Golden Keyboard step

Here is the step we created during the September 8th class.
1. Part A
2. Part B
3. Both parts A & B

Thank you to those who helped in it's creation!

Clare Rhythm Steps

Here are the steps we covered on the September 8th class. They are the:

1. Clare basic step
2. Mick Mulkerrin's version
3. Maldon Meehan's variation of Mick's Step
4. Both Mick's and Maldon's step together.
The last two steps are very nice together when dancing a tune
with a low(A part) and a high (B part).

Class notes 9/29/07

Hi Class,

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed class today. It was really exciting for me to see all of you dancing. You all did a great job!! I gave you a lot of steps and a lot of very intertict and interesting steps. Well done.

Hopefully I remembered all the things I said I’d pass on. Let me know if there is anything I’m missing.

Just a reminder we have a class blog for the Saturday class. You can find past notes, dance clips and more on the site at:

http://seannospdx.blogspot.com/

Irish Events:

7pm, 1^st Friday Oct 5, Irish Ceili

VFW Hall, 630 Hood Street NE, Salem, OR
Hanz Araki, Johnny Connolly and Cary Novotny
Info: 503.585.4542

If you want to carpool down you should be at my house by 5:45 and we can head down from there. Let me know if you can get to my house and we can arrange something.

5pm, Sunday Oct. 7, 2007

Big Squeeze 2!
Accordion music from:
Mike Beglan (Irish)
Johnny B. Connolly accompanied by Cary Novotny (Irish)
Mira Dinsbir (Czech)
Courtney Von Drehle (from 3 Leg Torso)

Alberta Street Public House
1036 NE Alberta St., Portland , 97211
Info: Carol Spellman at 503-306-5292 weekdays

Saturday Oct. 13, Irish in October

Downtown SW Salmon and Park
All day event (12-5)
Irish music and dance
Free

Watch the Sean-nos Dancing Online!

The Oireachtas na Gaeilge is a yearly festival celebrating the Irish language (Gaeilge) and the Irish-speaking regions of Ireland (Gaeltachtai.)

To watch the competition, go to TG4 (www.tg4.ie/) the national Irish language tv station. Click on the Web TV banner at the top of their homepage. (It says "Beo ar an web" or "Live on the Web.") Click "Ceol" on the left of the screen. And choose "Steip Damhsa On Oireachtas."

And you'll have two and a half hours of sean-nos dancing to watch and study whenever you please!

Notes from class:
Here are the notes of the steps we covered in class today. Hopefully this system works for you. Graham is in the process of editing footage of some of the step and we should have them up on the class blog for all to view. I will let you know when they are on the class blog. Eventually when we have several of the recorded we will transfer them on to a DVD for you to all have and study with.

BASIC CONNEMARA STEP
Hop(L), heel(R) down(R), heel(L) down(L), Stomp(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) down(L), heel(R) down(R), Stomp(L)

STAMP AND STAMP STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Stamp (R) and (R) Stamp (L)
Hop(L), heel(R) down(R), heel(L) down(L), Stomp(R)
Back(R) Stamp (L) and (L) Stamp (R)
Hop(R), heel(L) down(L), heel(R) down(R), Stomp(L)

(repeat all again)

HEEL AND TOE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Heel (R), step (R), toe (L)
Hop (L), heel(R) down(R), heel(L) down(L), Stomp(R)
Back(R) heel (L), step (L), toe (R)
Hop(R), heel (L) down(L), heel(R) down(R), Stomp(L)

(repeat all again)

RONAN’S STEP (Ronan Regan)
Shuff(R heel)-le(R toe) step(R)
shuff(L heel)-le(L toe) step(L)
Shuff(R heel)-le(R toe) step(R)
Step(L) step(R)
Shuff(L heel)-le(L toe) and(R heel drop) back(L)
Step (R) step (L)
Shuff(R heel)-le(R toe) and (L heel drop) back(R)
Shuff(L heel)-le(L toe) and(R heel drop) back(L)

WILLIE KEANE #1
I learned this step from Mick Mulkerrin
Heel (R) down (R) 1(L) 2(R)
Down(L) shuff(R heel)-le(R toe) and(L heel drop) back(R) Pause
Down(L) suff (R heel)-le(R toe) and(L heel drop)
Down(R) shuff(L heel) –le(L toe) and(R heel drop)
Down(L) suff (R heel)-le(R toe) and(L heel drop) down (R)

(repeat again)

WILLIE KEANE #2
Heel (R) down (R) 1(L) 2(R)
Down(L) shuff(R heel)-le(R toe) and(L heel drop) heel(R) heel(L) heel(R) heel(L)
Down(R) shuff(L heel) –le(L toe) and(R heel drop)
Down(L) suff (R heel)-le(R toe) and(L heel drop)
Down(R) shuff(L heel) –le(L toe) and(R heel drop) down(L)

See you in class next week.

