Informative Speech On Irish Dancing

“Treble up down, treble up down, tip step slide cut 2 3.

Hop back, heal cut, hop rock 2 3, step click 2 3.”

Cormac O’Shea shouted as we danced in waves across the hard floor in front of the floor to ceiling mirror at the front of the studio. Our hard shoes would thunder steadily to the beat of the music as my dance friends and I worked hard to get our Hornpipe perfect. Irish dancing is fast paced and very invigorating. I danced for seven years at O’Shea Irish Dance and every day felt proud of the tradition and history I represented.

Irish Dance has changed greatly from the original practitioners due to the migration of people from many other cultures. The first practitioners were the Druids who danced religious rituals honoring the oak tree

A leader would sing while surrounded by a circle of. dancers who would sing back in reply (“The History”1). For century’s Irish dancing had been a peasant dance done in the villages to celebrate community gatherings and family events. Until the seventeenth century, when Queen Elizabeth I received a letter from Sir Henry Sydney describing the beautiful dance he saw (“The History”1). The Queen invited dancers to perform to her court. This created a new drive for people to start dancing, and in the early eighteenth century formed the Irish dancing we know

Cormac O’Shea, originally from Dublin, Ireland, was one of the original Riverdance performers and toured for eight years before starting his school in St. Paul, Minnesota. I developed a great appreciation for the rich tradition of Irish Dance and its history through Cormac. The history of Irish dancing dates back to the first century and stages of its evolution are present today in the dance steps, the role of the dance master, and the costume. I felt proud when I wore my royal blue school dress with the gold embroidered Celtic O on the chest, as we were admired by all. I felt proud to represent Cormac and my Irish