Historically, the Irish have been known to be a bit lively at the first thud of a bodhran, and why wouldn’t we be? Music is in our blood (metaphor, calm down) and perhaps our attempts at dancing can be more of an Athlone Stumble than a Vienna Waltz but we won’t miss an opportunity to bop to the beat and make a general eejit of ourselves. Whether it be to the Macarena, the ketchup song (dear god how I wish I could ‘Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’ that out of my life) or even a good song, we’ve all had a bit of a boogie on the dance floors of this island (whether we have wanted to or not).
We all do it.
Before the days of Flo rida and Niki Minaj, music was considered melodic, unique and even enjoyable. Even more shockingly; there is clear evidence that men and women used to dance… together. In fact cave drawings in North Clare suggest that this was considered the norm. It seems that men would approach a suitable young lady and ask them out to dance on the dance floor. Evidence suggests that they decided which young lady to ask to dance by their smile, their laugh, the rosiness of their cheeks and most importantly, child-bearing potential. In fact, in many establishments there was a limit to how small a woman's hips and thighs could be and many women would often be denied access to infamously wild parish dances if they were too small. This gave rise to the layering of skirts to bulk out a lady figure known as 'immense draping', or fake ID.
'Mary, I forgot my fake ID!
Although many of these rules and traditions are still alive and well in many parts of the West, the rest of Ireland has put these archaic practices to bed. Nowadays there is a much stronger focus on the importance of alcohol consumption before any dancing can occur at all. Not unlike car fuel, alcohol is needed to power the young person to ‘get groovy’ and once their supply of fuel is empty, they must stop dancing and re-fuel. The intellectuals of the club scene are often seen dancing with a drink in each hand. No doubt their time-saving cunning and brainpower will have impressed many a suitor for the smart young gentleman or lady.
Coppers circa 2009...
Of course, a few jäger-baums are not the only ingredients for success on the dance floors of Ireland. All this drink must be topped off with a coat of Jive (Irish shtyle)! Jive- that dance with enough twirling to give a woman a mild case of vertigo. That's right, the style of dance we see at every wedding. Couples in their fifties dancing for two hours straight without making eye contact with each other. Fun times! Unlike the show bands of the sixties and seventies, jiving is still alive and well in Ireland and as we are all well aware is compulsory whenever 'I useta lover' by the Saw doctors is played.
'I have fallen for another she can ma..' Quick, to the bar!]]>