-Maldon

Portland Class notes

Hi All,

Just wanted to let you know there will be dancing, art and music this Thursday at the Alberta Street Public House 5:30-8:30 and your all invited to come down and dance. You can see more at http://www.seannosdance.com/NewsEvents/show.html

Also class this Saturday will be a special workshop with Alicia Guinn. Alicia is a great set dancer and sean-nos dancer. I hope you all come out and meet here. It will give you a chance to see another teacher and style. Alicia is a great set dancer who has lived in Ireland and danced over there for years. She has a vast knowledge of battering steps and sets. This is a great opportunity learn some Clare battering.

Bellow is a note from Alicia Guinn:

Sept 1 - Workshop - Clare Steps for Set Dancing - Portland, Oregon
"I’ll be the guest teacher for Maldon Meehan’s usual series of Saturday afternoon workshops in Portland. We’ll focus on Clare battering, a style of stepping that can be used in either set or sean-nos dancing. We’ll put most of our effort into the steps, and at the end of class, we'll work on incorporating them into a figure of the Clare Plain set. I’m excited to see how the sean-nos dancing community is shaping up in Portland! Performance Works Northwest, 4625 SE 67th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97206. 11am-1pm. Live music. $10".

As for notes from Class we covered 2 steps last week.
The basic step
(notes and video clip are on this blog)

Cross Step (Maldon Meehan)
(This step was inspired by a tune that Joe, Dawn and Lee were playing. Lee told me the name the tune a few times, but alas it escapes my mind. I'll try to get the name from here on Saturday, if any of you know the name let me know.)

step(L) cross(R) step(L) step beside (R)
step (L) back (R) step(L) tap beside (R)
step(R) cross(L) step(R) step beside (L)
step(R) cross(L) step(R) Tap beside (L)
1(L), 2(R), 3(L), 1(R), 2(L), 3(R), 1(L) , 2(R)
step(L) heel(R) step(L) , step(R) heel(L) step(R) 1(L), 2(R)

-Maldon

Salem class Notes

Tuesday Sean-nos Dance class

Here are the notes from the 2 steps we learned on Tuesday night.

THE BASIC STEP Connemara Step
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R) , heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R), Stomp(L)
(repeat all 3 more times)

STAMP AND STAMP STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Stamp(R) and(R) Stamp(L)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R) , heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

Stamp(L) and(L) Stamp(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R), Stomp(L)

This is a video clip of me dancing the basic Connemara step.

Irish Sean-nos Dance Connamara

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Tuesday Ceili Class

Duke Reel
A round dance for three couples (Reels: 264 bars)

1. Circle Right and back (8 bars)
2. Body

Slip Sides: Slip sides with partner and back(8 bars), Slip sides with corner and back (8bars)
Link Arms: Link right with partner (2 bars), left corner(2 bars), partner(2 bars), corner(2 bars)
Interlace: face partner pass right shoulder to right, left to the next, right and left till home
Advance and Retire: join hands in a circle and advance and retire twice (8bars)

3. 1st Figure

Figure of eight: With promenade step, couple 1 advance towards couple 2 while couple 3 stand idle. Lady 1 dances figure 8 around lady 2 then gent 2, while gent dances figure 8 around gent 2 then lady 2. (8 bars). All circle to the left and swing back to place
Order: couple 1 with couple 2, couple 2 with couple 3, couple 3 with couple

4. Body
5. 2nd Figure

Right and left chain: Couples 1 and 2 dance right and left chain.
House around

6. Body
7. Finish: All house around to finish

Connemara Set
Figure 1: Reels
a. Lead around / lead back
b. Swing
c. Tops Advance / retire twice,
d. house
e. swing
f. Sides dance it
g. Top ladies chain
h. swing
i. Side chain and swing
j. Tops repeat figure
k. Sides repeat figure
l. All swing to finish

Figure 2: Reels
a. Lead around / lead back
b. Swing
c. 1st top gent and opp. Lady dance around eachother for 8 bars and Swing
d. Tops Advance / retire twice, house, swing
e. 1st side gent, 2nd Top gent, 2nd side gent
f. All swing to finish

Figure 3: Reels
a. Join hands in a circle, advance / retire twice
b. Swing
c. 1st top couple Advance / Retire twice, swing
d. Tops Christmas
e. Top Ladies chain
f. Tops Swing
g. 1st sides
h. 2nd tops
i. 2nd sides
j. swing to Finnish

Figure 4: Polka
a. Join hands in a circle, advance / retire twice
b. Dance at home
c. Circle Advance / retire twice change partners
d. Dance at home, moving 1/4 to the right
e. Repeat until home

This will put a smile on your face

Check this dancing out. Some old style hornpipes from the Comhaltas branch in Japan.

