A Wiener World presentation.
Hi, my name is Colin Dunne and I've been dancing for as long as I can remember.
In fact this little fella here is me when I was two years old taking my first dancing steps in Ireland with my two sisters.
I think I've come a long way since then and meanwhile Irish dancing has grown internationally as I've seen through my trips to the States and to Canada, to Australia, New Zealand and all over Europe.
So now I want you to take your first steps with me but before we do that I just want you to see what you can do if you really practice these steps hard.
A Wiener World presentation.
Okay well that was some pretty tricky stuff there but today I'm going to break down a few routines for you and show you piece by piece what we should be doing.
Now just a few things about Irish dancing before we start.
The first thing that most people notice is that the arms are normally held down by the side.
Don't hold them down rigidly when you're dancing, just hold them loosely down, relax the upper part of the body, enjoy it.
The other important thing is that the feet should be turned out so the heels are facing in with the toes pointing out.
The majority of moves that we do, one foot is crossed in front of the other like that.
Right so the first routine that I'm going to break down for you is a basic reel and it's a basic reel in soft shoe, any shoe with a soft sole.
Okay now a reel is in 4-4 time signature.
So I've brought along Alan here who's going to play 8 bars of real music for you just so that you can get the feel of things before you start.
Okay so after 8, 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Great stuff, thanks.
I've also got the Celtic Feet Dance Company here behind me who are going to be helping me demonstrate the steps to you.
Okay so we're all set, we're going to start with our first routine and with our first very basic step.
So let's start with the arms down by the side, heels together and the feet turned out.
Okay and before we start I want you to point your right toe out in front of you with your knee straight down to the floor.
Right we're going to pick the right leg up in front and then we're going to hop over onto the right leg like so.
Place the left leg down in front and the right leg down behind.
And then we're going to repeat that on the left leg. Pick the left leg up, hop over onto the left leg, place the right foot down in front and the left foot behind.
Okay now we repeat that again. Up, hop over to the right, down with the left, back with the right.
Up with the left again, hop over to the left, down to the right, down to the left.
Now we're going to do that eight times, that's our first very basic step. So let's try that to some music.
After eight, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight, two, three. Great stuff, thanks.
The next step we're going to do, again we start with the right foot forward.
I want you to pick the right leg up and hop on the left leg at the back. Place the right foot down to the side and the left foot in behind.
Again we repeat that movement, hop up with the right leg, put the right foot out in front and place the left foot behind.
Now the next movement is called a sidestep movement and it's similar to what we've just done, except we're going to step seven times on alternative feet.
So I'm going to go hop up, right, left, right, left, right, left.
So we're standing here with the weight of our body on the left leg, now I'm going to hop over to my right leg and point the left toe out at the same time.
Hop point and then repeat that to move to the other leg, hop point and point again to the left leg.
Now hop back on your right leg and place the left foot behind, hop back, step the right leg out in front, the left leg behind
and then we're going to do two point hop backs like we've just done to hop over onto the left leg, to the right leg
and then hop the left leg back and put the right leg behind, hop back behind, like so.
After we've done that we're then going to do the same set of movements but starting on the left leg.
So I'll do that slowly for you now, okay, ready?
Hop, two, three, hop, two, three, hop, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Hop point, hop point, hop point, hop back, two, three, step point and point, hop back.
Okay, let's try that to some music after eight. Five, six, seven, eight.
Left leg.
Okay, for the third and final step of this short routine, again we're going to start with the right leg out in front,
step on the right leg in front, pivot round to the side and place the left leg in front.
Place the right leg to the back, step the left leg out in front and pivot round to the front with the right leg coming down in front again
with the left foot coming down at the back.
Now we're going to repeat the side step movement that we did in the last step.
So all together, hop, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Now we're going to step in front with the right leg and then step behind with the back leg, step up.
Now we're going to bring the right leg all the way back whilst hopping on the left leg.
