PECentral’sDanceLessonIdeaoftheMonth

NameofActivity:CelebratingSt.Patrick’sDaywithDance

PurposeofActivity:StudentswilllearnadancepatternbasedonIrishstepdancemovementsaswellasinformationconcerningthecountryofIrelandandthehistoryofSt.Patrick’sDay.

SuggestedGradeLevel:4‐12

MaterialsNeeded:Irishmusic.ThemusiccanbepurchasedfromiTunes:Morrison’sJigbyTheIrish

Experience.Itcanbepurchasedfor$0.99.Putthesongnamein“searchstore”button.

Anticipatoryset:

FamousFactsofIreland:(http://www.realirishfood‐recipes.com/famous‐facts‐of‐Ireland.html)

Dr.PatO'CallaghanwonIreland'sfirsteverOlympicgoldmedalasanindependentnation;hewonhisgoldinthehammereventin1928inAmsterdam.

FourIrishpeoplehavewontheNobelPrizeforLiterature:WilliamButlerYeats,GeorgeBernardShaw,SamuelBeckett,SeamusHeaney.

Ireland’smascot,ofcourse,istheLeprechaun.TheLeprechaunisanIrishfairywhoisasmall,short

(about2feettall)oldman.Heisdressedlikeashoemaker,withacockedhatandaleatherapron.Healsohaspointedearsandacoatofgreen.Accordingtolegends,Leprechaunsareratherunsociable,preferringtobeleftalonetomaketheirshoes.Itisalsothoughtthatthesewhimsicalcreaturespossess

ahiddenpotofgold!SotreasurehuntersarealwayslookingforLeprechaunsbylisteningforthesoundoftheshoemakers’hammers.

Ireland’smagicnumberis3,hencetheshamrocksymbol.TheIrishbelievethateverythinggoodcomes

in3s:faith,hopeandcharity;sky,earth,andunderworld,past,presentandfuture.EvenwhenstorytellingtheIrishtraditionistouse3adjectives.ThismakesbothintensificationandexaggerationalwaysapartofagoodIrishstory!

TypesofIrishDances:IrishdancesareknownasReels,Jigs,Slips,LightJigsandSingleJigs.Allofthese

typesofdancesareknownas“softshoe”dances.HardShoedanceincludesdancesknownasHornpipe,HardJig,andTrebleReel.Today,jigs,reels,hornpipes,sets,halfsets,polkasandstepdancesareallperformed.Solodancingorstepdancingfirstappearedattheendoftheeighteenthcentury.

ThehugesuccessoftheRiverdanceandLordoftheDancehasplacedIrishdanceontheinternationalstage.DancingschoolsinIrelandtodayarefilledwithyoungpupilskeentoimitateandlearnthesedancingstyles.

HistoryofSt.Patrick’sDay:

St.Patrick’sDay,celebratedeachyearonMarch17,isanIrishholidaycelebratedaroundtheworld.It

honorsthepatronsaintofIreland,St.Patrick,whoisoneofthemostcelebratedreligiousfiguresaroundtheworld.Hewasbornin385AD.Whenhewas16hewascapturedandsoldintoslavery.Heescapedwhenhewas22andlivedinamonasteryfor12years.

St.Patrickusedtheshamrock(whichhas3leavesoneachstem)toexplainaboutGodandtheTrinity.

AnothertalesaysthatSt.PatrickdrovethesnakesfromIrelandbystandinguponahillandusingawood

stafftodrivetheserpentsintothesea,foreverbanishingthemfromIreland.AlthoughIrelandhasnosnakes,thisstoryisprobablynomorethanametaphorforbringingChristianitytoIrelandanddrivingoutthepaganreligions.

St.Patrick’sDayiscelebratedwithalargeparadeinDublin,Ireland.ItisalsocelebratedintheUnited

States.NewYorkhostsoneofthelargestSt.Patrick’sDayparadesintheworld.ChicagoevendyestheChicagoRivergreenonSt.Patrick’sDay.

YoungIrishdancersdressedintraditionalcostumes.

http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/293754/288/Young‐traditional‐folk‐dancers‐at‐a‐street‐festival‐in‐Dublin

MapofIreland CoastlineofIreland

http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/293754/61327/

http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/293754/100114/Aerial‐view‐of‐Irelands‐coastline

TheIrishStepCombination–Thedifferentcombinationsdescribedbelowcanbeusedinanyorderand

repeatedanynumberoftimes.Astheyarewrittenthecombinationswillendwiththeslowerportionofthejigmusic.

Asthesongbeginsholdfor2setsof8.

1‐8 TouchRtoedown(1),steponRfoot(2),TouchLtoedown(3),steponLfoot(4)RepeatRLforcounts5‐8

1‐8 TouchRtoedown(1),steponRfoot(2),TouchLtoedown(3),steponLfoot(4),TouchRtoe

down(5)steponRfoot(6)StompL(7),StompR(8)

Whenmusicbegins:

1‐4 HopR(1),stepLtoL(2),crossRoverL(3),stepL(4)

5‐8 HopL(5),stepRtoR(6),crossLoverR(7)stepR(8)

Repeatthe8counts

1‐8 HopR(1),stepLfootbehindR(2),HopL(3),stepRfootbehindL(4),HopR(5),stepLfootbehindR(6)stepRLR(7&8)–(Aneasierversionwouldbetodoa4thhop‐stepinsteadoftheRLRsteps.)

1‐8 HopR(1),stepLinfrontofR(2),HopL(3),stepRfootinfrontofL(4),HopR(5),stepLinfront

ofR(6),stepLRL(7&8)–(Aneasierversionwouldbetodoa4thhop‐stepinsteadoftheLRLsteps.)

Repeatbothsetsof8.

1‐4 StepLtotheL(1),stepRnexttoL(2),stepLtothesideand(3)hopL(4)

5‐8 StepRtotheR(5),stepLnexttoR(6),stepRtotheside(7)andhopL(8)

Repeatbothsetsof8

1‐8 (HoppingonRfootwitheachmovement)PointLtoetoLside(1),bringLfootupinfrontofshin(2),pointLtoetoLside(3),bringfootbehindcalf(4),pointLtoetoLside(5),bringLfootupinfrontofshin(6),stepL(7),stepRbehindL(&),stepLnexttoR(8)

Reversetheabovecombination.

1‐4 HoppingontheRfootkickfront(1),side(2),front(3)stepL(4).

5‐8 HoppingontheLfootkickfront(5),side(6),front(7),stepR(8)

Repeattheabovecombination.

Beginwiththefirst2setsof8toe‐steps.

RepeattheentiredancebeginningwithahopontheLfootandperformingthecombinationsonthe

oppositeside.

Attheendofthiscombinationthemusicgetsmuchfasterandthestudentscanbechallengedtorepeatthecombinationatanevenfasterpace.

Variations:Thiscombinationcanbedonewithapartner.Thepartnerscanfaceoneanotherwiththedancersmirroringoneanother.Itcanalsobedoneinacirclewitheveryotherpersonmovingeither

towardsthemiddleofthecircleorawayfromthecenterofthecircleduringthehopfrontandbackstepsandtheopeningtoe‐steps.Ifthedanceisdoneinlinesthestudentscanalsomoveinopposite

directionsduringthetoe‐stepcountsandchangelinepositions.

Assessment:StudentscanbeaskedtoresearchthecostumesofIrishdancelookingforhistoricalinfluencesonthecostumes.Olderstudentscanbeaskedtoconstructandteachanoriginal8countforthedance.