|
|
|
Bill Lynch, editor of Set Dancing News, describes set dancing as ... a form of social dancing which has been popular in Ireland for over 150 years. Sets are danced by four couples in a square, and usually consist of three to six figures with a short pause between each. They are descended from the French quadrilles, which were brought to Ireland by the British army in the nineteenth century. Irish dancers adapted the figures to their own music and steps to form dances with great drive and enjoyment. After a period of decline in the fifties and sixties, sets are very popular today in Ireland and in Irish communities throughout the world..
He wrote a very informative paper, The joy of sets, as he says ... to explain set dancing to people who are unfamiliar with it and to encourage them to give it at try.
There are many good on-line resources for set-dancing available. Here I will report only on the sets covered in the classes that I followed in my dancing history. Sets that I encountered before they were covered in these classes such as in ceili's or other events, are described on other pages and can be reached through the hyperlinks that I provide in the class reports. I report only when something new was introduced, thus skipping over most rehearsals. Click on the images below to see what has been covered.
|
|
