Celtic Dancers
Celtic Dance
The Celtic Dancers have been a part of the Society since its inception. As members of the Society, we appear at events throughout central Illinois. Our performances range from simple ½ hour demonstrations to more complex hour-long sessions. Our troupe of 80 dancers entertain people of all ages and encompasses dancers of all ages, too! Some of our littlest dancers tie on their ghillies (Celtic dance shoes) as early as age 2 while some of our “more seasoned” dancers tie on their first pair of ghillies at age 40!!
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Scottish Highland Dance
Dating back to before recorded history, the Highland Dances of Scotland were originally highly athletic male dances of triumph, joy, and other reflections of emotion. Competitive Highland dancing as we know it began during the revival of interest in Highland culture during the 19th century. Women first began competing at the turn of the century. Highland dances require both athletic and artistic skill and are danced both informally and in competition.
In competition, dancers are judged on three elements: timing, technique and general deportment. Timing is the dancers ability to follow the rythum of the music. Technique concerns the dancers footwork and the coordination of head, arms and hands. Good positioning of the feet is most important. General Deportment concerns the dancers interpretation and ability to capture the spirit and motif of the dance and includes balance, overall appearance, bearing and carriage of the head, arms, body and hands. Upright posture is essential, and the dancers must ehibit a happy demeanor. Although the dances are very athletic, they must be danced with seeming ease, with no signs of strain and free of elaborate showiness. For competitive purposes, each dancer is ranked according to one of five groups: Primary, under 7 years of age; Beginner until winning 6 different contests; Novice, until winning 6 more competitions; Advanced Intermediate, for one year from date of last Novice competition; and the big leagues, Open or Premiere. There are age classifications in each group.
In competition, dancers are judged on three elements: timing, technique and general deportment. Timing is the dancers ability to follow the rythum of the music. Technique concerns the dancers footwork and the coordination of head, arms and hands. Good positioning of the feet is most important. General Deportment concerns the dancers interpretation and ability to capture the spirit and motif of the dance and includes balance, overall appearance, bearing and carriage of the head, arms, body and hands. Upright posture is essential, and the dancers must ehibit a happy demeanor. Although the dances are very athletic, they must be danced with seeming ease, with no signs of strain and free of elaborate showiness. For competitive purposes, each dancer is ranked according to one of five groups: Primary, under 7 years of age; Beginner until winning 6 different contests; Novice, until winning 6 more competitions; Advanced Intermediate, for one year from date of last Novice competition; and the big leagues, Open or Premiere. There are age classifications in each group.
Irish Dance
Iriish dance has a long and varied history dating to before 400 A.D. The dances as we know them began with the group dances introduced by ‘Dancing Masters’ who began appearing throughout Ireland in the 18th century. These masters were easy to spot as they wore outrageously colorful clothes and carried tall staffs. Using straw or hay to help their students figure out which foot to use as so few knew their left from their right, the masters taught in groups. They found that the students who were less, um, gifted enjoyed it more this way and stayed interested longer. Each dance master had his own district and never would they encroach on another master’s territory. Neighboring parishes would even sometimes kidnap masters who they felt were better than their own. When meeting at fairs, dancing masters would challenge one another to public contests that did not end until one of them dropped from exhaustion.
This was the start of competitive Irish dance and the birth of the steps which would become the reels, jigs, hornpipes, sets and so on with which we are familiar today. It also upon the dress styles of that time period that today’s traditional Irish dance solo dresses are based. Traditionally far more males participated in Irish dance than females, something that has changed greatly. Another thing that has varied through the years is the stiff posturing of the arms which were not always held straight down at the dancer’s sides although that is now the popular method of positioning.
This was the start of competitive Irish dance and the birth of the steps which would become the reels, jigs, hornpipes, sets and so on with which we are familiar today. It also upon the dress styles of that time period that today’s traditional Irish dance solo dresses are based. Traditionally far more males participated in Irish dance than females, something that has changed greatly. Another thing that has varied through the years is the stiff posturing of the arms which were not always held straight down at the dancer’s sides although that is now the popular method of positioning.
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