DIPLOMARBEIT Titel der Diplomarbeit „Irish Dance: Performing National Identity through Sports“ Verfasser Michael Schumacher angestrebter akademischer Grad Magister der Philosophie (Mag.phil.) Wien, 2012 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 343 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Diplomstudium Anglistik und Amerikanistik UniStG Betreuerin: Ao. U.-Prof. Dr. Monika Seidl 2 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................5 2.0 Nationalism, Nation, and Irish Identity .......................................................................8 2.1 Nation .....................................................................................................................8 2.2 From Nation to Nationalism .................................................................................. 11 2.3 Nation and Nationalism in Irish History ................................................................. 13 3.0 National Identity and Sports ..................................................................................... 18 3.1 Power and Identity in Physical Activity ................................................................. 18 3.2 Sports and Modernity ........................................................................................... 23 4.0 Sports and Nationalism in Ireland – The Gaelic Athletic Association ....................... 30 5.0 Irish Dance as Nationalist Alignment ....................................................................... 39 5.1 The Dance Master – A National Icon? .................................................................. 39 5.2 The Gaelic League– Irish Dance As Carrier of Nationalist Identity ....................... 43 5.3 Preserving and Reviving Ireland – Purifying Irish Dance ...................................... 47 5.4 De-Catholisation and Secularisation of Irish Dance .............................................. 58 6.0 Competitions of Irish Dance: The Link Between Nationalism and Sports ................ 61 7.0 Transformation from Local Folk Dance to Global Modern Sport .............................. 67 8.0 Irish Dancing as a Global Sport ............................................................................... 75 9.0 Irish Dance Shows Reflecting Shifts in National Identity .......................................... 79 10.0 Modern Irish Dance - Irish Dancing in 2011 ........................................................... 82 10.1 Separating Competitive Irish Dance from Informal Dance and Sean-nós ........... 82 10.2 Irish Dance as Play, Game and Sport ................................................................ 87 10. 3 The Vienna Feis 2011 ....................................................................................... 91 10.3.1 Comparability ............................................................................................... 92 10.3.2 The Rule System of the Vienna Feis 2011 ................................................... 93 10.3.3 Vienna Feis 2011 Structure .......................................................................... 97 4 10.4 Evaluation versus Aesthetics .............................................................................. 99 10.5 Higher, Faster, Stronger - The Authority of the Champion ............................... 100 11.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 109 12.0 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 113 13.0 Index .................................................................................................................... 116 14.0 Appendix .............................................................................................................. 123 14.1 Timetable - Vienna Feis Held 1. and 2. October 2011 ..................................... 123 14.2 Rules of the Joan Rafter School of Irish Dancing Feis in Vienna 2011 ............ 129 14.3 Basic Irish Step Dance Moves .......................................................................... 132 14.4 Abstract ............................................................................................................ 134 14.5 Zusammenfassung ........................................................................................... 135 14.6 Lebenslauf ........................................................................................................ 138 5 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 was held in Ireland and included an interlude dance show called Riverdance. In this short Riverdance show, dancers performed synchronous step dancing in a chorus line using battering rhythms at breathtaking speed and received standing ovations (Whelan 33). The step dancing displayed in this interlude was Irish step dance. It was Irish folk dancing adapted for shows. The dancing was accompanied by the singer group Anuna and included Irish music specifically composed for this interlude (33). It was a presentation of Ireland to celebrate the Eurovision Song contest in Dublin (33). Sales of the video recording of this 7- minute performance were highly successful earning 300,000 pounds revenue (38). The sum was donated to help victims of the civil war conflict in Rwanda, (38). Incited by the enormous success, the 90- minute show Riverdance was further developed and premiered at the Point Theatre Dublin on 9 February 1995 (47). Riverdance and follow - up shows such as Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames became the most popular dance world tour productions in history. Irish dancing, previously performed in a closed world of tradition and competition, came to world-wide attention and recognition due to the success and popularity of the Irish dance shows. Competitive Irish dancing became the backbone of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance . It is necessary to emphasise that the Irish dancing shows admired by audiences worldwide are based on competitive sport seeking perfection. Without the high-standard dancing skills developed through competitive Irish dancing, Irish dance shows could not have been as accurate, strong and skilful performed. Irish dancing can be regarded as merely being a folk dance, as art or an expression of culture, but it can be clearly defined as competitive modern sport. This paper will explain the diverse nature of Irish dancing as it will centre on investigating the aspects that qualify Irish dance as modern sport. This will be achieved by applying sport studies for definitions and principles of modern sports. 6 Defining Irish dancing as modern sport is not enough as Irish dancing is intricately linked to Irish identity. Thus, the question arises how national identity is performed through Irish dance as modern sport. In order to explain Irish dance as expressing national identity through sport, the paper will deal with the principles of Irish nationalism and the formation of imagined nationalism. In terms of structure, the paper will first produce an explanation of the phenomenon of nationalism which will be followed by an account of its connection with the history of Ireland. Then, an overview of various approaches to modern sport and sport studies will be provided. Subsequently, insights into both nationalism and sport studies will be used for directly looking at the Gaelic League’s taking charge of Irish dancing in the 1890s. Furthermore, it will be investigated how dancing in Ireland became standardised and promoted as “the Irish dance”. In addition, research on the development from folk dance to Irish dance as sport will be presented including the creation of controlling organisations such as the Irish Dancing Commission. Subsequently, the structural organisation and rule system of the Irish dance competition-system will be highlighted in order to prove that Irish dance meets all criteria characterising it as modern sport. Researching on Irish dance as sports proved to be difficult due to the fact that only a small number of publications dealing with Irish dancing exists and due to a tradition of passing Irish dance knowledge informally without written record or notation system of step repertoire. Although basic information on Irish dance is provided in some books dealing with Irish history, theatre, and music, publications dealing exclusively with Irish dancing remained scarce until 1987. Cullinane, from 1987 onwards, successfully attempted to collect comprehensive material on different aspects of Irish dancing. He published his finding in a series of books dealing generally with the aspects of Irish dancing. Arthur Flynn provided a basic introduction to the history of Irish dance for the general reader, while Brennan highlighted early history of dancing in Ireland, variations of style, and written records of stylistic debates. Frank Whelan published a comprehensive guide and overview helping with the difficult topic of Irish dance. None of these books, however, focuses on Irish dance as sport. In 2003, Frank Hall published his book 7 Competitive Irish Dance: Art, Sport Duty, using an anthropological approach and field research to come up with a detailed analysis of Irish dance as competitive sport. All authors mentioned highlight the problem of lacking written records when facing knowledge of Irish dance. From the historical point of view, Irish dancing has always been fragmented; as to this day, it has only been taught orally and by imitation. No records of dance repertoire