Sean Nós Dancing By Sandra Bunting

Sean Nós dancing was familiar to me, the sight of arms flying and feet going. But until two years ago, I had never seen it here in Ireland and I have lived here for more than 16 years. The dancing I was more familiar with was step dancing made famous through the production of Riverdance with straight arms and backs, curled hair and fluorescent dresses. Another well-known type was the set dance, similar to square dancing, and done in groups. I was once pulled up by a strong middle-aged woman at a wedding and twirled so much I nearly fell over dizzy. I’m sure it all comes with practise. I have a great deal of admiration for both types but I was absolutely mesmerised by what by I thought was a new style. It turned out to be Sean Nós, or the old way. The looseness of it was a refreshing change.

Why hadn’t I seen any of this dancing before? Máire-Aine Ní Iarnáin from Connemara hung her sign for classes outside the Irish language cultural centre in Galway to teach Sean Nós dancing. Hoping to help revive the old style, she says it was dormant for a long time.

“There were only a few able to do it,” she said. “It was there in the background but there were no classes or anything.”

Old style dancing used to be performed at weddings or other special events such as American wakes for someone emigrating or St. Stephen’s Day. The old people used to do a couple of steps at those times. The tradition was to take down the famous half-door prevalent in Ireland of old, because the floors were often too uneven to dance on.

Not as controlled as step dancing, Sean Nós is loose and flexible with steps nearer to the ground. Instead of kicks and hops, there is more shuffling. Related to tap and the old sailor dances, it doesn’t require a lot off space. Some dancers were known to do it on a roof slate in a field. Thus dances carry names such as Dance on the Door or Dance on the Barrel.

The type of dance remained in Connemara and Kerry on the west coast of Ireland, just going on quietly for the last 30 to 40 years. The style varies in the two places. In Connemara, they dance low on the heels and in Kerry, they dance on the balls of their feet or on their toes. Kerry man Joe Donovan is known as Master of the Dance.

Maire-Aine started off doing step dancing, taking part in the Carraroe Parochial Feis and Oireachtas competitions. She discovered Sean Nós dancing almost by accident and took to it immediately, studying under Padraig i hOibicín.
As for her teaching, Maire-Aine says she’s had a great response from people from fifteen to sixty. It is a pleasant way to do exercise and students get fit during the course if they are not when they begin. There has been a lot of positive feedback.

“ There is more self-expression in this type of dancing,” she said. “When you have a few steps, you just can just do what comes naturally to you, make it up and use everything in your body to express yourself. Everyone develops a different style and interpretation of the steps."

Learning those steps is the hardest part. In class they are broken down to make them easier to pick up. Form is taught to get to know the music -reels, jigs, hornpipes- and there is lots of repetition in the beginning. After that students are encouraged to improvise. “Your personality shines through,” said Maire-Aine. Students also get an opportunity to dance at special concerts joining in with professionals.

In earlier days, it was mainly a dance for men. Now it is danced equally by both men and women but it is particularly good to see men expressing themselves through the dance.

And what of the future of Sean Nós Dancing? It looks like it is here to stay. It is already becoming a prominent part of the Oireachtas, or National Irish Dance Competitions. The spring of 2004 saw the first entry into the annual contemporary dance festival in Dublin. Máire-Aine Ní Iarnáin, Padraig O’hOibicín, and Joseph O’Naughton demonstrated Sean Nós Dancing as part of a world dance show. As it becomes more well-known, it is doubtful that it will disappear again.

“Every natural Sean Nós Dancer is a show off,” Maire-Aine said. And what a fortunate audience we are that they are!