Not Another History Podcast
We are Cindy and Katie, and every two weeks we bring you a random theme and offer several of our favorite historical events loosely based on that theme. We are basically just living out our old lady fantasies of rocking on the front porch together, drinking, and gossiping about people who are already dead. Music: The Life of a Divorced Bumblebee by Josef Bel Habib (www.epidemicsound.com). Design: canva.com
Not Another History Podcast
10 Lords a Leaping
In honor of the holiday season, we are re-releasing our 12 Days of Christmas special! For the next 12 days, we will re-release one episode a day, each one with our own spin on the classic holiday theme, "The 12 Days of Christmas."
Cindy briefly shares the history of Irish dance.
on the 10th day of christmas, my true love gave to me 10 lords a leaping. So obviously katie, the, and obviously Katie, the very first thing that leapt into my mind was Michael Flatley, aka Lord of the Dance. Lord of the Dance, yes. So Michael Flatley led me down, not personally, just emotionally. He led me down a rabbit hole of Irish dance videos on YouTube. And here we are videos on YouTube. And here we are. So Irish dance, katie, as we know it, aka, like Michael Flatley, riverdance. This is the result of thousands of years of migration and invasion. Every time people migrated or invaded the area that we now know as Ireland, they brought with them their dance and music. Some of the very first practitioners of Irish dance were the Druids, who danced in religious rituals that honored the sun and oak trees. That's from my research. Oak trees was very specific.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, they love their oak trees, that is for certain.
Speaker 1:Sun and oak trees, nothing else. So when the Celts arrived from Central Europe more than 2000 years ago, they brought their own folk dances with them. Around 400 AD you have Christian priests incorporating pagan rituals into their practices, as well as peasants developing their own folk dances. Then of course, there was the Anglo-Norman conquest in the 12th century, which of course brought Norman customs and culture to Ireland, including their own dance and music. During the mid-16th century, dances were performed in the great halls of the newly built castles. Some of the dances were adapted by the 16th century English invaders and brought to the court of Queen Elizabeth, which one Katie Everyone's favorite, the OG.
Speaker 1:The OG, and this of course, included the forerunner of the present day. Real Irish dancing was accompanied by music played on the bagpipes and the harp. In the houses of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, the master often joined with servants in some of the dances. Dancing was also performed during wakes. The mourners would follow each other around the coffin Dancing to bagpipe music.
Speaker 2:Wait, they would literally dance around the coffin.
Speaker 1:They literally would dance circles around the dead person. Katie, yes, oh my. It was during the 18th century, however, that the dancing master appeared in Ireland. In Ireland, the dancing master Katie, was a wandering dancing teacher who would travel from village to village in a district teaching dance to peasants. Dance masters were pretty flamboyant characters and they would wear bright clothes and they actually carried staffs with them, so that you knew they meant business.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, cindy, I'm just picturing like a very foppish man literally going from village to village. Who wants to dance? You want to dance? Get on the dance floor.
Speaker 1:He bangs his staff on the ground. Yeah, you.
Speaker 2:And then everyone starts dancing and they can't stop. It's a little bit of Pied Piper, a little bit of, you know, dancing plague combined.
Speaker 1:When dance masters ran into each other at fairs, they would challenge each other to public dancing contests. That only ended Katie, when one of them dropped from exhaustion so literal dance battles. Exactly Dance dance revolution. Exactly Dance dance revolution. That's incredible. So here's the thing Each dance master had his own district and he would never interfere on another dance master's territory. However, occasionally a dance master would be kidnapped by residents of a neighboring village would they?
Speaker 2:they kidnap them because they wanted they. They wanted like you're so good, I want you, I need to have you dance like oh, I didn't know if it was that or if it was like like in high school, when you steal the other town's mascot they shove him in a locker like we don't, we don't know you're a dance master, so he shows up at the next football game.
Speaker 1:It's like let me out, although it does sort of give a new meaning to dance moms, right yeah Pictures. The TV show Dance Moms, dance Masters.
Speaker 2:I would watch the hell out of that reality show If they were to wander from town to town teaching people how to dance and they had to watch out for roving bands of rival dance masters. Oh my God, cindy, we have the next blockbuster show slash movie.
Speaker 1:You have to get this copyrighted right now, Katie.
Speaker 2:Right now. I'm doing it right now.
Speaker 1:If you've ever seen Riverdance, you'll know that there's different kinds of dances that are performed. There's solo dancers, there's partner partner dances and there's group dances. So group dances were actually developed by dance masters to hold the interests of less talented students and to give them a chance to have fun. So basically, people like me I appreciate your humbleness.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that solo dancers, on the other hand, were held in very high esteem, so much so that doors were actually taken off of hinges and placed on the ground for these solo dancers to perform on. I guess because they didn't want them performing like on dirt, like they had to have like their own nice clean dancers to perform on. I guess because they didn't want them performing on dirt. They had to have their own nice, clean place to perform. The various types of Irish dances were developed and modified over the centuries. If you attend an Irish dance nowadays called a fesh I believe it's called Hold on, I'm looking it up A fesh, a fesh, yeah, I was right. So the various types of Irish dances were developed and modified over the centuries. If you attend an Irish dance nowadays called a fesh, you'll see jigs, reels, hornpipes, sets, half sets, pocas and step dances. So that's kind of like a little brief history of Irish dance, katie. Now obviously I have to give you a few fun facts about Michael Flatley, the lord of the dance.
Speaker 2:I would be disappointed, my Christmas would be ruined, if you didn't. So thank you, cindy. You're welcome For indulging me.
Speaker 1:Fact number one Michael Flatley is a native of Southside Chicago. No, he's not. Yes, he is. He is not from Ireland, which was a shock to me.
Speaker 2:Because I've never heard him talk. You know what I haven't either. I haven't either. When I think about it, I imagine it, I imagine it. I just give him an Irish brogue.
Speaker 1:He's from Chicago and he also is an Irish rogue. No, he's from Chicago. He's from Chicago and he also is an amateur boxer. Oh, he was when he was a teenager. Quick on his feet then right, Speaking of quick on his feet, did you know? In May 1989, Flatley set a Guinness Book World Record for tapping speed at 28 taps per second world record for tapping speed at 28 taps per second. And then he went on to break his own record in 1998 with 35 taps per second.
Speaker 2:Does he still maintain it to this day or has he been out tapped?
Speaker 1:oh, katie, how have I not? Let's look up, let's look up my uh guinness book of world records fastest tap. He's also a master flautist and he has his own Guinness Book of World Records.
Speaker 2:Fastest tap.
Speaker 1:He's also a master flautist and he has his own album, his own fluting album, called On a Different Note. Oh yeah, I think he still holds it. Yeah, he still holds it. Wow, I did not know that Michael Flatley was. So oh, oh, oh, what, oh flatley rival taps into controversy over fastest feet. Claim james divine devine.
Speaker 2:He's scottish I think they need to have a tap off. Tap off tap off, tap off, tap off, tap off. So, michael Flatley, if you happen to listen to this podcast, we demand a tap off.
Speaker 1:Your honor is at stake and we'll give you a Not Another History podcast sticker.
Speaker 2:Yes, In 1991, michael Flatley was the youngest person to be named one of National Geographic Society's living treasures for mastery of a traditional art form by a living person. He's like right up there with, like, the remains of Petra, like that's something. And that, katie, is the brief history of Irish dance. That was fantastic. I'm giving you a little jig of approval, cindy, I'm so happy. Thank you.