Irish Dance and Pop Culture: 2011

Friday, December 30, 2011

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Gothard Sisters revisit Irish dance roots for new CD - VIDEOS

Gothard sisters

Traditional Irish dance music has somewhat of a different meaning for Greta, Solana and Willow Gothard. For these sisters, "traditional" refers to not only classic tunes preserved throughout history, but it also reflects the family traditions the Seattle-based siblings have developed in their years performing together.

Part of that family tradition involves innovating musically -- combining music and dance influences from different genres -- which the trio continues to do with each album they record.

The three sisters are classically trained musicians and decorated Irish dancers with a stage show and a collection of six recorded albums to their name. "Story Girl," the Gothard Sisters' sixth CD released earlier this month, mixes well-known Celtic songs and original tracks written and arranged by one or more of the sisters. And, as eldest sister Greta, 24, pointed out, the group has drawn heavily from its Irish dance influences, making this latest album is the most "danceable" yet.

Tracks like "The Sailor and the Mermaid," a jig-reel hybrid written by Greta and Willow; Greta's "Celebration Reel"; "Midsummer Jigs"; and "The Three Coins" are especially dancer-friendly. Any Irish dancer's ears will quickly perk up upon recognizing the hard shoe percussive rhythms in "The Three Coins," a lively reel tune written by middle sister Willow, 22.

Even the music video for "The Three Coins" displays the siblings' breezy Irish step dance style, performed hillside in cowboy boots.

What the Gothard Sisters manage to achieve in just 12 tracks is a harmonious blend of traditional Celtic with hints of Americana. There's a country-western earthiness that gives the songs a lively, approachable, down-home sound. And 16-year-old sister Solana's angelic vocals add a youthful life to otherwise somber traditional ballads or laments such as "Scarborough Fair" and "Fields of Athenry."

For the Irish dancer, "Story Girl" is a refreshing alternative to a predictable feis CD -- and it offers a few tracks that would lend themselves nicely to stage performances and casual dance-outs.

But "Story Girl" isn't just for the step dancers. It's a collection of melodious tracks from a wide spectrum of Celtic cultures with a lively modern American twist that would delight any fan of classical, Celtic or country music.

Listen to samples from the CD on iTunes, or order it on the official Gothard Sisters website.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

'Irish dancer' Halloween costumes: culturally inaccurate, intentionally erotic

Each year, the same complaint about girls' and womens' Halloween costume options resurfaces: those tight-fitting, barely-there outfits are just too sexy.

Unfortunately, it's not just the "naughty cop" and "flirty fairy" costumes that are turning heads. Even the image of the Irish lass -- a traditional Irish dancer, in many cases -- is subject to hyper-sexualization. This year, it seems like more online Halloween outfitters are offering inaccurate interpretations of Irish dance gear.

Are these costumes examples of cultural confusion or intentionally tasteless fetishization of Irish step dancers?

CostumeCloset.net and StarCostumes.com offer a few of the same vaguely Irish dance-inspired costumes, some worse than others. The "Irish Lass Costume" is described on CostumeCloset.net as " just the thing for an Irish dance performance," even though it's fair to say a kitchen apron is not standard attire for the modern-day stepper.

The same site boldly hawks an "Irish Dancer Costume," which also includes a short-sleeve blouse (the CLRG and other dance organizations should laugh at such a suggestion) and a matching apron. Described in the site's text as a "premium quality Irish Dancer costume for adults," one might wonder if the costume designer ever saw an actual Irish dancer.

Spirit, one of the most recognizable online Halloween costume shops, offers some of the most blatantly sexist descriptions among the lot. For its "Iris U Luck" costume, which includes a glimmering shamrock applique on each breast, the website offers the following description:

"Get lucky in this darling green and white Iris U Luck adult women's costume. They'll be reaching for those shamrocks, that's for sure! Dance a jig in this flirty dress and live it up on Halloween."

Spirit's belly- and bust-baring Lucky Charm Womens Costume also includes a -- no surprise here -- "get lucky" reference and suggests the buyer should first "dance an Irish jig in the kicky skirt."

DanceCostumes.com jumped on the uninspired catchphrase bandwagon, instructing the buyer to "get lucky" in the Lucky Leprechaun Costume, a strapless poly-spandex skin-tight cocktail dress. "Get dancing," the description continues.

One of the most perplexing costume-accessory combinations comes courtesy of DanceCostumes.com in the form of the Dancing Leprechaun Costume. While it's safe to expect bursting bustlines and skirts barely covering the model's bottom, it's unclear why this "Irish stage production" dress includes a floppy foam hat and a green riding crop. It's clear that the costume designer was going more for green dominatrix than step dancer.