Video Clip

-Maldon

Steps thus far

Beginners Class
1. Basic step (Lead around)
2. Stamp and stamp
3. Heel and toe
4. The Johnny
5. Cross step
6. Heels in a circle
7. Zig zag heels
8. Heels back
9. In and out
10. Grapevine

Advanced Class
11. Aer Aran #2
12. Aer Aran #3
13. Advance and retire

Skip back step

Connemara Set

Connemara Set
Figure 1: Reels
a. Lead around / lead back
b. Swing
c. Tops Advance / retire twice,
d. house
e. swing
f. Sides dance it
g. Top ladies chain
h. swing
i. Side chain and swing
j. Tops repeat figure
k. Sides repeat figure
l. All swing to finish

Figure 2: Reels
a. Lead around / lead back
b. Swing
c. 1st top gent and opp. Lady dance around eachother for 8 bars and Swing
d. Tops Advance / retire twice, house, swing
e. 1st side gent, 2nd Top gent, 2nd side gent
f. All swing to finish

Figure 3: Reels
a. Join hands in a circle, advance / retire twice
b. Swing
c. 1st top couple Advance / Retire twice, swing
d. Tops Christmas
e. Top Ladies chain
f. Tops Swing
g. 1st sides
h. 2nd tops
i. 2nd sides
j. swing to Finnish

Figure 4: Polka
a. Join hands in a circle, advance / retire twice
b. Dance at home
c. Circle Advance / retire twice change partners
d. Dance at home, moving 1/4 to the right
e. Repeat until home

Class Notes Juy 21

Hi all,

I really enjoyed myself in class to today, thanks for coming out and dancing. I especially want to thank the musicians, Dawn and Joe for playing during the class.

All those of you who are new to class thanks for coming out. Just to let you know there is a blog for the class in case you want to look over some notes from other classes. I also wanted to reiterate that the very first step, one of the building blocks of sean-nós, is also one of the harder steps. It takes a bit of time for the step to feel natural, but once it does you’ll be flying as it is the basis for many of the future steps.

Bellow are the notes from the class.

-Maldon

Beginners Class Notes

Connemara Step

Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R), Stomp(L)

The clip bellow is of the Connemara basic step. It is from the Dance Sean-nos DVD.
Dancer: Maldon Meehan, Musician: Johnny O'Holloran.

Irish Sean-nos Dance Connemara Step

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Skip Back step (Máirtín Beag Ó Gríofa)

And(L) back(R) and(R) back (L)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

Máirtín Beag Ó Gríofa was a beautiful dancer. Today in Ireland there is a competition held honor. The late Cóilín Sheáin Dharach, who I have mentioned in the past, is the only dancer to win the Máirtín Beag Ó Gríofa competition twice. If you ever have a chance to talk with a singer, dancer or musician from Connemara there’s a good chance they have a story or two about Máirtín. He was a great dancer and is remembered by many.

This particular step is dance quite often by sean-nós and set dancers. You’ll see it danced frequently in the Connemara set.

Intermediate class Notes

Advance and Retire #2 (Maldon Meehan)

step (L) heel(R) toe (R) and(R heel drop)
step (L) heel(R) toe (R) and(R heel drop)
step (L) heel(R) toe (R) and(R heel drop) step (L)
step (L) shuff(R heel)-le (R toe) and (L heel drop)
step (R) shuff(L heel)-le (L toe) and (R heel drop)
step (L) shuff(R heel)-le (R toe) and (L heel drop) step(R) step (L)

With this step you can leave a pause between the advance and retire or you can also ad another beat by stepping on your left foot again before you retire. You can also ad the lead in beat when you dance it twice in a row by stepping on your left foot again before you advance the second time.

Toe rhythmic step (Maldon Meehan)

1(R) 2(L) shuff(R)-le(R) and(R) step(L)
down(L) shuff(R)-le(R) and(R) step(L)
and(L) a(R) 1(R) a(L) 2(L)
shuff(R)-le(R) and(R) step(L)
down(L) shuff(R)-le(R) and(R) step(L)
(repeat again)

This step is danced entirely on your toes. A few years ago I went up to the Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp when Mick Mulkerrin and Mairéad Casey were teaching. At the camp Mick taught a really nice battering step (I’ll eventually teach you the step). The step was amazing, but I had trouble dancing it up to speed with music, so I created this step, which has a very similar rhythm. Today I will dance both steps, quite often I’ll use Mick’s step on the low part of a tune and the other step on the high part of the tune. They are quite nice steps together.

