As Shannon explained in her last post, Riverdance debuted as a short modernized duet by Jean Butler and Michael Flatley on Irish television in April of 1994. The duo used the traditional techniques of Irish step dancing to create large choreographed works that emphasized heavy, synchronized line-dancing and dance drama- what is now known as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. There has been Irish step dancing in the United States for more than 200 years- coinciding with the first significant emigration of Irish people to America in the eighteenth century. You may, like me, be wondering how Riverdance became so successful and popular when Irish dance had already been around for so long. What makes Riverdance different? Do we think of Riverdance as traditional Irish dance, when in reality it is merely an Americanized imitation of Irish dance? Let's find out..
As I was researching the history and origin of Riverdance, I found it interesting that while Riverdance draws upon techniques of tradition Irish step dance, traditional Irish music and dress, the innovations reflected in the shows were actually honed in the United States by American-born dancers fluent in traditional step dancing technique (i.e., Flately and Butler).
But let's look at Irish dance in America before Riverdance...
The earliest known reference to Irish dance occurs in Philadelphia in 1789 when dance master John Durang demonstrated a reel, jig, and hornpipe, which are types of traditional solo Irish step dances. Barney Williams, a native of Cork, Ireland, was known for performing jigs on and off stages across American in the 1840s. During the late 1890s, a time known as the Gaelic Revival, important dancing schools were established in Boston by Tim Harrington, in New York by James McKenna and Tommy Hill, in Chicago by John McNamara and James Coleman, and in San Francisco by William Healy. These men were all immigrants from Munster, a place in Ireland that was known for its traveling dance masters in the nineteenth century.
By 1914, Irish cultural festivals, called "feiseanna" or a "feis", were held in four American cities. Step dancers would compete against each other at these festivals, which were open to the public. Tommy Hill was the undefeated champion in all the American men's competitions- who had emigrated from Cork in 1911. By the twenty-first century, there were at least 190 feiseanna held every year in thirty states, plus five Canadian provinces.
Between 1890 and the 1950s, the traditional style of step dancing from Munster dominated in North America. Meanwhile in Ireland, a new style of step dancing from Ulster in northern Ireland began to become very popular. This style of step dance used a slower pace that allowed for more complicated steps and more graceful- almost balletic movement of the legs and feet. Irish-American step dancers saw the new style in performances by the Anna McCoy School from Belfast and Mae Butler's students in Toronto. Eventually, this new style replaced the old Cork-Kerry style. Teachers Peter and Cyril McNiff, (who emigrated as teenagers in 1948) had dancers who were regularly featured on many popular national television programs. It was the showcase of the McNiff dancers that was called "the first recognition" of "Irish dancing as a viable entertainment commodity". By the 1960s and 1970s, the new Belfast-Derry style was pretty much the only style taught to a new generation of Irish Americans.
Pretty interesting, right?? And there's still about another 24 years until Riverdance is created! Stay tunes, I will continue to explain the history in my next post, as well as some interesting information on the music and costumes!
Rachael Loeb
Lee, Joseph, and Casey, Marion R., eds. Making the Irish American : History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States. New York, NY, USA: New York University Press (NYU Press), 2006. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 2 April 2015.
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