As the Google search for Irish dancer Halloween costumes continues, it becomes increasingly apparent by the automatic inclusion of a frilly apron that Halloween costume designers equate any "cultural" costume to a French maid outfit -- just in a different color, depending on the country being represented. Just about every mass-produced "Irish dancer" Halloween costume is green, which might seem like an obvious color choice, except even a newbie Irish dancer would know that custom Irish dance dresses come in virtually every color under the sun. It's almost a rarity to catch a glimpse of an all-green solo dress.

Do these costumes offend you? Or have you come to expect women's Halloween attire to be skimpy and misrepresentative? Feel free to leave your comments below.

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

'Noctu': autobiography of an Irish dancer - VIDEOS

Watching Noctu was a little bit like watching bits of my life performed on stage. Talking to the show's creator-choreographer Breandan de Gallai after Saturday's evening show, I learned that was exactly the desired reaction.

Noctu, which just wrapped up a short run at Manhattan's Irish Repertory Theatre on Sunday, is what de Gallai called the autobiography of an Irish dancer. Through the eyes of three disenfranchised characters, de Gallai unveils the conflicts within every dancer, including feelings of inadequacy and simply being misunderstood, in stark contrast to joy and camaraderie.

While it surprised me that de Gallai, a legend in the Irish dance world, might've ever felt inadequate in his dancing ability, he explained that these emotions are in every dancer -- from beginners to world-class champions. De Gallai, who himself ranks among the world's most esteemed step dancers, said assuredly, "Everybody has those feelings -- the times when no matter what you do, you just feel awful."

The theme of inadequacy was personified by the lead female character, played by Australian dancer Peta Anderson. In this role, Anderson portrayed a passionate dancer whose natural skills didn't quite match up with her bursting enthusiasm for dance. In her solo, a dream sequence, she bounds gracefully across the stage. But when the dream is over, Anderson's character clumsily bops along to a few bars of a slip jig tune.

Principal dancer Callum Spencer offered an inside look at the struggles of being a male Irish dancer, who is constantly ridiculed and proactively presenting himself as macho. Still, Spencer's character is berated with homophobic slurs by his peers. The stereotype that Irish dancing is a girly activity is matched by an ironically masculine traditional hornpipe performed by Spencer, a clear athlete with a strikingly robust build.

In a related -- and "intentional" -- move, de Gallai choreographed soft shoe dances for the male dancers. Unlike Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and other popular Irish dance stage shows, de Gallai deliberately choreographed reels to be performed by the men. He said that he's sometimes stuck explaining to people that all Irish dancers -- male and female -- begin with light dances. Too often, audiences unfamiliar with traditional Irish dance mistakenly associated hard shoes with masculinity and soft soles with femininity.

"There's a lot of expression in what we do in soft shoes," he said.

There was no lack of expression, power and strength in dancer Nick O'Connell's reel, performed barefoot to a modern rendition of "I Will Survive" by Cake. This particular dance was both unexpected and exhilarating. The combination of gymnastic choreography and O'Connell's gallant stage presence was anything but delicate.

Noctu was refreshing. It was honest. De Gallai described it as an "exploration of the possibilities of Irish dance," and it was exactly that. From the contemporary soundtrack to the interculturally influenced choreography, Noctu strips Irish dance of its stuffy reputation. Yet, somehow, de Gallai's creation was in ways more traditional and representative of Irish dance than its famous step dance show predecessors.

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Up & Over It debuts new video, shows darker side of hand-dance craze

After a whirlwind year of press tours, dancing on nationally televised talent shows and appearing in a McDonald's commercial, the team from Up & Over It has delivered to the Web world another cheeky YouTube video that marks an end to the hand-dance era.

About a year ago, the Up & Over It crew -- comprising dancers Peter Harding and Suzanne Cleary, and video producer Jonny Reed -- posted its now famous "We No Speak Americano" hand-dance video on YouTube. The stone-faced dancers caught the attention of the world, and they were pitched into sudden stardom after the video became a viral hit.

In their new video "Hands," the crew references the previous year, "explores the sensationalism of Internet hype and reflects on their struggle to balance commercial success with artistic integrity," according to a statement provided by the group.

While the original intent of producing "We No Speak Americano" was to break the Irish dance mold set by shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, the dancers found themselves "cornered" creatively.

“Our message has always been that professional Irish dance can be many things. It can be more than just a museum piece about the famine, more than Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, and it can be more than hand dancing,” Cleary said.

The new video, performed to the track "Hands" by the Ting Tings, marks the end of the hand-dance era for Up & Over It -- for a while at least, Harding said, adding, "the TV appearances and perceived commercial success are great, but we don’t want our work to just be consumed passively. We want to carry on contributing to Irish dance’s evolvement and its relevance in the
broader dance landscape.”