Hop back and placing the right leg down behind.
And then we're going to do the same, hopping on the right leg and bringing the left leg back.
Hop back, placing the left leg down behind.
Place the right leg down in front again, the left foot to the back.
And then we're going to change feet by jumping up and bringing the right leg back and bringing the two feet down together.
Jump.
And then we're going to do point hop back by hopping onto the left leg and pointing with the right leg
and then bring your right leg back.
Okay, and as with the other step, we also do that step again, starting on the left leg first.
Okay, let's try and put all that routine together.
We're going to do 8, 1, 2, 3's first of all.
We're going to do the first step that we learnt, then the next step that we've just learnt
and then finish off with 8, 1, 2, 3's again.
Okay, so after 8, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Hop on the right leg. And now the left leg.
And now the turn.
8, 1, 2, 3's.
Okay, so that's our first basic routine done.
Now when you learn some of the more trickier movements from the following two routines that I'm going to show you,
you can always use that routine as a warm-up.
Now the next routine again is going to be done to a real-time music,
but this time we're going to do it in heavy or hard shoes which have a tip on the front
and heels here which are made of plastic which we can also hit together to make some noise with, like so.
Now the basic movement in this treble reel or this hard shoe reel that we're going to be doing
is similar to a shuffle hop back that we might use in tap dancing or something like that.
So it might be familiar to some of you.
So we're going to start by placing the left foot down behind and then tapping out with the right foot,
tapping back with the right foot, hopping up on the left foot and placing the right foot down.
Tap out with the left, tap back with the left, hop back and place the left foot down.
And again, let's repeat that. Tap out, tap back, hop back and down.
Once you've mastered that, try and build up some speed on it.
And stop.
Now I'm just going to try some of that particular movement to some music now for eight bars.
So after eight, five, six, seven, eight.
Music
Okay, great. Once you've mastered that, we're ready to start with our first step.
So we're going to start the first step by stamping the right foot in front,
followed by six shuffle hop backs, stamping the right foot in front again
and placing the left foot down behind. So let's try that all together.
Stamp one, two, three, four, five, six, backstamp step.
Good. Now we're going to repeat that again.
So after three, one, two, three, stamp one, two, three, four, five, six, backstamp step.
Excellent.
Right, now for the next step, again we're going to start by stamping the right foot in front,
followed by seven shuffle hop backs. So let's try that together.
One, two, three, stamp one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, back.
Now we repeat that again by stamping on the left foot first and again doing seven shuffle hop backs.
One, two, three.
Okay. Now for the next step, we're moving on to the third step now.
We're going to put two jump back two threes,
and you remember you learnt them in the third step that we did in the basic reel before.
So we're going to jump back with the right leg and two feet down together.
Now we step forward on the left leg and behind with the right leg.
Now we repeat all that by jumping back on the left leg first.
Jump back, place the right leg in front and the left leg behind.
Now we stamp in front with the right leg again, followed by three shuffle hop backs.
Stamp one, two, three, back.
Now we repeat those last movements by starting with the jump back on the left leg.
So we go jump, step, up, jump, step, up, stamp, travel.
Great. That's the third step done.
So now we're ready to do our fourth step.
And after we've done this step we're going to put all the steps together
so we can see how they fit together to some music.
So again we're going to start by stamping the right foot in front
and doing a shuffle hop back on the right foot.
So stamp, shuffle, hop, back.
Now the next piece might be quite tricky.
We step forward on the left foot, step forward on the right foot,
then we hop back onto the left foot whilst doing a cup movement
with the right leg in front like this.
It's simpler than it sounds and then stamp in front.
Ready?
Now we do a shuffle hop back with the right leg, followed by a bang on the left.
And then a shuffle hop back on the left leg.
Now we're going to do the side step movement
which if you remember we did in the second step that we learnt in the basic reel.
So altogether we go hop, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Now we follow through with a stamp in front again with the right leg
and a shuffle hop back on the right leg.
