Dance is Music

Áilín Quinlan talks to the new generation of dancers leading the sean-nós comeback

available here

Irish Independent
Saturday October 29 2011
By Ailin Quinlan

Emma O’Sullivan is pretty blasé about what she does for a living, considering it involves dancing in frying pans and on the tops of barrels.

Once considered the province of hoary oul’ fellas in hobnailed boots, sean-nós dancing might appear to be an unusual profession for a modern 24-year-old.

However, this globetrotting Connemara woman — currently on tour in America — has made a successful international career of performing a dance that was once dismissed as the poor rural relation of the flamboyant step-dancing tradition.

But now, after generations of virtual obscurity, sean-nós, which looks a bit like tap-dancing, and was traditionally male-dominated and confined to the rural west of Ireland, has come spectacularly into its own.

“Years ago, it was associated with old men dancing on stone flags. Sean-nós is sexy now, and young people are involved along with the older generation,” explains Dr Catherine Foley, director of both the MA course in Irish Traditional Dance Performance and the MA in Ethnochoreology at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.

“The age profile has really opened up. Sean-nós has become increasingly popular since the 1990s,” she said.

“In the past few years, it has become a big craze from the age of 12 upwards. It’s extraordinary seeing children perform in public to packed halls,” she added.

Further proof of its popularity, says Dr Foley, is that there’s not a vacant seat in the house at Oireachtas sean-nós competitions — Oireachtas na Samhna, which takes place in Killarney from November 1-6, is a mecca for lovers and performers of traditional arts of all kinds.

And if further evidence was required, then Emma O’Sullivan, who first took up sean-nós at an evening class in 2005, fits the bill perfectly.

She’s one of a whole new generation of highly polished dancers who have hauled the skill from the back shelves of the cultural scene.

To date, she has performed in Australia, China, Russia, America and the Philippines. In between, she teaches sean-nós here, following what’s widely acknowledged to be a massive resurgence of interest in Irish dance on the back of the ‘Riverdance’ phenomenon.

“Public interest in sean-nós was a by-product of ‘Riverdance’ — people were intrigued by ‘Riverdance’ and sean-nós was very, very different,” explains Dr Foley.

Suddenly, people were interested in this unassuming but skilled and very old dance, which was traditionally performed to the accompaniment of a fiddle or melodeon.

“For many years it had been associated with men and, while there were some women, the majority of dancers would have been male. They danced very close to the floor and the timing was important, as was the sound that they made with their feet.

“Sean-nós dancing is a solo, improvisational and percussive dance form that doesn’t take up much space,” she says.

“Some would have worn ordinary shoes, others hobnailed boots or tacks on the soles of their feet to make the noise. We believe it originated in the 18th or 19th century, though there are no precise dates.”

Something that also increased the dance’s public appeal, Dr Foley says, was TG4’s decision to broadcast Oireachtas sean-nós competitions live.

The revival can also be attributed to a newfound nostalgia for the past, according to Emma O’Sullivan, who won the All-Ireland Sean-Nós dancing title at Oireachtas na Samhna 2009 and became a household name following her appearances on the All-Ireland Talent Show last year.

“Retro is cool at the moment,” she says.

Her own steps are so neat that she can comfortably perform inside a 14in frying pan as well as on top of barrels.

“That’s why Imelda May is so popular. If you want to see how trendy the past is these days, just look at the likes of Imelda May who has her 1950s-style quiffs and is out there singing rockabilly! Sean-nós is perceived as cool because it is from the past. There’s a big interest in retro.

“The biggest crowd that comes down to the Oireachtas festival are young teenagers and college students. Young people like myself are doing this dance and performing in concerts.

“They see us and they say, ‘That’s not some old guy doing it in a pub’ — it’s young men or women and they’re performing around the globe, from Australia to China and America,” Emma adds.

Invitations to festivals and workshops all over the world arrive in a constant stream at the home of primary-school teacher Edwina Guckian.

“Twelve or 13 years ago, nobody outside Connemara or the gaeltacht areas knew much about sean-nós — now even people who aren’t interested in dancing know about it,” says Ms Guckian, who started sean-nós aged six.

“It’s been re-discovered. It’s cheaper than step dancing — there are no big costumes or wigs — and you can wear anything and hop up to dance. It’s definitely become more trendy,” Ms Guckian says, pointing out that her classes feature almost as many boys as girls.

And, she says, she teaches all ages, from toddlers to pensioners.

“I dance on barrels and I do sean-nós around a sweeping brush,” she says. “We try to dance on the smallest things possible — from a tree stump to a frying pan. I have even danced on a dartboard and on the bar of a pub!

“I travel a lot with sean-nós,” she continues.”I’ve been to Australia, America and all over Europe and Ireland. So far, the only place I’ve not been to is China. I get invited to festivals all over the world to perform and to teach.”

It’s expected that more than 10,000 Irish speakers will flock to the 114th Oireachtas na Samhna festival.

The finals will be broadcast live on TG4, while, for the first time ever, the competition will have its own TV station, Oireachtas TV. Highlights this year include a tribute to the late composer Seán ó Riada.

For more information, visit www.antoireachtas.ie