Hey, Graham and Melia, I remembered the step that you were asking about. It was an advance retire step, bellow are the notes. I will go over it with you the next time you're in class, just remind me.

Advance and Retire #1 (Maldon Meehan)

and(L) a(R heel) 1(R step) and(L) a(R heel) 2(R step)
and(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
and(R) heel(L) and(L) heel(R)
and(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R), Stomp(L)

When I taught this step we also looked at making extra beats coming back. You can come back with (and, heel, and heel) as I have written above or you can dance (and a heel and a heel). To do this instead of putting your whole foot down put your toe first then the whole foot and you will get two beats.

Next class Sat. July 21st
Performance Works Northwest
4625 SE 67th Ave, Portland

Padraig O Dubhain steping it out

Here’s a clip that Alicia Guinn found of Patrick DeVaney (Padraig O Dubhain) from Carna stepping it out in London. The sound quality is really bad, but the dancing is nice. I actually turned off the volume and just watched him dance with out the sound.

Class notes July 14

Hi all,

It’s been a hot week. Fair play to all those who made it out to dance in this heat.

This week we mostly reviewed the steps from the last few weeks. We also split up in groups and the second group learned one more step. The notes for the step are bellow.

AER ARAN (Ronan Regan) Rhythmic Variation #2
(this version is a step I put together to vary the rhythm)
Heel tap(L) step (L) heel(R) step(R) Heel tap(L) step (L) heel(R) step(R) heel tap (L)
step(L) heel(R) step(R) heel(L) step(L) heel(R) step(R) stamp(L)
Step (L) heel(R) step(R) Stamp (L)

You may notice that it is a little easer to dance than last week’s version, if you get a chance play with putting the two steps together. The second part of this step is also a great ending step that can be added to almost any step. It’s also great for set dancing and the 2 bar ending batter for the Connemara set.

I have been asking around to see if any musicians would like start a session during the class and play for the dancers. I’m still in the process of trying to put it all together, but if you know anybody who would like to play during the class let them know or if you would like to bring your instruments down go for it. Anybody who played for a class would be able to take the second class for free.

Bonus points:
If anybody feels so inclined play around and make up a step. You can use any of the elements from any step we have learned thus far and combine them to make a new step or you can make up something entirely new.

There’s also talk of a field trip to get dance shoes. Any of those interested let me know and I can find the best time. We could go to a few of the good thrift stores as well as a dance store or two. I’ve been known to find dance shoes at the thrift store for less that $5.

-Maldon

July 7 Class notes

Hi all,

The class today was very productive we added 5 new steps to our routine. Here are the class notes from July 7th.

HEELS ZIG ZAG (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Hop(L), Heel(R) step(R), Heel(L) step(L), (6 times) stamp (R)
(Repeat 4 times alternating left and right)

HEEL AND TOE BACK (Maldon Meehan)
Heel(R) and(R) toe(L) and (L)
Heel(R) and(R) toe(L) and (L)
Heel(R) and(R) toe(L) and (L)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

Heel(L) and(L) toe(R) and (R)
Heel(L) and(L) toe(R) and (R)
Heel(L) and(L) toe(R) and (R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R), Stomp(L)

STAMP AND STAMP (SAME FOOT IN / OUT) (Maldon Meehan)
Stamp in(R), hop(L), Stamp out(R)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
Stamp in(L), hop(R), Stamp out(L)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R), Stomp(L)
(repeat right and left again)

GRAPVINE STEP (Paddy Nelyon)
1(L), 2(R), 3(L), 4(R), 5(L), 6(R), 7(L) Two basic (hop on L first)
and(L) 1(R), 2(L), 3(R), 4(L), 5(R), 6(L), 7(R) Two basic (hop on R first)

AER ARAN (Ronan Regan) this a variation of Ronan’s step
Heel tap(L) step (L) heel(R) step(R) Heel tap(L) step (L) heel(R) step(R) heel tap (L)
Step(L) heel(R) hold toe (R)
Step (L) heel(R) step (R) heel tap (L)
Step (L) heel(R) step (R) heel tap (L)
(Ronan choreographed this step on an airplane going to the Aran islands. It’s is inspired by the playing of Johnny O'Halloran)

Irish Sean-nós Dance

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June 16 & 23

In the beginners class we covered the following steps.

