers to stamp their own individuality on their performance.
I'm no dance expert - I've got more left feet than a millipede in a hall of mirrors - but I was watching various types of traditional dancing at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival a few weeks ago, including Apallachian and English step, and I am struck by how similar this is. The dance connoisseurs will no doubt come down on me like a ton of bricks.
Thanks Bannerman for this gem. It's going into my collection along with Boston Keltics and the Cape Breton dances. I got so excited about those, I ordered the instructional video. Yes, the Appalachian, Northern English (Lancashire, I believe) and Sean Nos are closely related. And yes - An Comisiun brought a lot of pretention into Irish Dance. I'm not exactly a dance connoisseur and wouldn't come down on anyone 'like a ton of bricks' but the training involved when learning those "poncey hands by the side stuff" dances is phenominal.
When I got the Cape Breton DVD I ran through the whole thing and could dance along with most of it. I could never have done this if I hadn't had the competition ID training I've been sweating over for the past two years. Granted, I'm an old hand at following the leader's feet in a Balkan folk dance, but this is fast stuff and the alphabet has to be memorized. For Sean Nos too. The fact is, it's not difficult. At least the Cape Breton wasn't. It's just fast. Like your Irish melodies.
There are some lovely dances in modern competition Irish Dance. And you can choreograph your own. And you can choose your own music and instruments. Nobody out there stopping you. And why shouldn't you be able to improvise? Forget the competitions with their dresses and wigs.
What I like about the Séan Nós and Cape Breton is that they stay close to the music. Advanced hornpipes can get unnecessarily complicated and, along with reels (soft shoes), can be really hard to do neatly. But they're all meant to be danced right in rhythm.
At this past weekend's Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival we were fortunate to have with us Kieran Jordan & Brian Hart. Kieran is originally from Philly and went to Ireland to study Sean Nos with Aidan Vaughan (the master in MY book). She is now back in the states teaching and dancing in many concerts, festivals, TV appearances, etc. She has a lovely new CD out called "Secrets of the Sole" with stories and steps by Aidan and Kevin Doyle. You can watch clips and order it from her website: www.kieranjordan.com. What was great to see this past weekend was the pure joy she puts into her steps and how she syncopates with the tunes being played by the musicians and on her own. She turned loads of folks onto the Sean Nos and is a delight to watch, listen and learn from. Brian Hart is a sean nos singer from St. Louis but also plays concertina and is a top notch dancer as well. At one part of the day Kieran and Brian traded steps for about 10 minutes while Brendan Callahan and Sean McComiskey played for them at the House Party that I hosted. Best 10 minutes of the festival for me! If I was only 20 years younger and 20 pounds lighter...
The clip was OK. I've seen better though with more style and variation. Can't beat Seosamh O'Neachtain in my books. Music was too fast as well, not a great tempo. Can't beat Johnny Connolly when it comes down to it.
Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I remember seeing Michael Gorman (partner of Maggie Barry, fiddler extraordinaire and composer of The Mountain Road)
doing this type of dancing in the White Hart, Fulham, accompanied by Raymond Roland and Liam Farrell.
The image of Michael in his suit and old trilby hat dancing in this way is unforgettable.
As Free Reed says, you would sometimes see it at pub sessions or ceilis but it was just regarded as a spontaneous part of the general entertainment, and I didn´t know that it was called sean nós dancing.
Now it has become practically an art form - and why not ?
Like Bannerman, I much prefer it to the stilted bobbing up and down known as set dancing, although I hasten to add that I have nothing but admiration for those who put in hours of practice and dedication to the dancing.
It´s just that I prefer the authenticity associated with sean nós dancing to the " comely maidens at the crossroads" image of step dancing.
Like most kids of my generation and background, I was sent to step dancing classes in London (Agnes O´Connell and Terry Bowler schools) but when I realised that to compete in feisanna I might have to wear a saffron kilt, I quickly lost whatever enthusiasm I had and persuaded my parents to let me join the scouts !
Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Let's have it for Brian Cunningham from Connemara who shows us what "real" Irish dancing is all about. See http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_272_5_sean_nos_dancing_by_brian_cunningham/ which features Brian at this year's Éigse concert in Tullamore. Having been there at the concert the clip doesn't really do justice to his performance which was electrifying. You'd need a microphone at ground level to pick up the footwork and also one in the audience to hear the audience reaction which was something else and is barely perceptible on the clip. Anyhow this is the dancing of our ancestors and not the "poncey" hands-by-the-side stuff masquerading as Irish step dancing that we're normally subjected to.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Bannerman
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Ooooh. yeah!
Do try this at home. I got an instruction dvd from Maldon Meehan and Ronan Regan today. You've got to start somewhere :D
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Tirno
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
....and for Tommy Doherty who played up a storm for Brian to dance to...
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Ionannas
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
I think he's from the same part of the country so he'd know what's required. It also explains why Miss McCleod's reel is so popular in Connemara as it definitely suits the Sean Nós steps.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Bannerman
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
I find it amazing that although some people rave over this kind of dancing, it leaves an awful lot of people cold. Over the years I've seen Sean Nó dancing done on numerous occasions and played for it many times, so I can take it or leave it. However I have often heard many derogatory remarks such as 'looks like some drunk buck leppin' around the floor' Does it depend on what part of the country/world you come from or what?