The dark imagery in "Hands," paired with the beat-up appearance of Harding and Cleary, illustrates the emotions the dancers have toward the popular view of Irish dance. Reed called these disgruntled, disheveled characters a "comment on the endless amount of carbon-copy Irish dance shows that are out there," adding that Cleary and Harding often turn to these characters when they feel like pigeon-holed, abused professional show dancers.

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Friday, August 26, 2011

Reel Swing puts a jazzy spin on traditional Irish dance

While Irish dance is evolving with each passing day, one dancer-choreographer is bringing Irish dance back a handful of decades and exploring a pivotal period in Irish-American history.

Reel Swing, choreographed and directed by Dervla McGee, is a throwback to America in the 1950s, told through the lens of the Irish immigrants who brought with them to the states a love of lively music and rhythmic dance, and a willingness to embrace cultural fusion in a new country.

The choice to highlight the swing era was easy for McGee, whose grandfather was a diehard Rat Pack fan. She was intrigued by the "looseness" of swing music, paired with the rigid movement in Irish dance. But Reel Swing, she said, "celebrates and showcases both traditions in their own right as well as creating a unique fusion of both genres."

Having toured with Riverdance and Ragus, McGee said Reel Swing is a much smaller-scale production, and that's intentional. "The intimacy and energy of the show, together with the sincerity of the storyline, allows the audience to sympathize, engage and perhaps identify with the various characters as the show unfolds," she said. And unlike the established shows with which she's toured, McGee sought to introduce a fluid call-and-answer element to Reel Swing -- a style of performance she didn't know she was capable of dancing or choreographing until studying Irish dance and music at the University of Limerick.

Upon entering the university program, McGee said guest instructor Colin Dunne helped her try new movements and approach Irish dance in an out-of-the-box manner. "I had to loosen up, to shake the feis dancing out of me," she said. "He gave me the confidence to let my feet to what I thought I couldn't do." That sort of encouragement spurred a curiosity in McGee that led her to turn a class project into a bull-blown dance show.

McGee plans to continue developing and tweaking Reel Swing while performing for audiences in Dublin and Dundalk, her hometown in Ireland. If all goes as planned and all the financial pieces fall into place, she'd like to take the show on the road -- maybe even over the pond to New York, the epicenter of America's swingin' past.

Wan to learn more about Reel Swing? Visit the show's Facebook page and enjoy the promo video below.

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Sneaky Steppers channel Banksy in new YouTube video

Ambush Irish dancers the Sneaky Steppers are back to their stealth ways with a brand new YouTube video -- a Banksy tribute video that packs a double dose of street art.

Banksy, the notorious graffiti artist who's known for using stencils and spray paint to create satirical artwork, has been an inspiration for the men of the Sneaky Steppers, so it was only a matter of time before they'd use Banksy's works as the backdrop for a video.

"His guerilla-style street art and enigmatic presence have been some of the main forces behind the ideas we have had with Sneaky Steppers and Hammerstep," said Sneaky Steppers co-founder Jason Oremus. "Banksy ambushes the public through art. We are trying to do that through dance, so it seemed fitting that we give him a shout-out. Banksy, if you're reading this, we're coming for you."

It's not just ambush art that the Sneaky Steppers and Banksy have in common; Both Banksy and Sneaky Steppers co-founder Chris Naish hail from Bristol, England. Creativity must be in the water over there.

For more info on Sneaky Steppers, a Hammerstep initiative, follow them on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Feis at the Falls attracts champion dancers and first-time feisers

The Feis at the Falls, held Saturday in the historic Old Falls section of Niagara Falls, NY, has rapidly become a go-to feis for newbie dancers and elite-level champs alike. An all-star lineup of judges and musicians, friendly volunteers and a comfortable venue contributed to an overall jovial group of feis-goers of all ages and levels.

This year, the feis hosted the George Sweetnam Memorial Trophy, the ultra prestigious annual competition open to dancers younger than 13 who've placed first in the open championship level in the last calendar year. The worthy winner of "the belt" was Petri dancer Melanie Valdes. Her articulate toes must've mesmerized the panel of five judges -- I was personally impressed by the precision of her footwork and the complicated syncopated rhythms being battered out by her small frame during her set round.

"The belt" attracted plenty of top-tier dancers from across North America -- that's for sure -- but the feis also drew a brand new crew of Irish dancers. "First-time feisers" took to the stage early in the competition day for a feis debut of sorts. Nine adorable -- and extraordinarily talented! -- little tykes skipped and hopped two steps of the reel with a little help from Rince na Tiara's Mary Kay Heneghan, ADCRG. After winning over the hearts of just about everyone in the audience, the tiny dancers each received a special medal and a complementary mini-subscription to Feis America Magazine.

For a list of results from the feis, visit FeisWeb.com. There will be plenty of photos from the feis in an upcoming issue of Feis America.