LEADAROUND: (8 BARS) THE BASIC STEP
Hop (L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
(repeat 8 times)

STAMP AND STAMP STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Stamp(R) and(R) Stamp (L)
Back (L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
(repeat 4 times alternating right and left)

HEEL AND TOE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Heel(R), step(R), toe(L)
step (L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)
(repeat 4 times alternating right and left)

‘THE JOHNNY’
Toe(R), Toe(R), heel(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R),Stomp(L)

Toe(L), Toe(L), heel(L)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L),Stomp(R)
(Repeat all 3 more times)

CROSS STEP (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Step (L), Cross(R), Step(L), Step(R)
Hop (L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

Step (L), Cross(R), Step(L), Step(R)
Hop (L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

Step (L), Cross(R), Step(L), Step(R)
Step (L), Cross(R), Step(L), Step(R)

And(L) back(R) and(R) back(L)
Hop (L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

RHYTHM CIRCLE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
(in a circle)
Step(L), Heel(R) Heel(R) (6 TIMES)
Step(L), Heel (R)Heel(R), Heel(L) Heel(L), Heel(R) Heel(R)
Repeat again.

Next class is Sat. June 30

There will be no class on August 11th as I will be in Boston at the Irish Connections Festival

Saturday June 2

Beginners
The beginner’s class reviewed steps from past classes.

Intermediate
Learned several Quebec style chair dances. We worked on several rhythms and variations.

Next class is Saturday June 9th.

-Maldon

class notes on the waltz and more

Beginners
The beginners’ class reviewed the various steps we have covered in the past months. We also watched the short film entitled ‘Why the Irish danced that way’. My dance partner, Ronan Regan, was the choreographer for the film.

Intermediate
The intermediate class worked on the English Waltz Clog. This class was great as Maura’s kids joined and were all dancing the hardest part of the step. Well done guys.

The step covered is written bellow:

Basic step
1(L),2(R),3(L), 1(R),2(L),3(R)
Basic step
1(L),2(R),3(L), 1(R),2(L),3(R)
Basic
1(L),2(R),3(L), 1(R),2(L),3(R)
1(L),2(R),3(L), 1(R),2(L),3(R)
heels, click toes, toe (L), toe (r), click heels, heel (R), heel (L)

Class notes on the Brush dance.

For those of you who were in class the 2 weeks we did the brush dance here are some notes.

There are several ways to dance the brush dance, but most of them have a few things in common. In class we danced the following version of the brush dance.

Lead around 8 bars
Step it out for 16 bars
Dance down the brush 8 bars
Step it out for 16 bars
Dance forward with the brush 4 bars and the other direction 4 bars
Toss the brush 8 bars
Lead around 8 bars

It is up to you to keep the brush dance up and improvise on your own version of the dance.

If you have any questions please let me know.

-Maldon

Live dancing on the Radio tonight

Tune in to KBOO at 9pm for Live music and dancing on the RADIO!

When I was living in Ireland I would listen to several traditional music programs on the Radio. My favorite was always the shows with dancing. Dancing on the Radio what a concept. There was one show in particular that would broadcast ceili and set dancing on the radio. Well tonight Portland will carry on the tradition of dancing on the radio.

Monday 9pm, Celtic Hour, KBOO 90.7

-Maldon

Brush Dance

Michael O Rourke and Ger Butler dancing the brush dance together.

Sara Cory in Portland

Dancing extraordinary Sara Cory will be in Portland Sunday May 13th and Monday May 14th.

For any of you who are interested in percussive dance Sara’s workshop is for you. Her dancing style is based in American clogging, Cape Breton, Irish Sean-nós dance and her own thing. What is so amazing about her dancing is that she danced the ‘tune’
rather than just the ‘steps’. When she dances you can hear the melody of the tune. She’s incredible and one of my inspirations. The workshop and performance are not to be missed.

Sun May 13th 8 pm
Alberta St. Pub
Performance with Bridgetown, $8

Monday May 14th 2-4 pm
Dance workshop
Performance Works NorthWest

More information: (808) 346-3464

About Sara Cory:
Sara Cory has been performing dance for over 10 years and teaching for six, throughout the west coast and Hawaii. The basis of her style is Appalachian clogging; but her passion for Irish music and dance, as well as any percussive steps she finds, has influenced her style dramatically.

Sara grew up in California in a musical household with her brother Dave Cory (with Bridgetown). At 16 she discovered traditional music and a couple years later started focusing on fiddle and dance. She has traveled throughout the United Stated and Ireland playing, teaching, and studying traditional music for the past ten years. She and her husband are emigrating to Ireland this spring.

New Dance Clips

Sean-nos dance


Brush Dance

young one dancing

Clip of a young one dancing some steps

April 28 class

Hi Everybody,

Class this week was really nice. The beginners are continuing to work with the Connemara sean-nós steps and battering for the Connemara set and the Intermediate class is working with Clare battering for dance at home, house around and advance and retire.

