Irish Dance has played a large role in defining my identity from a very early age. Not only does it serve as a connection to my Irish heritage, but it also serves as a connection between my mother and I since she has been my teacher since I was four years old. This is something that I have always cherished because dance is a common ground for us, regardless of other issues that may be happening in either one of our personal lives. Similarly, dance has also been one of the only constants in my life. Whenever I have had problems with family, friends, or school, I have turned to dance as an outlet through which to relieve my stress and be creative. Because of this, I consider Irish dance my passion and know that I want to be involved in it for
Irish Dancing provides physical benefits such as increased stamina, core strength, and general overall fitness. It will also improve balance, posture and coordination, as well as promote flexibility and increased muscle strength. Mental benefits include learning to listen, following directions and memory building. Irish Dancing also promotes self-confidence and self-esteem, while instilling a sense of good sportsmanship, both in winning and losing. In addition, Irish dancing provides the opportunity to learn teamwork and develop team spirit, as well as the importance of dedication, perseverance and good, healthy habits.
Cormac O’Shea, originally from Dublin, Ireland, was one of the original Riverdance performers and toured for eight years before starting his school in St. Paul, Minnesota. I developed a great appreciation for the rich tradition of Irish Dance and its history through Cormac. The history of Irish dancing dates back to the first century and stages of its evolution are present today in the dance steps, the role of the dance master, and the costume. I felt proud when I wore my royal blue school dress with the gold embroidered Celtic O on the chest, as we were admired by all. I felt proud to represent Cormac and my Irish
New Dance is described as a developing art form; this dance was articulated in the early 20th century. According to Chapter 8 in History of Dance book, “the new dance emerged as a response to the ballet that populated the variety shows and music halls, which had a rigid formula of steps and poses” (Kassing). The New Dance was a product of several strands that interlaced together dancers’ studies and backgrounds; these strands and others were woven together in a historical, political, and societal framework. For instance, one strand of New Dance consisted of the concepts, techniques, costumes, and stage settings from around the world. These strands influenced major dancers and choreographers, such as, Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn.
I have been dancing since the age of four. I started my intense training with Tanju and Patricia Tuzer, Debra Bale, and Linda Brown at Tuzer Ballet. I developed as a dancer, attending every summer intensive performing in every show, advancing from intermediate to apprentice to junior company and finally to senior company. The dance studio became my second home. I took classes in ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, tap, jazz, lyrical jazz, theatrical movement, hip-hop, zumba, and African-Ballet, pointe, contemporary, and lyrical jazz being my favorites. Even w...
The seven minute long interval act during Dublin’s Eurovision’s Song Contest introduced not only Riverdance but all Irish dance forms to the public eye. The past twenty-two years have seen the Irish dance world rise and evolve dramatically. A traditional art form once enriched in culture and discipline has been renovated into today’s era where competitiveness is at its height. The debate lies whether this evolution has been for better or for worse. The rise of Irish Diaspora in the past two decades has seen an impact on style of dance, appearance, employment opportunities as well as the development of Irish national identity and fame. It is argued that Irish dance, as a consequence, has lost some of its valued principles including discipline,
“The Dancer’s gift” is a love story between a young man and woman, Marcel and Samantha. But this novel was written not only to call feelings about love and passion; the main goal was to introduce students to sociological concepts. Overall, the book includes more than 180 sociological terms that flow with the story and closely connected to happening events. Marcel, a black man, arrives from Martinique (an island in the Caribbean Sea), and Samantha, a rich American girl, meet each other in college and fall in love. Both of them face obstacles in their lives: Marcel was grown up in a poor extended but a friendly family, while Samantha was a daughter of rich but divorced parents. Marcel comes to the U.S. to become a professional dancer, while Sam decided to become an attorney at law just like her father. Being lovers they decide to spend their Christmas holidays together and go to New York. Next holidays they go to Marcel’s homeland, Martinique, where they realize that there lives a woman who is pregnant by him. At that time all dreams of Sam just collapse due to this bitter disappointment, which becomes one of the reasons why they break up. Throughout the story, they both meet with numerous social issues such as education, marriage, gender issue, racism, deviance, divorce, religion, race and ethnicity. In this essay, the three main reasons why this novel is an effective tool for learning sociological concepts will be discussed.
Dance is more than time, Space, and energy. People have this perceived connotation that dance is just visual art depicted from movements in the body. This is true that dance is a form of visual entertainment, but when looking at the sociocultural lens, dance has far more reasoning. Whether these reasons were to free oneself from oppression, or creating a community where one felt safe, social dance was a way for people to express emotion and create identity. As social dance evolved, these different cultural identities were exposed to one another.
