Celtic designs on an Irish dancing dress
That great show Riverdance is in Cardiff this week, at St David’s Hall for a couple of days as part of a tour to celebrate 21 years since the first performance. By chance it is now 21 years since I took these pictures of young people dancing in the Irish style in Kinsale, County Cork, in the summer of 1995, before the Riverdance phenomenon began in earnest.
I hesitate to publish these pictures of youngsters, even though it was a public performance – but I tell myself they must now be in their 20s or 30s. I wonder if any of them grew up to be Riverdancers?
Dancing girls at Kinsale, 1995
For me the photographs are all about the dresses and the children’s faces. The dresses seemed to have been made of bright velvet, embroidered with Celtic designs. And I love the distinctive flared shape. Of course I love the dancing, too – so clever the way they keep their arms so still and kick so high at the same time.
Anyway, I didn’t catch any snaps of them dancing, but here are some “colour” images from the day.
Another lovely dress
…and another
These three looked like sisters to me
This little one may not have had the dress, but she had the dancing shoes
Nowadays it seems to me that the dress for Irish dancing contests has taken on some of the character of ballroom dancing, with sequins, and of beauty pageants, with big hair…
Murdo Macleod of The Guardian compiled a photo essay on the World Irish dancing championships in Glasgow recently – click on the image to see more pictures
More dancers, 1995-style
There were boys, too…
…but no colourful “uniform”
An Irish take on green velvet
I think this lady was the dance teacher
There was also Irish music…
…another musician
A drummer or two
Irish dancing is a strange combination of self-constraint and joy
And finally…
Riverdance today
If you have never heard of the Riverdance phenomenon, I’d better explain that it began as the interval entertainment at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in April 1994 and expanded into a stage show featuring (mainly) Irish music and dance in February 1995. There’s more about the phenomenon on Wikipedia here, or see the official Riverdance website here.
You can see more posts featuring my old non-digital pictures here.
The Squirrelbasket 
Those dresses are stunning. It has an air of festivity to me.
We’ve just spent £30 on developing some rolls of film – no idea what was on them – and such a waste of time! The most boring shots ever hahaha Pete was given a disposable camera free (probably to encourage customers to go back I would imagine) but doubt we’ll use it (although never say never).
Fabulous shots Pat. It’s funny how crazes take off.
Thanks for your kind words.
I can’t believe how we used to take pictures and film and have to wait so long to see if they had come out. And always running out at 36 shots just when the ideal picture presented itself.
I once had a “panoramic” cardboard disposable camera and took it on a free trip I to the Wimbledon tennis. Rubbish pictures! What a wasted opportunity…
All the best 🙂
What a lovely trip down memory lane. I first heard of Irish dancing back in the early nineties long before Riverdance became the phenomenon that it is – my old neighbour had her nieces over from Ireland visiting on holiday and they put on a lovely show for us in the back garden. A sturdy pair of legs need!
Glad it brought back memories!
I do love the way the arms don’t move in Irish dancing. What discipline! And less to go wrong, I suppose…
All the best 🙂
I prefer your old non-commercial version! neat photos, nice way to start the day
I love the Celtic designs on the rich velvet dresses & the way the tradition of Irish dance is kept alive. The quality of your original photos must be good to reproduce so well. This post evoked a flashback to my daughters’ dancing days – they did a ‘Riverdance’ troupe routine for the Swansea Festival of Dance. Where does the time go?