At the end of class I demonstrated the ‘Brush dance’. This Saturday is the beginning of the month and we will be learning the Brush dance (broom dance) in class along with the Connemara and Clare battering. There was a request from the intermediate class to learn the Waltz clog. So we will be covering some of the waltz steps.

Bring your kitchen brooms to class next week.

The Intermediate class learned a new step:

Mick Mulkerrin’s step
I learned this step from Mick Mulkerrin when he taught at the Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp. It’s a great step. When I learned it from him I decided to learn it the way he was dancing, so if you use this step for set dancing this is the men’s version of this batter. To dance the womans version dance it on your right foot, with your right foot dancing the batters.
(during the pause Mick lifts his left leg)

1(L) 2(R) heel(L) toe(L) and (L) down(R)
down(R) heel(L) toe(L) and (L) down(R)
pause step (L) toe (R) heel (R) 1(L) 2(R) heel(R) toe(R) and(L) down(R)
down(R) heel(L) toe(L) and (L) down(R)

Maura singing

Hi everybody,

I'm not sure if you are aware but we have a great sean-nós singer in our class. Check out this clip of Maura singing.

Maura singing Ardaigh Cuain

-Maldon

Brush Dance online

Hi all,

Here is a video of a dancer dancing the brush dance. We will be learning the brush dance in class soon, so take a good look.

-Maldon Meehan

Looking a head to the Month of May

Sean-nós and battering for sets

For the month of may we will continue to learn sean-nós steps in each class, but we will also be focusing on integrating battering steps and sean-nós steps into set dancing. The beginners will be working with the Connemara set and the intermediate dancers will be working with the Clare plain set.

Every Saturday
Performance Works Northwest
4625 SE 67th Avenue (between Foster and Holgate)
11am Beginners
12pm Intermediate

Saturday May 5
Beginners: The Connemara Set (advance and retire steps)
Intermediate: Clare Plain Set (advance and retire steps)

Saturday May 12
Beginners: The Connemara Set (battering during a house around)
Intermediate: Clare Plain Set (battering during a house around)

Saturday May 19
Beginners: The Connemara Set (ending steps/finishing off steps)
Intermediate: Clare Plain Set (dance at home battering steps)

Saturday May 26
Beginners: The Connemara Set (more ending steps/finishing off steps)
Intermediate: Clare Plain Set (dance at home battering steps)

Connemara Set first figure

Connemara Set
Figure 1: Reels
a. Lead around / lead back
b. Swing
c. Tops Advance / retire twice
d. house
e. swing
f. Sides dance figure (c-e)
g. Top ladies chain
h. swing
i. Side chain and swing
j. Tops repeat figure (c-e)
k. Sides repeat figure (c-d)
l. All swing to finish

Next Week

Hi lads,

I’m a little behind in getting out the steps. I have just posted the notes for the April 14th and April 21st classes on the blog.

Next week we will be covering more battering for the Galway and Clare sets. We will also be talking about Sean-nós dancer Máire Áine Ní hIarnáin. Máire Áine Ní hIarnáin is the 2004 second place winner of the Oireachtas. She won second the year Padraig Ó Hoibicín won first. She currently teaching sean-nós in Dublin and is a former student of Padraig Ó Hoibicín. She has a beautiful and graceful sean-nós style. Like Padraig she dances on and off the beat. If you would like to see a clip of her dancing she is in the 2005 Oireachtas that can be viewed online at TG4’s website http://www.tg4.ie/.

-Maldon

April 21st class

April 21st class
Beginners
We reviewed Rosin’s stamp and stamp step, heel and toe. If you would like these steps written out they are on the blog ‘April 7th Class Notes’. We also reviewed ‘The Johnny’ (toe toe heel and a 1 2 3). Please let me know if you don’t have notes for these steps. We also dance the first figure of the Connemara Set.


Intermediate
In the intermediate class we covered Clare battering. We danced 3 variations of the clare batter that can be used for dance at home, advance retire and house around.

The following steps are written for the woman, men dance the oposit using there left foot for the batters.

Clare Batter 1 (I got this step from the dancing of Alicia Guinn)
1(L) 2(R) down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R) down(L)
down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R) down(L)

Clare Batter 2
And(L) a(R) 1(R) down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R) down(L)
down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R) down(L)

Clare Batter 3 (I got this step from the dancing of Alicia Guinn)
down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R)
down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R) down(L)
down(L) heel(R) toe(R) heel(R) down(L)

April 14th Class Notes

April 14th Class Notes
Beginning class
In the beginners class we reviewed Rosin Ni Mhainnin steps, including stamp and stamp, heel and toe and the cross step. We also reviewed the rhythmic variations of the ‘hips’ step.

