The basics of Irish solodancing

Dancing is always done high on the ball of the foot (or, in light dancing, on the toes, for dancers with short toes and strong feet ). The heels never touch the floor when dancing, except in heavy dancing, and even then, they should only touch the floor when they are specifically meant to make a sound. Even landing from a jump is done high on the ball of the foot - this puts an enourmous strain on the muscles and tendons of feet, calves, and ankles, so thorough warm-up and stretching are absolutely paramount in Irish Dancing. The Achilles tendon and plantar fascia are most at risk, and often suffer inflammation or injury, if due care is not taken.

The feet (and usually the knees) are always crossed and turned out (from the hip - or the dancer will kill his knees).

Furthermore, Irish Dancing requires the feet and toes to be pointed, as soon as they don't touch the floor. Feet are rarely flexed, except in movements that explicitly require flexing, like boxes or butterflys.
As a general rule, you could say: feet off the floor = foot and toes pointed from the ankle down.

The different types of Irish solodancing

Old vs. modern Irish solodances

Hmmm..... no, it doesn't work that way.

The traditional setdances (now officially Saint Patrick's Day, The Blackbird, The Garden Of Daisies, The Job Of Journeywork, Jockey to the Fair, King of the Fairies, and Three Sea Captains) are supposed to be danced in the same way by all Irish dancers in the world - but even there, there are minor differences depending on the area where the dancer (or his teacher) is from. But generally speaking, yes, those dances are the same everywhere in the world.

But apart from the traditional set dances, all choreographies are specific to the school that dances them. That means that a hornpipe or a reel from one school will look totally different from a hornpipe or a reel from another school.

Not only are the dances intellectual property exclusive to one school or the other, there are extremely strict rules in place about filming (or even taking pictures) of dancers in action at feiseanna, and about handing down dances that are not your own choreography.

If you are in mainland Europe, these strict rules may seem strange to you - but don't forget that music and dance copyright is automatically protected here (through official organizations like Sabam in Belgium, Gema in Germany, etc....) , and Ireland is only just embarking on the path of official copyright protection for these kinds of art. So basically, with the strict "non-filming rules" An Coimisiún is trying to help the choreographers protect their intellectual rights to the dances.

Structure of the Irish solodance

A dance consists of a series of musical phrases, or parts thereof. A musical phrase usually consists of eight bars of music; in Irish dancing, the "dance phrase" is either eight or four bars long, depending on the dance, and on the place of the phrase in the totality of the dance. These phrases - whether they are four or eight bars long - are played/danced twice. A full "dance phrase" of movements form one "unit", called a "step" (although the name varies, depending on the place in the dance, see below): it is performed twice, first with the right foot leading ("step danced on the right"), then perfectly mirrored and redanced with the left foot leading ("step danced on the left").

Each of these units - steps - have a specific place within the totality of the dance, and their name also depends on their place in the dance:

• The very first phrase of the dance is called the "Lead Around" (or "Lead Round"): it is always the first phrase of the dance. Traditionally, the lead around is danced in a circle, hence the name. In competition at higher levels though, the lead around does not always follow a circle, or even a closed figure. Beginners' dances on the other hand always do start with a circular lead around.
  Depending on the dance, the lead around can be eight or four bars long.
• The second phrase of the dance is traditionally called "the Sidestep", as it includes a traditional sideways movement of the same name. These days, the sidestep is often omitted, especially from intermediate level and up. But an easy reel or an easy slipjig will always include a sidestep.
  Depending on the dance, the sidestep can be eight or four bars long.
• All the following phrases are called "Steps" (first step, second step, etc.) A step is eight bars long (in all dances), and danced twice, once on the right, and once on the left.

FOR EXAMPLE:
structure of the easy light double jig (one of the first dances you learn when you start Irish dancing):

• Lead Round (2 times 8 bars)
  
• Sidestep (2 times 8 bars)
  
• First Step (2 times 8 bars)
  
• Second Step (1 or 2 times 8 bars)
  etc..

• Lead Round (2 times 4 bars)
  
• Sidestep (2 times 4 bars)
  
• First Step (2 times 8 bars)
  
• Second Step (1 or 2 times 8 bars)
  etc..

The total number of bars in the dance, depends on its use:

• for grade exams, dances need to be 40 bars long;
  
• for feiseanna using the 32-bar system, they need to be - you guessed it - 32 bars long.
  
• A competition that is danced to the bell is another story: the adjudicator might just decide to see whether you have practised that second step on the left - so there, it's a good idea to work the full 48 bars (which is also the standard length at the world championships, except for the slipjig and the hornpipe, that require 40 bars each).
  
• For presentations and performances, the only limit to the number of steps and bars the dancer performs is.... the dancer's stamina.

Now, just to confuse you... ... it's important to realise that an important part of the Irish solo dances, the Set Dances, do not follow the above structure at all. But that's a different story, that you can read about here.