Bang, shuffle, hop, back.
And repeat that by stamping on the left leg in front with a shuffle back behind.
Stamp, shuffle, hop, back.
OK, great, let's try those four steps with some music then.
OK, after eight, five, six, seven, eight.
Altogether we go stamp, stamp, toe, hop down, shuffle and shuffle hop back.
Now again we repeat the stamp, stamp, toe, hop down movement
starting with the right leg.
Stamp, toe, hop down.
Followed by a shuffle hop back on the left leg.
And then we do a stamp with the right leg and we put the left foot stamp beside it.
So we go shuffle hop back, stamp, stamp.
Followed by a shuffle hop back on the right.
Shuffle hop back.
Followed by a stamp in front with the left and a shuffle hop back on the left.
Stamp, shuffle, hop, back.
OK, so I think it would be useful maybe to put that step together to the music now
so we can see how it fits together.
OK, so after eight, five, six, seven, eight.
OK, thank you.
So the next step we're going to do, I'm just going to teach it to the two guys
and then I'm going to be bringing the ladies back a bit later on to do some special steps with them.
So the ladies could just step back for a minute.
OK, and I'll start the step with the guys.
So we're going to start with a stamp in front with the right foot
followed by a shuffle hop back on the right foot.
So we go altogether, stamp, shuffle, hop, back.
Now we repeat that by stamping on the left foot first.
Stamp, shuffle, hop, back.
Now we do a stamp in front with the right leg followed by three shuffle hop backs.
Stamp, shuffle, back, shuffle, back, shuffle, hop, back.
Now the next movement is called a slide.
I've got the weight of my body on the right foot.
I'm going to transfer it to the left foot and place my heel out to the side in front of me.
So I'll show you.
We hop over to the left, place the heel out to the side
and drag the left foot in behind and place it down behind.
Then I'm going to repeat that by doing it on the left leg.
I'm going to step over onto the right foot, place the left heel out.
So I step over, place the left heel out, drag the right foot in
and place the right foot behind.
So let's try that together.
One, two, three, go.
Hop, slide, down, hop, slide, down.
Now I'm going to stamp in front with the left foot followed by three shuffle hop backs.
Altogether, stamp, shuffle, back, shuffle, back, shuffle, hop, back.
Okay, good.
Now I'm going to bring the ladies back to do some steps with them.
So the gents can step back.
Okay, so the first step I'm going to do are the ladies.
Now this step has a movement which we call a zigzag movement in it.
If we stand up, first of all, if I just show you the movement,
if we stand up on the balls of your feet with your feet together,
I'm going to swing my heels out and then swing them back in.
So I swing them out and then back in.
So you just need to stand and practice this movement maybe in front of a mirror at home.
Okay, it's not that difficult once you get used to it.
So we're going to start that step first of all with the two feet together.
We jump up in the air with the two feet together
and then we follow that through with six zigzag movements.
So if we just watch carefully, it's jump, one, two, three, four, five, six.
So let's try that together.
Jump, one, two, three, four, five, six.
Now I'm going to swing the heels out again
and then click the heels twice together like this.
Out, click, click.
So let's try that together.
Out, click, click.
Now I step back on the left foot, stamp with the right foot in front,
followed through with a shuffle hop back on the right foot.
Let's try that all together.
Step, bang, shuffle hop, back.
So now we have the left leg in front.
We're going to jump up as we did before with the right leg,
followed through like this.
We're going to jump up, swing the heels out and click the heels twice together.
So let's try that together.
One, two, three, go.
Jump, out, click, click.
Now we go in and out and click the heels twice together again.
So all together.
In, out, click, click.
We go in and out again and just click the heel once.
In, out, click, out, click.
Put the heels down to the floor
and then we step on the right foot and do shuffle hop back with the left.
Step, shuffle hop, back.
