Celtic Dances

Celtic Dances

There aren't many written testimonies on the origins of Celtic dances, but it seems that they were practiced by Druids for religious purposes. The first vestiges date back to the XVI century. Celtic dances had a life full of ups and downs, because in some historical periods they were badly viewed, most of all by the Church, that tried to ban them. They spread in Great Britain, America, Australia and New Zeeland in XIX century, because of the emigration caused by the scarcity of potatoes, that hit Ireland from 1845 to 1849. In these last few years Celtic Dances also had success in Italy, Sweden and Germany.

The “most Irish” dances are the ceili, but we also have the  “set dance” and the “step dance”, which were both born from the union of French and Scottish cultures. This dynamics of this dance is generally the following: many couples dance simultaneously, placed in a ring or along the corners of a square. 
Continue...