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Oh I love it! RAVE RAVE RAVE! Wish I could do it, I'm working on it. I got the Basic Connemara Step down.
It's genuine. It relies on improvisation and allows the dancer to express themselves with much more freedom.
...and, as Bannerman says, it was here first. The sets are related to quadrilles and the step is a product of the Gaelic Revival.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Step = girls with curls, no offense folks, love that high flying stuff too.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
I've seen Seamus Devane and his then young lads dancing back in Maam Cross on Fair Days in the middle of the pub with cowsh*t dripping of their wellies, Johnny Connolly on the melodeon and nothing but grown men drinking pints egging them on. It releases a buried instinct that no thin veneer of christianity can contain. Brilliant stuff.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Patkiwi
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Brian's sister, Irene, is also a great sean nós dancer and what about Colm O'Donnell from Sligo who's also so entertaining to watch. What's so good about this dance form it is the improvisation which allows dancers to stamp their own individuality on their performance.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by Bannerman
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
I'm no dance expert - I've got more left feet than a millipede in a hall of mirrors - but I was watching various types of traditional dancing at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival a few weeks ago, including Apallachian and English step, and I am struck by how similar this is. The dance connoisseurs will no doubt come down on me like a ton of bricks.
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by ragaman
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Thanks Bannerman for this gem. It's going into my collection along with Boston Keltics and the Cape Breton dances. I got so excited about those, I ordered the instructional video. Yes, the Appalachian, Northern English (Lancashire, I believe) and Sean Nos are closely related. And yes - An Comisiun brought a lot of pretention into Irish Dance. I'm not exactly a dance connoisseur and wouldn't come down on anyone 'like a ton of bricks' but the training involved when learning those "poncey hands by the side stuff" dances is phenominal.
When I got the Cape Breton DVD I ran through the whole thing and could dance along with most of it. I could never have done this if I hadn't had the competition ID training I've been sweating over for the past two years. Granted, I'm an old hand at following the leader's feet in a Balkan folk dance, but this is fast stuff and the alphabet has to be memorized. For Sean Nos too. The fact is, it's not difficult. At least the Cape Breton wasn't. It's just fast. Like your Irish melodies.
There are some lovely dances in modern competition Irish Dance. And you can choreograph your own. And you can choose your own music and instruments. Nobody out there stopping you. And why shouldn't you be able to improvise? Forget the competitions with their dresses and wigs.
What I like about the Séan Nós and Cape Breton is that they stay close to the music. Advanced hornpipes can get unnecessarily complicated and, along with reels (soft shoes), can be really hard to do neatly. But they're all meant to be danced right in rhythm.
C. Nicolas
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by C. Nicolas
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
At this past weekend's Philadelphia Ceili Group Festival we were fortunate to have with us Kieran Jordan & Brian Hart. Kieran is originally from Philly and went to Ireland to study Sean Nos with Aidan Vaughan (the master in MY book). She is now back in the states teaching and dancing in many concerts, festivals, TV appearances, etc. She has a lovely new CD out called "Secrets of the Sole" with stories and steps by Aidan and Kevin Doyle. You can watch clips and order it from her website: www.kieranjordan.com. What was great to see this past weekend was the pure joy she puts into her steps and how she syncopates with the tunes being played by the musicians and on her own. She turned loads of folks onto the Sean Nos and is a delight to watch, listen and learn from. Brian Hart is a sean nos singer from St. Louis but also plays concertina and is a top notch dancer as well. At one part of the day Kieran and Brian traded steps for about 10 minutes while Brendan Callahan and Sean McComiskey played for them at the House Party that I hosted. Best 10 minutes of the festival for me! If I was only 20 years younger and 20 pounds lighter...
# Posted on September 19th 2008 by moria enya
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
The clip was OK. I've seen better though with more style and variation. Can't beat Seosamh O'Neachtain in my books. Music was too fast as well, not a great tempo. Can't beat Johnny Connolly when it comes down to it.
# Posted on September 22nd 2008 by mariaphilmurphy
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I remember seeing Michael Gorman (partner of Maggie Barry, fiddler extraordinaire and composer of The Mountain Road)
doing this type of dancing in the White Hart, Fulham, accompanied by Raymond Roland and Liam Farrell.
The image of Michael in his suit and old trilby hat dancing in this way is unforgettable.
As Free Reed says, you would sometimes see it at pub sessions or ceilis but it was just regarded as a spontaneous part of the general entertainment, and I didn´t know that it was called sean nós dancing.
Now it has become practically an art form - and why not ?
Like Bannerman, I much prefer it to the stilted bobbing up and down known as set dancing, although I hasten to add that I have nothing but admiration for those who put in hours of practice and dedication to the dancing.
It´s just that I prefer the authenticity associated with sean nós dancing to the " comely maidens at the crossroads" image of step dancing.
Like most kids of my generation and background, I was sent to step dancing classes in London (Agnes O´Connell and Terry Bowler schools) but when I realised that to compete in feisanna I might have to wear a saffron kilt, I quickly lost whatever enthusiasm I had and persuaded my parents to let me join the scouts !
# Posted on October 11th 2008 by murfbox
Re: Sean Nós is Yer Only Man!!
Correction:
"known as *step* dancing" (and not *set* dancing)
# Posted on October 11th 2008 by murfbox