Location	Throughout the island of Ireland, in Irish communities abroad, and among non-Irish people attracted to Irish music and dance in countries throughout the world.
Categories	Oral traditions and expressions, including language Performing arts Social practices, rituals and festive events
Keywords	set dancing, social dancing, reels, jigs, hornpipes, slides, polkas, and flings
Contact organisation	Brooks Academy

Short Summary

A form of social dance, set-dancing is derived from the 18th century French ‘quadrilles’. It comprises a number (several dozen) named dances which are performed by eight dancers/four couples. Each dance or ‘set’ consists of three to seven (most often four or five) short ‘figures’ (90-180 seconds in execution, mostly) which are danced in sequence, with a pause between each two figures. The dances are performed to different types of Irish traditional dance tune, including reels, jigs, hornpipes, slides, polkas, and flings. The figures of a set may all be danced to the same tune-type, or to several tune-types. The use of different tune-types is significant, as a dancer’s body moves in subtly different ways to perform the steps appropriate to the different types of tune.

Background Information:

While based on the imported, French quadrille (first introduced to Ireland from the 1780s), the processes of imitation and diversification have resulted in a specifically Irish form evolving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which was not moderated by commercial dance practice, e.g. in such venues as commercially-run dance halls or upper-class ballrooms. Instead, it took on the characteristics of a form of vernacular dance, becoming characterised by variation rather than conformity to approved versions called by professional dance-masters, or published in dance manuals intended to prepare dancers for society.

Among the sets recovered from tradition in the late 20^th century are The Plain Set (found in several versions and clearly the descendant of the early 19th century ‘First set of quadrilles’); The Lancers Set (devised in Dublin c. 1817, and subsequently taken up worldwide); The Caledonian Set (associated with co. Clare); several versions of the Mazurka Set (naturalised to be danced to reels rather than mazurkas); The Jenny Lind (named for ‘The Swedish Nightingale’ and probably created by a 19th c. Munster dancing master); The Conamara Set (associated with an Irish-speaking region); The Sliabh Luachra Set (named for the region in the south of Ireland where it was danced); the Cashel Set, and The West Kerry Set.

Practice and Practitioners:

At the time of writing, the sets that are most regularly danced at céilíthe (balls or dance parties) include the Caledonian, different versions of the Plain Set, the Conamara Set, the Lancers, the Merchant Set, the Claddagh Set, the Moycullen Set, and the Baile Mhúirne Jig Set.

After a period in the mid-20th century when its practice declined, set-dancing has recovered in popularity. It is now a form of dance available to all and, as its performance requires the involvement of groups of eight dancers, it facilitates social interaction. Many sets include a figure which enhances this characteristic – a ‘change-partner’ figure, sometimes called the ‘flirtation figure’, in which the four couples exchange partners while dancing, until each woman has danced briefly with each man before returning to their original partners.

Set dancing is practised in different ways. It may be engaged in during music sessions when dancers obtain the agreement of musicians to play the specific sets of tunes required to dance the figures. A significant feature of set-dancing is the opportunity it provides for musicians and dancers to enjoy a reciprocal exchange of energy. Good music stimulates good dancing, and vice versa.

Most often, set-dancing is practiced at dedicated occasions, usually public dance events, and often if not mostly to the exclusion of other forms of dance at the same events. It requires some effort to commit the movements of the different figures to memory in order to perform them smoothly, but newcomers are not discouraged on those grounds; in fact, most set-dancers will try to facilitate newcomers by allowing them to observe the movements before it is their turn to perform them. The individuals who take the trouble to internalise the different regional styles of stepping, and the (hundreds of) different figures, may be called the key practitioners. Very often these individuals become dance teachers and disseminate knowledge of the sets, but they are not privileged in any way regarding special access to the dances. As is the case with traditional music, different versions of sets may be found in different regions, and some sets are found to be specific to particular regions.

 Development, transmission and safeguarding:

Before the 1980s this form of dance was undocumented, and this situation led to the development of different versions of dances in isolated districts. As there were no professionally-mediated versions to maintain conformity, the dances evolved differences in oral transmission.

Starting in 1984, with ‘Irish Dances’ (Na Píobairí Uilleann, Dublin, for Brooks Academy) over one hundred different set dances (including versions) have been recorded in the form of printed manuals and video recordings. These have made available to the whole community of dancers the entire range of different dances where, before the revival, each district might have been accustomed to use one or two sets.

It has become a self-regenerating tradition as new dances are being created on the pattern of the existing ones. It is a social form of dance rather than a spectacle form reserved for trained dancers. Therefore, there are no barriers to participation in it on grounds of age, sex, race, religion or any other characteristic.

The dissemination of printed and audio-visual materials ensures continuity to a large degree. In the performance of the figures the order and mode of execution of the movements must be in an agreed form for the dance to be performed. This ensures continuity of structure. However, it does not prevent the emergence of elements of style or execution by different individuals or in different regions.

Set-dancing is made available to young people in a variety of situations – in the various annual Summer Schools, in dedicated clubs, in the homes of interested parents, and, on occasion, in the national school system by interested teachers.

Contact organisations:  Brooks Academy