OK, now we're going to try and put the guy step together
with the girls following on after that.
So after eight, five, six, seven, eight.
MUSIC PLAYS
OK, good.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
OK, so the next step again is going to be one just for the ladies.
OK, so it's going to start like this.
We're going to step up with the right,
hop with the right, down, down, shuffle hop back.
So let's try that together.
Step up, hop down, shuffle hop back.
Now we repeat that by stepping out on the left leg.
We'll try that all together.
Step up, hop down, shuffle hop back.
OK, now we step up, hop down, up, hop down.
So let's try that together.
Step up, hop down, up, hop down.
Then we do a shuffle hop back on the right foot with the stamp on the left.
Shuffle hop, back, stamp.
And then we finish off with a shuffle hop back on the left leg.
OK, so the last step we're going to do now for this routine
is for everybody to join in, so we're going to bring the lads back in.
OK, so I'm going to start by doing a shuffle hop back on the right leg
and holding my two feet together and then repeating that movement.
So it goes like this.
Step, shuffle hop, feet together, shuffle hop, feet together.
So let's try that.
One, two, three, go.
Shuffle hop, feet together, shuffle hop, feet together.
And then we follow that through with three shuffle hop backs
beginning on the right leg.
All together, shuffle back, shuffle back, shuffle hop, back.
Now, the next movement that we do is called a front click movement,
which is something similar to a scissor kick that you might do in a high jump.
That's the best way I can explain it.
So I'm going to step up with my left foot in front,
with my right leg going up first, and then the left leg following through.
And in the meantime, I'm trying to click my heels.
So it's fairly difficult, so it takes some time to practise it.
So if you just watch the movement, I step on the left, up.
OK.
Now I'm going to step behind on the right foot
and repeat that movement with the left leg going up first.
So I step behind and up.
OK, so let's try that together.
So we step forward on the left leg first.
One, two, three, go.
Step up, two, three, step up, two, three.
And then we finish with two shuffle hop backs.
First of all on the right leg and then on the left leg.
All together, shuffle back, shuffle hop, back.
And then finally with two stumps, first on the right foot
and then the left foot beside it.
All together, stomp, stomp.
OK, so that's all the steps broken down for you piece by piece.
And now we're going to put them all together
in a routine called Celtic Storm.
And we're going to be joined by the rest of the Celtic Feet Dance Company
to show you how it can be all put together.
OK, so let's do it.
OK, so let's do it.
OK, so let's do it.
OK, so let's do it.
OK, so that was the Celtic Storm routine you just saw there.
And I hope that eventually once you've practiced all those steps
you'll be able to put them all together like we just did there.
So the next routine that I'm going to go through,
and it's the final routine, is going to be a combination
of a slip jig rhythm dance, which I'm going to do with the ladies,
combine them with a double jig dance,
which I'm going to do with the guys later on,
and that dance will be in heavy shoes.
So first of all I'm going to go through the slip jig dance with the ladies,
which again is performed in soft shoe.
OK, and I'm going to get Alan to give you eight bars of a slip jig
so you can again get the feel of the music before you start.
OK, so six, seven, eight.
OK, thanks Alan. Right, we're ready to start.
Again, we're starting with the right foot in front and the left foot behind,
crossed over in front.
OK, now we're going to step up, step in front, step behind,
hop in front, hop behind and place the right foot down behind.
OK, so let's try that.
One, two, three, go. Step up, hop, hop down.
Then we repeat that movement by stepping out first of all on the left leg.
So all together, step up, hop, hop down.
So the next piece we do, again we step out and we hop up with the right leg up,
but instead of bringing the right leg behind this time we keep it in front.
So it's step up, hop, step,
back with the left leg, right leg in front.
We're going to hop over and do a point hop back on the left leg
and combine that with a rock first of all.
So we go hop, point and rock and back.
And then I'm going to do a point hop back with the right leg
and then rock to the left first.
Hop, point and left and back.