Intermediate Class
The intermediate class we review Rosin Ni Mhainnin’s jig steps. We also covered 3 of Padraig Ó Hoibicín steps. I went looking for the documnatry of Padraig on youtube and it has been taken down. In the video he talks about horses, sheep, dancing and teaching dogs Irish (Gaelic). If you can find it it’s worth watching. You get a since of who he is from the video. You get to see him dance, but it’s more like MTV than trad with rock music overlayed. If anybody finds it online or knows how to get it in video format let me know.

As you will remember these steps are danced on and off the beat, so rather than just dancing to 8 bars Padraig will dance over the bar of music. From what I can tell he usally dances his steps on bar into the next 8 bars. Padraig tends to favor his left foot, I believe that he dances over an extra step so that start his basic step with his left foot.

Basic (Padraig Ó Hoibicín)
(you can starts with a step on right foot to get you on the right beat)
Shuf(L)-le(L) step(L), Shuf(R)-le(R) step(R), heel(L) heel(L), heel(R) heel (R)
(dance for 8 bars or so)

Toe toe heel (Padraig Ó Hoibicín)
Toe(L) toe(L) heel(L), down(L) heel(R) down(R) heel(L) down(L)
Toe(R) toe(R) heel(R), down(R) heel(L) down(L) heel(R) down(R)
(dance for 8 bars or so)

Kick up (Padraig Ó Hoibicín)
(Note that the step in the beginning is only a lead in for when you first dance the step it is not repeated. This step is dance in the same timing as the step above.)

Step(R) Heel brush(L) Heel drop(R) toe brush back(L)
down(L) heel(R) down(R) heel(L) down(L)

Heel brush(R) Heel drop(L) toe brush back(R)
and(R) heel(L) down(L) heel(R) down(R)
(dance for 8 bars or so)

April 7th Class Notes

The Saturday class this week focused on the dancing of Rosin Ni Mhainnin.

Beginners
The beginner’s class covered 2 of Rosin’s steps

STAMP AND STAMP STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
back (L) Stamp (R) and (R) Stamp (L)
Hop (L), heel (R) step(R), heel (L) step (L), stomp (R)
(repeat 4 times alternating right and left)

HEEL AND TOE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Back (L), heel (R), step (R), toe (L)
Hop (L), heel (R) step(R), heel (L) step (L), stomp (R)
(repeat 4 times alternating right and left)

We also reviewed last weeks ‘hips’ step.

Intermediate
The intermediate class covered Rosin Ni Mhainnin’s jig steps.

STAMP AND STAMP STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
back (L) Stamp (R) and (R) Stamp (L)
Step (L) heel (R) step (R) 1(L) 2(R)
(repeat 4 times alternating right and left)

HEEL AND TOE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Back (L), heel (R), step (R), toe (L)
Step (L) heel (R) step (R) 1(L) 2(R)
(repeat 4 times alternating right and left)

CROSS STEP (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
Step (L), Cross (R), Step (L), Step (R)
Step (L) heel (R) step (R) 1(L) 2(R)

Step (L), Cross (R), Step (L), Step (R)
Step (L) heel (R) step (R) 1(L) 2(R)

Step (L), Cross (R), Step (L), Step (R)
Step (L), Cross (R), Step (L), Step (R)

And (L) back (R) and (R) back (L)
Step (L) heel (R) step (R) 1(L) 2(R)

RHYTHM CIRCLE STEP (8 BARS) (Rosin Ni Mhainnin)
(in a circle)
Step (L), Heel (R) Heel (R) (7 times), stamp (L)
(Repeat 2 time in 8 bars)
(we covered other variation of this step you can change where you put the stomp)

We didn’t cover Rosin’s ziz zag step as a jig. Those of you who have the step try putting it into jig time. It ends up being quite a nice step.

See you next week when we cover some of Padraig Ó Hoibicín’s steps and style. I have talked about Padraig Ó Hoibicín in past classes. Padraig is one of the dancers I’ve talked about in class that will dance over the bars of music. Padraig is the 2004 Oireachtas winner. We will cover a few of his reel steps in both the beginners and intermediate classes next week.

-Maldon Meehan

March 31st Class

Notes from the March 31st Class

The class this Saturday was great. We had a real nice balance of music, dance and song. Last week we began talking about Sean-nós singing. Nancy Jarrell was kind enough to bring in a CD of the Connemara Sean- nós singer, Áine Uí Mhuíneacháin. Once the CD was put on it felt as if we were in a pub in Ireland, there was complete silence as we all listened to Áine's voice. After the song was finished, Phil Meehan, sang us his newly writen song entiteld ‘Departures Lounge’. A powerfull song, one that will have deep meaning to anyone who has been part of this music and dance community over the years.

