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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (92436)	1/3/2005 10:22:49 AM
From: one_less	Respond to of 108807

tsunami: Bush obligating 350 million in government aid, 24 hour a day missions to provide relief, asking private citizens and private charitable organizations to chip in as much as they are able. Bush 1 and Clinton are spearheading a fund raising campaign.

To: epicure who wrote (92436)	1/5/2005 2:03:18 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

I really enjoyed your link on dancing, Ionesco. In fact, it made me want to do more research. I discovered that it may even be that good old Irish resistance against the English that caused the stiff arm movements, although many believe it was the influence of priests. Irish dance and Irish culture were driven so far underground, and written history is so sparse, that there are lots of theories in play. I love Scottish dancing. The Scottish castle wedding scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral is particularly pretty. Unfortunately I have no first hand, Scotland travel experience yet, but I would love to see more. And the English Morris dancers are so wonderful to watch at Christmas. They used to perform at the Junior Museum in San Francisco every year. Anyway, here is an interesting piece about Irish dancing: Why The Straight Arms One of the most distinctive features of Irish dancing is the rigid upper body and straight arms. There is little definate record of why this is, but there are plenty of stories and theories. Many alleged reasons relate in some way to the English occupation of Ireland, and the subsequent suppression of Irish culture. One story is that a group of Irish dancers were bought to dance for the Queen. These dancers refused to raise their arms to her, and kept them rigidly by their sides as they danced out of defiance, and possibly to show they were not enjoying themselves as they danced for her and the English. It is quite possible that this event actually happened. The Queen in reference is probably Elizabeth I. She reportedly enjoyed Irish jigs, and it is known that dances of Irish origin were danced in her courts. The dancers may have been called to the courts for her entertainment. Also, when royalty arrived in Ireland they were greeted at the shore by Irish dancers. Their defiance would be natural after the suppression they had been subjected to for centuries, since Irish culture was outlawed by the Statute of Kilkenny in the 14th century. However, it seems strange,considering this law, that the Irish would be called to perform their own dances. Other stories relating to the English tell how the Irish would go into pubs, and dance behind the bar with their upper body straight so that the English would not be able to tell that they were dancing. A variation on this tells how they danced in their gardens, with their legs behind the hedges. Perhaps this reference to hedges has been mixed up over the years and actually refers to the Hedge Schools, the secret schools were Irish culture was taught in secrecy throughout the suppression. Similar theories are often also heard with a reference to the clergy. It is often said that the Catholic Church disapproved of certain aspects of Irish dance, and would do what they could to control or stop it. But the people would dance straight armed so that if a passing priest looked through the window of the house he would not realize they were dancing. All these ideas are rather sketchy, and it seems unlikely that any person, whether they be English or Clergy, when seeing a person bouncing up and down, would pass without suspicion of what they were doing! As already mentioned, Catholicism also seems to be a theme for these stories. Apparently the Church did not want boys and girls to hold hands. To stop this they made them hold their arms by their sides. Another idea is that, at a time of puritanical Catholicism, the Church in effect ironed the fun out of Irish dancing to make it reflect christian ideals. The dancers had to keep their backs straight, their arms down, and the smile was taken of the face. The most believeable theory, which is supported by many historians of Irish dance, is that the Dance Masters of the 18th century were responsible. They liked ettiquette, and dissaproved of the unruly arm movements of Sean Nos dancing. They therefore made their students dance with their arms in a fixed position, holding a stone on the hand to keep them in a fist. It is thought by some that they may have originally made dancers hold one or both hands on the hip, and the completely straight arms came at a later date. However we came to dance with our arms straight, it remains today, and helps make Irish dance so distinctive in a world where no other form of dance expects perfect balance without the use of the arms. irelandsdance.com