ENDNOTES

Introduction
1
For more description of sean-nós dancing, refer to Helen Brennan’s The Story of Irish
Dance (Lanham: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 2001), 135-149, and Catherine Foley’s
article, “Perceptions of Irish Step Dance: National, Global and Local,” Dance Research
Journal 33.1 (2001): 34-45. In addition, in 2005 Maldon Meehan and Ronan Regan
released a DVD which documents the style and instructs the watcher in sean-nós dancing:
Dance Sean Nós, (Prod. Maldon Meehan and Ronan Regan. DVD. Nua-Nós, 2005).

Chapter One
1
Because bodies can also be approached from a “constructivist” angle and not simply as
“natural” entities—indeed the entire concept of natural is constructed—studies of the
body in relation to society, ideology, or any other category of meaning do not only focus
on the direct, lived, physical experience of the body, but rather often include studies of
mediated bodies (as “captured” in photographs and film, for example), studies of the
economics of bodies (anything from the study of cosmetics industries to dance ticket
sales, and beyond), or the contributions of bodies to broader political movements
(perhaps through studies of the psychic imprints of footsteps in protests or the
inequalities between access to medical care), etc. Authors who explore these different
approaches to the body include Derrick Burrill (mediated bodies), Mark Franko and
Tracy Davis (economic bodies), and J’aime Morrison and Marta Savigliano (political
bodies). These are of course only a small sample of the ways in which studies of the body
may be written. It is my belief that the “constructivist” models and the “naturalistic”
models do not have to be mutually exclusive; that is, “the body” is not separate from
“culture,” just as “culture” is inseparable from “the body.” See Mark Franko, The Work
of Dance: Labor, Movement, and Identity in the 1930s, (Middletown: Wesleyan
University Press, 2002), Marta Savigliano, Tango and the Political Economy of Passion:
From Exoticism to Decolonization, (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994), Tracy Davis,
Actresses as Working Women: Their Social Identity in Victorian Culture (New York:
Routledge, 1991), J’aime Morrison, “Mapping Irish Movement: Dance-Politics-History,”
Ph.D. Diss., New York University (2003), and Derek Burrill, “Out of the Box:
Performance, Drama, and Interactive Software,” Modern Drama, 48:3 (Fall 2005): 492-
512.
2
Helen Thomas, in her book, The Body, Dance, and Cultural Theory, reinforces this
observation, stating, “Few social or cultural theorists of the body have been drawn to
address dance systematically as a discursive or situated aesthetic practice, to generate
insights into, for example, the politics of sexual and/or racial and/or class differences as
they are traced through representations of the body and inscribed in bodily practices,”
Helen Thomas, The Body, Dance and Cultural Theory (Basingstoke, New York:
Palgrave, 2003), 1.
3
Cythia Novack lists the defining characteristics of contact improvisation dance as the
following: “governing movement through the changing points of contact between
bodies;” “sensing through the skin;” “rolling through the body;” “focus on segmenting
the body and moving in several directions simultaneously;” “experiencing movement
from the inside;” “using 360-degree space;” “going with the momentum,” “emphasizing
weight and flow;” “tacit inclusion of the audience;” “conscious informality of
presentation,” “modeled on a practice or jam;” “the dancer is just a person;” “letting the
dance happen;” and “everyone should be equally important.” Cynthia J. Novack, Sharing
the Dance: Contact Improvisation and American Culture (Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press, 1990), 114-149.
4
Each dance is composed of either two or three eight-bar “steps,” which are performed
on both the right and left feet. A dance composed of three steps is performed in the span
of approximately a minute and a half, more or less depending on the metrical structure of
the particular type of music, and the speed at which the music is performed.

Chapter Two

1 Figure dances and dance dramas are choreographed by teachers, as opposed to being
performed “according to the book” of prescribed ceílí dances, An Coimisiún le Rincí
Gaelacha, Ár Rincí Fóirne, (Dublin: Westside Press, 2003).

2 This is because there are generally far fewer competitors in the older age groups, and
hence there would be very few World Championships qualifiers if no accommodations
were made.

3 Aside from some movements being incorporated from ballet, arm movements inspired
by cheerleading being performed in ceílí dances, and other movements, Irish dancing is
relatively insulated from developments in other forms.

Chapter Three

1 Because Crawford’s study draws information from only six accounts, his sample is too
small for any sort of reliable quantitative analysis. However, if he had distributed his
survey to a larger number of teachers and adjudicators, his methodology might have
yielded fruitful information.

Chapter Four
1
Interestingly, in Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American
Dance, Susan Foster analyzes a number of different ways that a dance might convey the
idea of a river. She suggests that dances might resemble, imitate, replicate, or reflect such
an idea. The term “resemblance” is chosen among these because dancers in Riverdance
do not pantomime specific aspects of the river, but rather take the qualities, or energies of
a river and express them through dancing. Susan Foster, Reading Dancing: Bodies and
Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1986), 65.
2
These comment seem to make implicit reference to a 1936 essay by German cultural
critic Walter Benjamin, called “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction.” In this essay, Benjamin argues that when art is reproduced, its ideological
or cultural characteristics, also known as “aura” are what circulate. Thus, the relationship
with the mode of interception of meaning is changed. Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936)” Eds. Meenakshi Gigi Durham and
Douglas Kellner. Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
1991).
3
See, for example, one teacher’s narrative on the demand for classes at IdanceIrish.
“Stephen Scariff Teaching Irish Dancing in Vienna - IdanceIrish interview of the month.”
IdanceIrish. 2005. 23 Feb 2008.
<http://www.idanceirish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100>.

