Irish Dance: A Tradition of Innovation
“Irish Dance: A Tradition of Innovation is a compelling and thought-provoking introduction to the subject. It is a valuable reference work for Irish dancers, teachers and scholars as well as for readers interested in this often overlooked aspect of Irish culture. — J’aime Morrison, California State University-Northridge
COMING IN 2012
Irish dance has long been a curiously neglected subject within the field of Dance Studies. It has most often been consigned to the status of “folk dance” and dismissed from serious consideration despite the fact that it is a choreographed form. Recent and successful stage spectacles, such as Riverdance, have sparked the need for a critical reappraisal. Irish Dance: A Tradition of Innovation provides a much-needed introductory text for this complex art form.
Irish Dance traces the development of the dance tradition from the originary work of eighteenth-century dance masters and turn-of-the-century nationalist salvage efforts to the innovations of contemporary choreographers. Particular attention is paid to performer training in an ethnographic analysis of the institution of the scoil rince, or dancing school. The three primary performance contexts of Irish dancing--competitive, theatrical, and social--are explored in terms of convention and audience. Lastly, the book looks at the fascinating dynamics of change in a dance genre as it evolves from a national to a global performance practice.
Dáithí Ó Mír is a Research Fellow in Dance Studies at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He is a registered teacher of Irish dance (T.C.R.G.) with the Irish Dancing Commission, Dublin.
January 2012
144 pp. 6x9
32 b/w photos
ISBN 978-0-9814924-3-8 Paper $24.95
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