Taken from Issue 001 of The Irish Dance Globe. Purchase any remaining copies here while stocks last.
If you were to ask someone to describe to you what Irish dancing looks like, they’d likely launch into a cringe-worthy demonstration of aimless leg flailing while maintaining an excessively stiff upper body. Their hearts are probably in the right place, but every Irish dancer knows that there’s so much more to it than poker straight arms and windmill legs. So, what does modern Irish dance actually look like?
One of the most thrilling aspects of Irish dance is that it is an ever-evolving art form, allowing freedom to break away from constraints more than other dance traditions. We don’t even have a universal language or vocabulary for most of our moves, as they are always changing.
When we look back at the foundations, old styles of Irish dance were much looser, more flowy, and focused on traditional footwork above athleticism. Revisiting archival videos from as early as the 1920s and ’30s, the dancing was closer to the ground with lots of gentle hopping. Moving ahead into the ’60s to ’80s, steps became more intricate, full of rhythm and footwork. But even from then onwards until the present day, Irish dance has changed rapidly.
In videos from the ’90s, you can see the foundations of some of our modern movements. Common moves in soft shoe included crosskeys, rocks, double knee hops, overs, and ankle twists and flicks. Clicks and overs were also performed with gently straightened but not locked knees. Hard shoe dances, meanwhile, were rhythmic, full of trebles and drums, meaning much of the technical focus was on timing. Feet were only gently turned out and crossed, and there was less emphasis on using the whole stage than there was on flowing smoothly between movements.
“We don’t even have a universal language or vocabulary for most of our moves, as they are always changing”
In contrast, in modern Irish dance, every movement is exaggerated to the extreme. Dancers strive close to 180-degree turnout and to have feet completely overcrossed to the point where the back knee is not visible. Legs are locked straight, and dancers aim to use the entirety of the stage, while jumps and kicks should be as high as possible. Where kicks were once slightly higher than parallel to the floor, dancers now aim to lift right up to their faces. Hard shoe dances are also less exclusively rhythm-focused and include more jumps and complex toe work.
There has also been an enormous growth in new trendy moves that come and go over the years. Many of these are modernised forms of traditional movements. For example, when it comes to jumps or overs — a staple of any Irish soft shoe dance — these were once performed with knees slightly bent. Then, during the 2000s, the emphasis on “freezing” took over. As we moved into the 2010s, many dancers began performing overs with the back leg flicking out in front rather than freezing. That evolved into the birdie, or essentially an over without switching legs.
When we look at hard shoe dances, a noticeable difference is that they include much more toe work than in previous decades, with complicated tricks and landings. Where dancers once only had toe work integrated sparingly, they are now doing toe work in many different variations, from holding toes on one foot, spinning on the toes, moving across the stage on toes, and even landing jumps on toes. Dances in hard shoe, as a result, have far more gaps in rhythm where toe work is present.
“With seemingly endless choreographic possibilities, anticipating where Irish dance will go next is exciting”
Additionally, there have been various moves that have come and gone over the years. Some that were popular in the noughties into the 2010s that we don’t see so much now, included double bent knee-style jumps (sometimes called “stag” jumps), alligators (or cabrioles), bicycles or bunny hops, runs across the stage, and birdie jumps performed while spinning, sometimes with the back leg doing a double hop. The “reverse over” also gained popularity around 2015/2016, but is seen less frequently now. These moves are not obsolete, but they are certainly performed less than they once were.
Over the past few years, many more new moves have emerged, including incorporating intentionally uncrossed moves such as points, drums, flicks, stamps, and even trebles done off to the side. Wider, split-style jumps have grown in popularity, in a similar way to how entrechats have become more exaggerated. Ankle flicking or rolling movements are also popular in both rounds. In hard shoe, many set dances include pauses or gaps in the rhythm, adding a sense of exaggerated sharpness and power, along with creative rhythm sequences.
With seemingly endless choreographic possibilities, anticipating where Irish dance will go next is exciting. Many people have strong opinions on what style they prefer, and Irish dancing is certainly not immune to debates relating to tradition versus modernity. But regardless of personal preference, Irish dance requires a lot of skill — whether it’s the highly rhythmic pieces and intricate footwork, or the explosivity in the execution. One thing is for certain, though, Irish dancing has never been as powerful, athletic, and exhilarating as it is right now.