So let's try that all together.
One, two, three, hop, point and rock and back,
point and rock and back.
Now I'm going to do a hop, point, hop back with my left leg.
Step, point, hop back and then jump over two feet together.
So let's try that together.
One, two, three, step, point, hop back, jump.
Now the next movement is also a cut which we've also seen before.
I'm going to stand on the back leg and cut the right leg up in front
and I'm going to do that four times.
So it's one, two, three, four.
And I'll show you later on how we're going to make that more interesting
than the routine that you're going to see it in.
So after the four cuts, I'm going to jump up in the air again
with two feet together, jump.
And I'm going to go step, point, hop, hold, two, three, four, five.
You hold for five counts with your feet together.
So let's try it from the point, hop back and jump
and then into the four cuts.
So we've got the left leg in front.
So all together, one, two, three, point, hop back, jump.
One, two, three, four, jump and point and hold, two, three, four, five.
Good.
Now we're on to our fifth and final step in the slip jig.
We're nearly there.
So we're standing up on the toes and we've got the right leg behind.
Now I'm going to hop down onto my left leg from there
and bring my right leg up at the back.
So I'm going to step down and now the next movement is called a twist movement.
I'm going to put the right leg down at the back.
Then I'm going to twist the heel out
and as I'm doing that I'm bringing the left leg back
and putting it down behind.
So I twist the right foot in, bring it back
and as I put the left foot down I swing the right heel in again.
Then we repeat that movement by stepping on the right leg
with the left leg up at the back and twisting back with the left foot.
So we go step up, down, twist, back.
And then we're going to do two points and point hop backs
which we've also seen before, hop point and point hop back.
So let's try and put those two pieces together.
So we've got the left leg in front, we're up on the toes.
So one, two, three and twist back up, twist back and point and point hop back.
And then we repeat that but the only thing that we have to do
is to hop back on the right leg to get into the movement again.
So we've got the left leg behind and we hop back on the right,
hop twist back up, twist back and point and point hop back.
So let's try that again.
All together we've got the right leg in front.
One, two, three, hop twist back up, twist back and point and point hop back.
Okay, now we're really there because the next two pieces we have done before.
So we're going to do a side step twice.
Okay, hopping up on the right leg first.
So all together we go hop two, three, four, five, hop two, three, four, five.
And then we combine a hop movement with a jump two, three movement
which you saw in the basic reel.
So I hop with the right leg and then jump over.
So I go hop over two, three and then we repeat that on the left leg, hop over two, three.
So let's try that end piece.
One, two, three, hop over two, three, hop over two, three.
Good.
Okay, so I think it would be a good idea to just put those last two steps to music
and then we can give the ladies a break and then I'll teach the guys the double jig.
Okay, so after eight, six, seven, eight, jump.
MUSIC PLAYS
Okay, great, that's the slip jig finished.
APPLAUSE
Okay, so I'm back now with the guys and I've got the heavy shoes back on
so we're going to make some noise again and we're going to do a hard shoe double jig.
So this jig rhythm is in 6 eighths time signature
and I'm going to get Alan now to again play a sample for you.
So five, six, seven, eight.
MUSIC PLAYS
Thanks Alan, that was great.
So again we're ready to start, we've got the right leg in front of the left.
Now again we're going to use a shuffle movement in this dance
but it's slightly different to the shuffle movement we used in the reel
because it's a different rhythm.
Okay, so we're going to start by stepping at the back with the left leg
and tapping twice with the right.
Step, one, two, hop onto the right leg.
One, two with the left and hop onto the left leg.
One, two and bring it back.
Hop on the left, down with the right, in front with the left.
So let's try that together.
One, two, three, step, one, two, step, one, two, step, one, two, hop back down.
Okay, so we repeat that movement then by stepping first of all on the right leg behind.
So all together, step, one, two, step, one, two, step, one, two, hop back down.