Chapter Five

1 Information comes from works cited below, especially Jan Nederveen Pietrse,
Globalization and Culture: Global Mélange, (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004).

2 This document is generally available to teachers, adjudicators, and some members of

organizations running feiseanna, and is not usually available to the broader Irish dancing
public. Only two years are discussed because only those two versions of the document
are available to this author.

3 As a note, in feiseanna, very young dancers may be able to participate in “under six”
competitions—although they may be separated into special trophy competitions,
sometimes called “Tír na nÓg” competitions.

Chapter Six

1 The name of Irish Dancing Magazine went through a variety of revisions. In 2000, the
name was changed to The International Irish Dancing Magazine. Then, in 2005, the
name was changed to Irish Dancing and Culture International. Finally, in 2006, the name
was changed to Irish Dancing and Culture. However, even when the name changed, the
approach and content of the magazine remained largely the same over time. In this thesis,
where a specific issue is referenced, the name of that particular issue is noted. Where
Irish Dancing Magazine is referred to as a phenomenon, it is referenced as “Irish
Dancing Magazine” and not another permutation.

2 These rules appear to be complete, because they are similar to the 1993 copy of the
rules that I obtained through personal connections, and because the rules relating to
costumes are identical to rules that are published on other sites. However, there is always
a possibility that some of the language may have been altered—although it seems
unlikely, because the website owner stated that it was his intent for dancers to be able to
read all of the rules and have access to accurate information.

3 One solution is linking the dress to an achievement of merit. The solo costume is
conventionally used as a reward and as a motivating factor for advancement in
competition. The attainment of a dancing technique worthy of a solo costume (generally,
championship-level) can perhaps be construed as a symbolic act of status achievement.
According to Darrah Carr, “Obtaining such a dress, known as a solo costume, is a rite of
passage within the world of competitive Irish step dance because it signifies that a dancer
has reached a certain level. At that point, she will work with her teacher and a costume
designer to create a specific, individual look,” in “Colorful, Complex Creations Adorn
Irish Dancers,” Dance Magazine, (Oct. 2001): 73. In a February/March 2000 advice
column in Hornpipe Magazine, Eimir Ni Mhaoileidigh refers to a dancing costume as “an
incentive or reward” which can be used by parents to motivate dancers to achieve high
results in competition, in "Ask Eimer," Hornpipe Magazine, (February/March 2000): 5.
However, the use of this kind of a dancer-parent contract raises the importance of the
achievement of the dress. While this may increase the value that a dancer attaches to the
dress, and thus, perhaps, the level of care a dancer gives a dress, it also changes the
meaning of achievement in competition. To a certain extent, dancers may be trying to
move higher in competition not just for the sake of prestige, but also to achieve an
expensive, personalized dress. While it is unlikely that most dancers push themselves just
to earn the dress, it does seem straightforward to say that for many dancers the
achievement of the dress is an important, idealized, and dreamed-after moment, in part
because of the way that it is explicitly linked to status and personal esteem.

4 A fairly expensive brand, which some readers have suggested is unreasonable for them
to be expected to purchase.

5 Specific publication dates are not provided for many of the issues of Hornpipe
Magazine. Because of this, I have chosen to list volume and issue numbers.

Chapter Seven
1
The popularity of wigs led to a number of “wig mishaps” in which the wig would fly off
of the head during competitions and performances. Dancer “Kellith” recalled such an
incident, writing, “I had one of those old bun wigs that's like a scrunchie and it fell off so
everyone was just kicking it to the back of the room. I still get laughed at for that one!” in
Kellith, "re: Funniest thing that has happened while you have been performing?"
Dance.net, 27 Dec 2005. 23 Feb 2008. <http://www.dance.net/topic/4458007/1/Irish-
Shows/Funniest-thing-that-has-happened-while-you-have-been-performing.html>.
Chapter Eight
1
Kimberlé Crenshaw analyses the complexity of black women’s experiences, using the
term intersectionality. In her 1989 paper, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and
Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and
Antiracist Politics,” she details the ways in which law, feminist theory, and anti-racist
political theories tend to treat race and gender as mutually exclusive categories, when, in
a more satisfactory model, black women’s experiences would be viewed as
“multidimensional” (140). She also suggests that the tendency to treat black women as
falling into one or the other of these dynamics indeed marginalizes their struggles and
experiences. Extrapolating from this analysis, I might say that no person’s relation to the
world is fixed by any one dynamic of race, class, gender, or sexuality, but, rather, these
dynamics are mutually implicated. Kimberlé Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the
Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine,
Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” Chicago Legal Forum, 139 (1989): 140.

Conclusion
1
The terms “core” and “periphery” are associated with world-systems theory, which is
further explored in Christopher Chase-Dunn and Peter Grimes’ paper, “World-Systems
Analysis,” Annual Review of Sociology, 21 (1995): 389.
2
For more information on the growth of income inequality in the United States in the late
twentieth century and the early twenty-first century, please see the United States Census
Bureau’s “Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2005,” United
States Census Bureau, 2006, 17 Mar 2008,
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/p60no231_tablea3.pdf >.
The table lists the Gini index of income inequality figures, a common economic measure
of income inequality. According to the table, income inequality in the United States has
increased consistently from 1980 onward.