PERFORMED IDENTITY: A Case Study in Irish Dance

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Irish dance is not so much an expression of embodied Irishness, a celebration, or display of cultural nationalism, which is attributed to it by outsiders as it is a way of life that makes sense of our ontological relationship with the world. This chapter argues that reluctance to include the Irish step dance on certain platforms (e.g., Western concert dance platforms) combined with the hegemony of Irish dance competitions has created rigid boundaries around what is considered proper form and forestalls the development of a critical space in which Irish dancers and choreographers are able to use their chosen medium to speak to contemporary social issues. This chapter uses the author’s life history within dance—from his initial enculturation at a local village school through his international success with Riverdance and his pioneering new company Ériu—to critique the ethnocentric marginalization of traditional dance and postulate potential paths forward.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to the Anthropology of Performance
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages267-285
Number of pages19
ISBN (Electronic)9781000907902
ISBN (Print)9781032381855
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

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