Okay, now the next movement is we step on the left leg behind,
do a double shuffle movement with the right leg.
Step, one, two, hop, toe.
Okay, we're then starting to step on the right leg, so heel.
Okay, try that together.
We've got right leg in front, one, two, three.
Okay, good.
So then the next movement just to finish off this step,
step behind with the left, step, one, two, step, one, two, over, down, stamp.
Okay, so let's try that piece together.
One, two, three, step, one, two, step, one, two, over, down, stamp.
Okay, be a good idea to put that step now to some music, I think,
because it's a different rhythm.
Okay, so from the beginning, five, six, seven, eight.
Okay, good.
Right, now the second step.
Thank you.
So the next step.
Again, we're going to put some of these front clicks
in which we learned in Kelsic Storm.
So we're going to combine that with a double hop back movement.
Okay, so step on the left leg.
Step, one, two, hop back, step up, front click.
Okay, so let's try that.
One, two, three, step, one, two, hop back, step up, front click.
Okay, now we repeat that by starting to step on the right leg behind.
One, two, three, step, one, two, hop back, step up, front click.
Now the next piece is fairly simple.
We've got the left leg behind, we step behind with the left,
and we follow with a series of stamps and toes.
Step, bang, toe, step, bang, toe.
So let's try that.
We've got the left leg behind.
One, two, three, step, bang, toe, step, bang, toe.
Okay, then we step behind with the left and do a double shuffle hop back
combined with a toe movement.
So I'll do that for you.
Step, one, two, hop, toe.
Okay, so let's try that together.
One, two, three, step, one, two, hop, toe.
Now the next movement is called a box,
which we use both our heels and our toes.
So we're standing with our right toe behind at the back.
Now we're going to hop off the left foot into a box movement, okay,
which we then put our right heel to the floor, our left heel.
We hit the toes together, step on the right toe,
step on the left toe, and click the heels together.
And this is quite a difficult one to do slowly,
so I'll put it together for you.
So we've got the right toe at the back.
Hop, one, two, three, four, five, six.
Okay, so let's try that together.
We've got the right toe at the back.
One, two, three, hop, one, two, three, four, five, six.
Okay, then we drop the heels four times.
The right heel first, then the left, then the right, and the left.
One, two, three, four.
Okay, so let's try that.
We're up on our toes.
One, two, three, one, two, three, four.
Okay, again, we'll put that step to music, I think.
Five, six, seven, eight.
MUSIC PLAYS
Okay, thank you.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Okay, and we've got one more step to learn in the double jig,
and then we're there.
Okay, so we're standing with the right leg in front.
Okay, now this time, instead of doing a front click move,
we're actually going to click the heels
whilst jumping up at the back.
Okay, and we're going to combine that with a shuffle movement.
So I'm going to go step one, two, hop, back, step,
and then to do the back click, we pick the right leg up at the back.
We then hop off the left,
and then as the right leg is coming down,
we hit the two heels together.
So I've stepped on the left and up and down.
Okay, so let's try that.
Together, one, two, three, go.
Step one, two, hop, back, step, up and down.
Okay, then we'll repeat that movement.
So all together, step one, two, hop, back, step, up and down.
Okay, now we're going to repeat the stamp and toe movement,
which we did in the last step.
So we've got left leg behind.
Step, stamp, toe, step, stamp, toe, step, stamp, toe, step, stamp.
So let's try that together.
One, two, three, go.
Step, stamp, toe, step, stamp, toe, step, stamp, toe, stamp, stamp.
Okay, then we repeat the double hop, back, and back click to finish with.
So all together, step one, two, hop, back, step, up, two, three.
Great, we've finished.
Okay.
So now we're going to combine those two dances.
The ladies slip jig with the guys doing the double jig
in a dance called Celtic Moves.
So myself and the guys are going to leave the stage,
and the ladies are going to come on first and do the slip jig.
Okay.
Let's do it.
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