Stepping into comparison

Hey Readers,

   Back again. But instead of more facts about the culture, tradition and heritage we have been researching, I want to go further to explain the differences between Irish step dancing and Irish River dancing. These differences are small and sometimes over looked.   However, they are important for people who come from an Irish culture.

   The main difference between the two forms of dance is the style of the performance. If you can recall from our previous posts about history and the origin of Irish Riverdance, it was an intermission piece. It was something to entertain the audience while sets or costumes were changed. This led to a more ‘Showy’ type of dance compared to a strict step formal dance. One aspect of the differences was the music. As Rachael had just discussed, the music differences between the two dances is a small difference. Nevertheless, just like she said, this troupe embellished the older authentic Irish songs to add more drama and enthusiasm to the performance.

   Now Readers, and classmates, there has been debate since the 1994 showcase of the Riverdance that it has changed the view of Traditional Irish dance. An article from Honors College of Western Kentucky University stated that because of exploring the new modern side of the Irish dance, it has changed how viewers see Irish dance, both River Dance and Step dance. The article also references many evolutionary changes the traditional dances have gone through to become what they are today. From ‘The Masters’ traveling to teach the youth about the dance, as well as the accomplishments of the tradition in the aspect of growth, Irish Step Dance is evolving into a modern version of the classic dance. The one main section of the research from this book that I enjoyed the most was that the authors gave the focus to the Irish step dance as the heritage of Riverdance!  They complimented how Riverdance took off, but it was to grow globally to give light to the tradition of the Irish.

Web. 15 Apr. 2015.<http://digitalcommon.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1241&context=stu_hon_these>.

Also check out our awesome classmates blog directly involved with Irish step dancing to get a better understanding of the difference in history! Their link is attached below!

 Irish Step Dance