My Days as a Dance Groupie: International Day of Dance in Dublin

Before my legs could recover from the Croagh Patrick hike, it was D-day. I’m not talking about the invasion of Normandy, but one of the “ds” mentioned in my playful alliteration above: dance. After I had already committed to the hike, I found out there was a free dance workshop the following day. With classes in Irish dancing, contemporary, hip-hop, and whatever in the world “gaga” dancing was, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. 

I excitedly put on my tights and leo and made my way into city centre. The location of the theatre the classes were at was close to where I had been going for Greek dancing in Temple Bar, or so I thought. The rainy gates of the Smock Alley Theatre were closed and my hopes of dancing again were shot down. 

I thought back to the website and tried to remember which day it said classes were on. With some luck, I found an internet shop and found out I had been to the wrong location. I missed the first class, but found the Dance House in time for a contemporary class. The class was a lot more low key than I thought, more like a modern class. We did leg swings and floor exercises which wrung out my aching muscles and prepared me for the next class.The studio space was complete with wide windows which overlooked the streets, making the experience more inspiring. While I had planned on taking hip-hop, I decided to attend contemporary and Irish dance fusion to make up for the first Irish dance class I had missed. I had seen a bit of this style at the Ceili festival, but still didn’t know quite what to expect. What I got was a wide-eyed instructor who’s accent I was proud to identify correctly as from Northern Ireland. 

She began the class by having us lye on the floor and work through different levels before reaching the standing position. I’ve never been a fan of floor work, but this exercise helped me to feel more comfortable exploring different levels of space. Instead of teaching us a combination, she had us do some more exercises which helped develop our creative movement. She had us move from a dance technique we considered “home” and when she said “adventure” we would have to stray away for that to create a new sequence. We also wrote down an Irish dance combination and took the words we used to describe the movement to create something else. I felt this helped me open up my improv more, which was exciting. The last class I attended was even more of a stretch. Much to my surprise “gaga” dance had nothing to do with the pop stylings of Lady Gaga, but rather had its roots in the Middle East. The whole thing felt a bit like a meditation session with the body moving. If I hadn’t just done contemporary dance before, I probably would have been a bit freaked out. Everyone around me was really into it though, so I shut my eyes and played along with the teacher’s instructions to “move the body through water,” and to “swing your arms like a rope.” 

The next day I saw a few faces from class again throughout the streets of Temple Bar. After spending some time at my internship, I made my way over to the “artist trail” for International Day of Dance. The first stop was at an art gallery. There were small spools of yarn strewn across the floor and before I could ask what was going on, a dancer began playing with the space down a staircase. The other performers used the variety of spaces in creative ways. Some were accompanied by live music, the massive cello and quirky banjo nonetheless, while others used recorded beats. Dancers popped up everywhere from a table at Connolly’s Books to the dance floor at the Stag’s Head pub. Each dancer brought their own style to the various forms of modern dance, performing everything from long extensions and curves to fast-paced locks. 

The best part of the experience was that because the crowd was rather small and mostly consisted of other dancers in the coalition, I was able to talk with them. They told me it was a bit of a struggle to find work in Ireland, many leaving for other European countries after receiving a degree.  The level of dance education, they said, was also not quite up to pare in the area. Although Irish dancing is what leads the country’s claim to fame, it seems it was a struggle to find work for dancers outside this form. Talking to actual “struggling artists” and seeing their work gave me some perspective on what it’s like to live off what you create (something I will have to deal with one of these days...) 

The way globalization and modernization have affected how dance is performed and taught really hit me through the whole experience. Through modern dance, these performers were questioning the merit of traditional style and technique. The fact that I had done some of the same exercises across the sea also reflects this global influence. While each country holds its own form of traditional dance, the organic movement done performed by these dancers was similar to what I had choreographed in my bedroom. As I have learned different traditional forms, the footwork and placements sometimes overlap. Dance really does break down these barriers by allowing every tradition to hold on to its voice and showcasing the similarities between them. 

International Dance Day helped re-inspire me to keep dancing and to learn more about the thousands of dance forms out there.