WITH BRITTON HEADDEN

Irish dancing has its roots deep in the Emerald Isle. Long ago, the Celts and Druids dancers would gather at festivals and religious assemblies. Music and singing naturally accompanied the dancing, and the tradition remains, though evolved, thousands of years later.

 

The Gaelic League was founded in 1893 to preserve aspects of Irish heritage and culture. Competitive Irish dancing sprung up from that in 1930 when the league launched the Irish Dancing Commission, which organized lessons, rules and competitions.

 

There are three main types of Irish dancing routines: Set dancing routines, social or “céilí” routines and “sean nós” or step routines. Irish dancing is accompanied by music; the most common instruments used include the harp, bagpipe, violin, bodhran, tin whistle, concertina and even singing. Ornate costumes can be found in Irish dancing, but the standard for male dancers includes a shirt, vest and tie with dark pants, while female dancers wear dresses. Each Irish dancing school has its own uniform.

 

One of the best places to see Irish dancing is in a competition. The formal criteria for judging Irish dancing are timing, appearance, execution and carriage. Execution is the critical factor evaluated by a dancer’s technique and the sounds made from their shoes. Contests have rigid criteria for qualifications, and both dancers and teachers can be extremely competitive. Scoring at these competitions can be done by one, three, five or up to seven adjudicators. The judges’ individual scores are ranked, and points are distributed accordingly to ensure outliers do not unfairly affect the rankings.

 

There are several Irish dancing schools in and around Nashville that offer events and classes for all ages. Music City Feis is a championship held each year in the fall. Notably, Nashville Irish Step Dancers have performed worldwide in both performances and competitions. Their performance, “Celtic Rhythms On Fire,” has been featured on local and national platforms such as “Talk of the Town” on News Channel 5 and the Grand Ole Opry. Additionally, Nashville Irish step dancers were featured on “Down the Old Plank Road,” which included performances by Ricky Skaggs, Martina McBride and Allison Kraus at the Ryman Auditorium. “Celtic Rhythms On Fire” recently made an appearance at the Williamson County Performing Arts Center.

 

Irish dancing can be exciting, competitive and fun to watch. So, keep an eye out for events near you and have a happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Britton Headden

Keeping Score

Britton Headden is a born-and-raised Franklin local and Broker/Owner of Headden Home Real Estate. Britton has a lifetime love of basketball and other sports, including playing and coaching experience on all levels elementary through college.