Dancing At The Crossroads

Dancing at the crossroads used to be young people ́s opportunity to meet and enjoy themselves on mild summer evenings in the countryside in Ireland - until this practice was banned by law, the Public Dance Halls Act in 1935. Now a key metaphor in Irish cultural and political life, ́dancing at the crossroads ́ also crystallizes the argument of this book: Irish dance, from Riverdance (the commercial show) and competitive dancing to dance theatre, conveys that Ireland is to be found in a crossroads situation with a firm base in a distinctly Irish tradition which is also becoming a prominent part of European modernity. Helena Wulff is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University. Publications include Twenty Girls (Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1988), Ballet across Borders (Berg, 1998), Youth Cultures (co-edited with Vered Amit-Talai, Routledge, 1995), New Technologies at Work (co-edited with Christina Garsten, Berg, 2003). Her research focusses on dance, visual culture, and Ireland.

Dancing at the Southern Crossroads presents a cohesive narrative of the early practice of Irish step dance in Australia and is the first book on the topic to be written by an Australian. It presents a topical view of the choreographic practices and social significance of step dance in the Irish immigrant community in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and situates the practice of dance within the wider historical contexts in which Irish immigrants lived.This book includes biographies of the early practitioners which feature their dance careers and personal aspects of their lives. The development of competitions is a highlight, relating the moulding of the framework of rules and regulations to the socio-cultural context in which Irish Australians found themselves, as well as the concurrent developments in step dance taking place in Ireland. Each topic emphasises the role of the people who danced in past times and draws heavily on letters to newspapers which reveal those performers' intense passion for Irish step dance.The book makes a substantial contribution to the very sparse collection of works about immigrants and traditional dance styles that have been perpetuated in Australia following migration and re-settlement, which is a neglected area in Australian dance scholarship. Thus, the book underscores the highly variegated nature of the dance landscape in this nation Dancing at the Southern Crossroads traces the story of Irish step dance in Australia. It will be of interest to scholars of Irish migration, dance scholars and the current cohort of Australian Irish step dancers.

Dance theatre has become a site of transformation in the Irish performance landscape. This book conducts a socio-political and cultural reading of dance theatre practice in Ireland from Yeats' dance plays at the start of the 20th century to Celtic-Tiger-era works of Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre and CoisCéim Dance Theatre at the start of the 21st.

Based on proven theory and real-life experience, this guidebook provides a one-stop resource for educators, librarians, and storytellers looking to introduce storytelling programs for young adults. Storytelling is often associated with storytime and library services to young children, but effective storytelling speaks to all ages—including teens. Engaging Teens with Story: How to Inspire and Educate Youth with Storytelling offers an in-depth look at storytelling for young adults that explains the benefits of storytelling with this audience, what current practices are, and storytelling opportunities to explore with youth. It provides a unique source of expert guidance that youth services librarians, professional storytellers, and middle and high school teachers will appreciate. Readers will learn how to find stories for teens, apply proven techniques for successful telling of tales to teens, use traditional literature as a basis for creative writing, and establish a teen storytelling club or troupe. The guide also covers how teens can create their own stories with digital media; the connections between traditional folk and fairy tales and today's film, television, books, and online media; and how storytelling can be successfully used with at-risk youth.

This book traces the history of morris dancing in England, from its introduction in the 15th century, through the contention of the Reformation and Civil War, when morris dancing and maypoles became potent symbols of the older ways of living, to its re-invention as an emblem of Victorian concepts of Merrie England in the 19th century.

Where and what is Ireland?--What are the identities of the people of Ireland?--How has European Union membership shaped Irish people's lives and interests?--How global is local Ireland?This book argues that such questions can be answered only by understanding everyday aspects of Irish culture and identity. Such understanding is achieved by paying close attention to what people in Ireland themselves say about the radical changes in their lives in the context of wider global transformation. As notions of sex, religion, and politics are radically reworked in an Ireland being re-imagined in ways inconceivable just a generation ago, anthropologists have been at the forefront of recording the results. The first comprehensive book-length introduction to anthropological research on the island as a whole, The Anthropology of Ireland considers the changing place in a changing Ireland of religion, sex, sport, race, dance, young people, the Travellers, St Patrick's Day and much more.

A journey to the heartland of today's Ireland, its people and politicians, Jiving at the Crossroads marks a radical new departure in Irish writing. Cutting to the very core of the unresolved struggles that haunt the Irish psyche -- the past and the present, between the urban and the rural -- Irish Times columnist John Waters creates a uniquely personal insight into the dilemmas faced by a whole gerneration born since de Valera's vision of comely lads and lasses dancing at the crossroads.