Both the beginners and intermediate classes covered variations of the ‘hips’ step. The ‘hips’ step is a step that I created. I tend to dance several varations of the step depending on what tune I’m dancing to and which musican is playing.

Beginners
We covered two variations of a movement from the ‘Hips’. The full ‘hips’ steps can be found on the Dance Sean-nós DVD.

Variation 1 ‘hips’
Toe (R) toe (R) heel (L) heel (R)
Repeat as many times as desired

Variation 2 ‘hips’
Heel (R) toe (R) heel (L) heel (R)
Repeat as many times as desired

Intermediate

Step (L) Heel (R) toe (R) heel (L)
heel (R) heel (L) toe (L) heel (R)
heel (L) heel (R) toe (R) heel (L) heel (R) down (L)
(repeat 3 times)

(ending step)
Step (L) Heel (R) toe (R) heel (L) heel (R) down (L)
Step (L) Heel (R) toe (R) heel (L) heel (R) down (L)

We also danced the ending step alternating right and left side.
There were several versions of this step taught and created. We will go over all of them again, just ask.


Next Class is:
Saturday April 7th
Lecture/demonstration: Connemara dancer Rosin Ni Mhainnin

Here is a video clip of one of Rosin Ni Mhainnin’s students. The clip is of a 7 year old girl dancing. I hope it gives you inspiration. If you want to see more of her dancing there is also a clip of her on youtube from when she was 6 years old.

March 24th Class

Sean-nós Dance & Battering for Sets
Saturday, March 24, 2007

Lecture/Demonstration
The lecture/demonstration for this week was on the dancing of Páidí Bán Ó Broin. For those of you who got a chance to see the video clip on our website or youtube consider yourselves lucky. I just checked to see if I could link the video to this blog and it has been taken down. So it is on longer online.

In the lecture we also talked about Sean-nos Singing. Steven requested a list of Sean-nos singers. Here are a few:
Seosamh Ó hÉanaí/Joe Heaney
Áine Uí Mhuíneacháin

I will look for more and post them.

BEGINNERS
Steps we covered

‘Basic Connemara’
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L), Stomp(R)

‘The Johnny’
Toe(R), Toe(R), heel(R)
Hop(R), heel(L) step(L), heel(R) step(R),Stomp(L)

Toe(L), Toe(L), heel(L)
Hop(L), heel(R) step(R), heel(L) step(L),Stomp(R)
(Repeat all 3 more times)

‘The Johnny’ is a step I learned in Mick Mulkerrin & Mairead Casey’s class in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare. It’s a nice little step that allows you to add quite a bit of personality and style.

The Connemara Sean-nós dancer Padraig O'Hoibicín has a step starts out the same way as ‘The Johnny’ with the toe, toe, heel, except instead of dancing the basic step, he dances his own step. What is so interesting and amazing about his step is that it starts out on the beat and moves on and off throughout his repetitions. In previous classes I have demonstrated this step to show Padraig on the beat and off the beat dancing. If you would like I can demonstrate it again next week. Just ask.

Intermediate Class
In the advance class we covered one of Páidí Bán Ó Broin’s steps.

Páidí Bán Ó Broin Step
Tip(R) down(R), Tip(L) down(L), Shuff-le(R) hop(L) back(R)
Tip(L) down(L), Tip(R) down(R), Shuff-le(L) hop(R) back(L)
Step(R) up(R) 1(R) 2(L), Step(R) up(R) 1(R) 2(L)
Tip(R), tip(R), heel(L) heel(L)
Tip(L), tip(L), heel(R)heel(R)
Tip (R), tip(R), heel (L) heel (L), 1(L), 2(R)
And(R) back(L) and(L) back(R) and(R) 1(L) 2(R) 3(L)
End left foot in front ready to repeat on left foot.

I learned this step in Mick Mulkerrin & Mairead Casey class in Miltown Malbay.

Next weeks class will be:

Saturday March 31
Performance Works NW
11am Beginners
12pm Intermediate
Lecture/Demonstration will be on Clare Set Dancing and battering

Hope to see you all there.

-Maldon Meehan

Welcome

In the Saturday dance class a lot of questions about Sean-nós dance, dance steps and history have been coming up. So I have decided to create a blog for the class. This bolg is as much for me to communicate with the class as it is for you to communicate with each other. I will be posting notes from the weekly lecture/demonstrations as well as written notes of the steps from each class. Feel free to post your comments and information you might have on Sean-nós or set dancing.

-Maldon Meehan