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 language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Routledge Companion to the Anthropology of Performance |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 267-285 |
Number of pages | 19 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781000907902 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781032381855 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2023 |