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Beoga's "How to Tune a Fish" released worldwide this week

Part of the allure of Irish dance is the strong sense of cultural tradition -- the idea that our sets and ceili dances have been passed on for generations, and we dance to the same tunes as our ancestors. But, man, those tunes get a little tired after a while. With that said, we like to liven things up on occasion with fresh, fun, lively music. And for that, many Irish dancers turn to the musical stylings of Beoga!

Beoga -- gaelic for “lively” -- is a favorite band among Irish dancers because its members have a knack for meshing traditional jigs, reels, hornpipes and slip jigs with modern influences. This week, dancers and trad music fans alike rejoice: the band’s brand new album “How to Tune a Fish” was released worldwide and is available for purchase online, and it’s sure to get toes tapping, hands clapping and -- dare I say -- hips swaying?

“One of the tracks has sort of a hip hop beat, believe it or not,” multi-instrumentalist Seán Óg Graham said of the last song on the album.

For Beoga fans, this sort of statement doesn’t come as a surprise. The band -- comprising Graham (mentioned above), accordionist Damian McKee, pianist Liam Bradley, bodhrán master Eamon Murray and vocalist-fiddler Niamh Dunne -- has a reputation for adding a little something exciting to each album, a nod to different musical eras and modern pop music.

You might even hear a little Michael Jackson in the new album -- really! “We’ve taken some of his riffs and put them next to what Seán Óg’s composed,” Dunne said, explaining that the band had additional freedoms while recording “How to Tune a Fish” because of unlimited recording time and studio space.

“I inherited a house last year and basically turned the whole thing into a recording studio,” Graham said. “We had the chance to do it all ourselves.” For a couple months, band members took to different rooms to record, with Murray even laying down some drum tracks in the bathroom.

Dunne, who expressed a love for vaudeville music, said that she had the opportunity to throw a Tin Pan Alley spin on some of the tracks. There’s also a undeniable Americana sound to “Home Cookin’,” which borrows a country twang that lends itself nicely to traditional Irish album, seeing as country music is rooted deeply in Celtic music traditions.

“Overall, this is probably my favorite album. The pieces that were chosen all sit nicely together,” Dunne said. “We hope people would like it.”

Listen to samples from “How to Tune a Fish” below, and buy the complete album on the band's website or iTunes. Like the modern sound but looking for more traditional dance tracks? Check out some of the Irish dance albums by Beoga band members McKee and Bradley, two beloved musicians in the feis circuit.

How to tune a fish (clips) by beoga

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Poodle Sock It to Me: Irish dance hosiery regulations and origins

A few years ago, the Irish dance scene was buzzing over a proposed hosiery mandate that would force ladies aged 18 and older to wear black tights in competition, banning adult ladies from feising in the standard white poodle sock. The call to prohibit the popular mid-calf white quilted socks among mature dancers was dismissed, but the discussion opened up a whole can of worms regarding dancers’ footwear.

When it comes down to it, there is no standard sock rule in the An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha list of regulations. The only related entry deals with the density of tights worn by dancers. It states:

“Where tights are worn, they must be of a denier of not less than 70.”

There’s no other mention of sock style or color, so how did the popular white poodle sock become the stocking of choice for CLRG dancers -- and dancers of other organizations, for that matter -- around the world?

“Presumably, they thought of it in Ireland, and it spread like wildfire over here,” Brian Sexton, ADCRG, suggested.

Sexton is one of the few dance teachers who’s taken advantage of vague sock rule wording. For 25 years, dancers from his New Jersey school have been dancing in “lemony yellow” poodle socks in competition and for shows. His thought behind dyeing white socks yellow is simple: yellow socks match the yellow uniform blouse. “That is the costume,” Sexton said. “This is standard.”

The popular poodle sock wasn’t always the standard style, though. Dr. John Cullinane, author of Irish dance history books including “Irish Dancing Costumes, Their Origins and Evolution,” asserts that the white ankle sock was the go-to dance sock before the poodle variety emerged on the scene.

“Socks are nearly always white and tights are nearly always black but by choice and not by legislations.”

Just as Sexton chose to put yellow socks on his dancers, a few other dance teachers have made colored tights part of the uniform. The Claddagh Dance Company of California turned heads when its ceili team captured the gold medal in burgundy stockings at the 2009 World Irish Dancing Championships.

And while some teachers and judges aren’t too keen on the idea of experimental sock hues and non-black tights, Sexton isn’t fazed by a touch of color on the feet. “I think we’re supposed to be judging the dancing,” he said.

Have you spotted any colorful hosiery at a feis or major competition? I’d love to see how other dance schools have interpreted the footwear regulations established by CLRG. And non-CLRG dancers and teachers, do you have more strict rules on socks and tights? Email me, or leave a comment below.

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