While completing this week’s readings on dance, religion, and the nation, one thing in particular stood out: misogyny. In the excerpt of The Unprintable Life of Ida Craddock and “Dance is (Not) Religion: The Struggle for Authority in Indian Affairs,” Leigh Eric Schmidt and Tisa Wenger, respectively, address the way in which sexism persecuted those who participated in religious dance, which were primarily women, and the ways in which the sexualization and racialization of dance made it inappropriate as a religious practice. Women were both persecuted for participating, like Ida Craddock, and used as a justification for the prohibition of dance, particularly in Native American “custom” ceremonies.
Irish dance is known all around the world for its music, style, and costumes. What once started as a cultural folkloric dance has now turned into a worldwide phenomenon because of many contextual factors on the three defining characteristics. In this paper I will attempt to show how the Gaelic League, An Coimisiún, and Riverdance influenced and changed the posture, movement, and appearance of the dance form. The story of Irish dance thus far is one of a constant changing dance that reflects the influences around it. Each of the changes in the style, costuming, and meaning of the dance has molded it into the globally accepted and loved dance form seen today.
“Hey girl, what are you doing?” “Girl, I’m practicing on this dance. I been dancing and training for hours and hours, I am exhausted. “Although it is not a proven Fact, many people do not consider dancing as a sport, yet serious competitive dancers undergo the same amount of training as competitive athletes in regular sports. This paper will prove that dancing is and can be accounted as a competitive sport. Various opinions have been made due to the weather people think dancing can or cannot be accounted as a sport. In my research paper I am for and do think that dancing is considered as a competitive sport. The interesting idea about dance that I've came across is that it can be many things to many people. Is it a sport? Yes, it can be. Same as Golf can be considered a sport simply because it is a competition. Many Ballroom dancers compete, as well as dance teams in High School and Colleges across the nation. Is it an art form? Absolutely, some people paint on canvas and it last many years, and some people use space as their canvas, and their bodies are the paintbrush making their art more fragile and more fleeting than a painting could ever be. Dancing can also be used as a tool for political statements, a voice for those who move in such a way to express their joys or sorrows. Can dance be taught as a new skill? Yes, reasons being is because dance can be taught just as any other sport can be taught as a skill. Dancing and other sports are very different but similar as well. Dance is widely recognized as a holistic workout, providing for an exercise regime that satisfies the heart as well as the sole. Going much beyond the physical aspects of toning muscles as well as improving agility and cardiovascular fitness, dance offers on...
As a child I've always loved ballet from afar; there was just a grace about ballerinas that I too wanted to have. It took me a while to understand that dancing makes me feel amazing. Dancing would prove to be my pinnacle form of expression and the ultimate way to embrace freedom with all of me. Thus, taking this ballet class seemed like the smartest way to pleasantly incorporate dance into my busy economics ruled schedule. I thought I would be nervous on the first day, but I would find myself excited and eager.
Next, Absera plays six songs that she thinks would be best for this year dance once and asks the students to remember which one is there favorite. While Absera is playing the music the students are either on their phone or watching the screen. After playing each song once, she asks the students to come up to her one by one and tell her which song they favor the most. After everyone takes their own turn, the majority favored Hamsa Goma, Tembien, and Amanuel Girmay. Absera next explains that with this year theme will be “Road to Identity”.
The Northern Territory is known for its culturally diverse population and some would say it is the ‘multicultural hub’ of Australia. With all of these cultures comes distinctive customs and traditions. Throughout history dance has been used to help people develop a sense of identity, the younger generations are also taught social patterns and values through the different dances. The significance of these traditional dances was to reinforce and celebrate cultural law and practices including the celebration of the passage from child to adulthood or spiritual worship. The predominantly Western culture in Australia often causes minority groups to struggle for recognition regarding their beliefs and traditions. This is parallel to the Australian dance industry, where many cultural dance groups feel they have to justify who they are and are often
Dancing is a form of art that allows many children to express themselves through body motion while developing many skills. Children throughout the world have been dancing since the day they began walking. When a child to take their first steps and puts together the simplest combination of movements, that would be considered as dancing. Music also plays a major role in the development of children understanding dance, because it is can be used as an accompaniment, and can help children get a better feel for the rhythm in dances. Over the past century educators have come to the conclusion that dance serves as a form of art, and should be taught in public schools and colleges to help the growth in children of all ages both physically, mentally, and academically.
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”