Dia duit!!! Conas ata tu? Ta muid Katelyne agus Amy.

That was us saying in Irish: Hello!!! How are you? We are Katelyne and Amy. Irish is a main language we need to learn over here in Ireland as its out national language. As we always say 'A nation without a language, is like a body without a soul.'

Irish Music

Irish Traditional Music is at the heart of Irish culture and history; the traditional is alive and vital, open to change yet conservative of its core values. Many historical songs came from the 1916 Easter rising. The traditional instruments used in Irish culture are the Bodhran (pronounced bowron, a portable drum played with one stick) the Fiddle, the Harp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W22gpBv00gg This is just a quick clip of Irish Dancing (River Dance)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So1qiyLaypk this is a classic Irish song that would be played at any Irish Party or celebration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrQaKNLRgu0 This is the National anthem of Ireland. If you can hear it properly, the singer is singing it in Irish. On screen there should be lyrics in Irish and English.

Irish Dancing

Irish Dancing is a big part of Irelands tradition. This type of dancing is known all over the world. Irish Dancing was popularised in 1994 by the world famous show River Dance. River Dance is widely known for the rapid movement of the feet and legs; as well as the body and arms being kept largely stationary. In Irish Dancing there are two kinds of dances you have the solo dances and a ceili dance. A solo dance is when you dance on your own where as a ceili dance you dance from 2 to 16 people. You would know an Irish Dancer from the pointed toes in the black soft sole shoes to the curly bouncy hair and the dazzling costumes. Irish Dancing music is based on reel and jig type of music. It is vital while dancing to have a straight back and arms by your side with pointed toes and turned out feet. This is what makes Irish Dancing so special.

Irish Dancing Dresses

There are two different types of Irish Dancing Dresses. You have your class dresses and your solo costumes. For over here in Ireland we have those two types of dresses. The class costumes is for if your dancing a ceili dance so that everyone looks the same in the same costumes, shoes and head piece (most likely a hair band). There different stages in dancing. You have easy dances first and they get harder as you win more. When you get to a higher level you can use a solo dress if you have one. A solo costumes doesn't have to have a particular design it can have any colour or accessories on it once they don't fall off. All Irish Dancing dresses have to have some sort of sash at the back along with a long sleeved and knee length dress.

Irish Dancing Shoes

There are two different types of Irish Dancing shoes. There are the soft sole shoes (Pomps) and the hard sole shoe (hornpipes). You use the soft shoes for most dances along with the ceili dances and the hard shoes are used for solo dances and ceili as well. The hornpipes make a loud banging sound but the pomps don’t make any noise when dancing. All Irish dancers have to wear white puffy socks called poodle socks while at a competition (feis) until they are 18. When doing a dance with girls over 18 they have to wear black tights.

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Hornpipe shoes
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Soft Pomp Shoes used for Irish Dancing

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    The Authors:

    We are the students of 8A at the Maria-Ward-Schule in Traunstein, Germany and of 2AB at Loreto College Crumlin in Dublin, Ireland.

    This blog was created for our first virtual exchange project. Every week we will upload different topics about school life, tradition, culture and leisure in our home countries and exchange ideas and comments about these.

    Feel free to join in our discussions!

    We are looking forward to a fun and enriching exchange of ideas!

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