Last night, after settling into Galway with a delicious private dinner we embarked upon one of my favorite activities: dancing. After dinner we strolled by the riverway, which was littered with active and definitely inactive boats in order to make our way to the Galway Rovers Sports and Social Club. Located right at the end of the harbor and situated to the right of some beached vessels, the social club holds the famous Claddagh hall which was built in 1912. Claddagh hall sits in the historic Claddagh district that is well known around the world as a result of the Claddagh ring, symbolizing love, unity, commitment and loyalty. Our dance instructor Augustina was originally from Argentina but moved to Galway 10 years ago planning to only stay for a little while. She was essentially adopted by the Claddagh section of the city and found her way to teaching traditional Irish dance at Claddagh hall. She had trained in Irish dance all her life in Argentina and has brought it to other parts of the world. While she explained the history of Irish dance to us, she made sure to highlight the effect that Riverdance had on spreading Irish dance around the world. Choreographed originally by Michael Flately and Jean Butler for Eurovision in 1994, the dance has spread throughout the globe with classes taught in Brazil, Japan, Argentina, the United States, Spain and many more countries. The spread of Irish dance globally speaks to a larger point of the trip we have started to uncover, that Irish culture is more widespread than we originally thought.
Once she explained some of the history to all of us, we jumped into the dancing part. We started by learning some simple steps for the Céilí dance which is a traditional social dance historically used at parties as a way to meet a possible suitor. It was similar to other original social dances in which partners line up across from each other and the rhythm repeats enough times for the group to switch partners multiple times. Augustina was readily prepared for our varying experience levels and encouraged the dancers in the room to try adding a jump to the rhythm steps. We practiced a few times and then performed it to the real historical music that would have been played. Next up we learned Sean-nós which was a more informal style of Irish dance compared to Céilí dance. Sean-nós is usually performed solo, and became more of a household dance, practiced in kitchens and living rooms for entertainment. Unlike Céilí it was rarely used competitively and was simply made to keep culture alive and passed down to the next generation. For Sean-nós we were given brooms to use (this prompted much excitement from the group) which helped us further understand its roots in the household rather than the pub, or competition space. Sean-nós required some fast footwork and flexibility as you had to pass the broom between your legs while jumping over it, so brooms were dropping and falling apart but there was plenty of laughter throughout the room. Sean-nós helped our group realize how difficult Irish dancing truly is, and the level of coordination it requires that we perhaps unfortunately lacked. We did a little competition for those who wanted to perform it again, and unfortunately I did drop my broom, but ultimately Sean-nós prompted plenty of joy from our group so it accomplished its goal. Our final dance we learned was the riverdance which was choreographed more recently than the other two. It requires plenty of attitude as the actual steps are quite simple. In order to make it look impressive we had to put on our best stage presence.. Evidently not an easy goal to accomplish for this group of brand new Irish steppers but we put our best foot forward to try. We had one practice round with her where we learned each of the three parts, starting with a forward section similar to ballet changements, transitioning to moving backward and doing two circles around ourselves and then the grand finale of four chassés forward, two stomps, with a dramatic ending with the arm flared. Then it was time to perform for the last time. Mr. Kelly made sure to get it on video, and then we had completed our Irish dance class. There was some time for questions at the end where we inquired about the reasons for the stiff upper body in Irish dance. Augustina was incredibly knowledgeable and solved our curiosities by explaining that the footwork is so complicated it would be impossible to add in the arms. She also pointed out some of the legend that as a result of British colonization and the attempted forced removal of Irish dance the dancers kept their upper body stiff in order to avoid detection by British soldiers patrolling pubs from the outside. Augustina wasn’t too sure about this theory, but it did tie in with other aspects of our trip when we learned about British oppression of the Irish people.
Due to my passion for dance I was already extraordinarily excited for the class especially since I had never attempted Irish dance. I felt right at home in the studio and Augustina laughingly pointed out a few times that I was always ready to start with my right foot pointed. It was super fun to watch everyone relax and dive right into something new. I was really proud of our group for buying in with a good attitude, and I think we all enjoyed letting loose for a little bit.