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How to do back clicks and turning clicks in Irish dance. In the click, the objective is to strike the heels together in order to produce an audible clicking sound. In the back click, this is accomplished by first stepping on the right foot. Lifting the left foot, tucking it up behind one’s self and changing feet, clicking in mid-air. this can be alternated by stepping on the left foot, lifting the right foot, tucking it behind one’s self, changing the feet and hitting the heals together or clicking the heels in mid-air. It helps to keep the feet slightly turned out and the toes pointed as always in Irish dance.

The back click can also be done turning, in what is called a turning click. To initiate this turn, the dancer steps with the right foot and turns one’s body 180 degrees. The click that happens in the opposite direction by clicking heels together in mid-air. The dancer completes the turn by landing the opposite foot. We’ll look at the turning click again. And step, click, down. Now we’ll look at two turning clicks in a row. And, step click down, click down.

How to do the back click and the turning click in Irish dance.

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Hi. My name is Darrah Carr. I’m the Music Director of Dara Carr Dance, a professional Irish Dance company based in New York City.

For the last 15 years I’ve developed a style of dance that I’ve coined ModERIN. ModERIN is a compound word referencing modern, as in dance, and Erin, an Irish-American reference to Ireland.

This compound, or fused, word encapsulates my choreographic interests in drawing from the tradition of Irish dance and the tradition of modern dance to create a blended style of contemporary dance choreography.

From Irish dance I utilize music cycles, rhythmic footwork and spacial patterning. From modern dance I utilize floor work, level changes and partnering.

Together this creates a marriage of Irish dance structure and modern dance freedom that I’ve coined ModERIN.

Recent performance highlights from my company include a spot on NBC’s The Today Show, a performance at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops and our annual season at the Irish Arts Center.

In 2011 we were nominated for a Bessie Award for our work with guest choreographer Sean Curran.

You can find us performing works by myself and Sean Curran at the Irish Art Center every November. You can also take classes in ModERIN style at the Irish Art Center.

Outside of Darrah Carr dance I teach in both the Dance and Irish Studies programs at Hofstra University and contribute a variety of articles on the history of dance to a number of different dance publications.

Please visit our website DarrahCarrDance.com for more information about our work.

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How to do the Drum in Irish Step Dance. The Drum in Irish Step Dance is created by three sounds. In the first sound, the dancer lifts the back foot and places it down on the ground behind herself. Step. The second sound is created by a toe or a tip of the front of the shoe on the floor. Tip. The third sound is a heel, dropping the heel or digging the heel into the ground for the third sound. We’ll look at those three moves again. The step, the toe, and the heel. And a little faster. When done in progression, the Drum can also travel across the space like this. Traveling Drums. An advanced rendering of the step will be to add a flair, flick, or twist of the front foot, moving it from side to side, like this. Watching the Drum one more time, up to full tempo, and… how to do the Drum in Irish Dance.

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How to do the Double Trebles in Irish step dance. I like to call the Double Treble, one, two, one, two, three, four, five. Because, seven sounds in total are produced. This is primarily used in jig timing.

To initiate the rhythm, the dancer brushes the foot out, away from the body for one. Brings it back towards the body with a brush for two and re-initiates the rhythm of the right foot by hopping and landing the left foot. One, brushing the foot out again. Two, pulling it back in for three. Another hop, for the fourth sound and finally planting it behind one’s self for the fifth and final sound of the sequence.

Lets look at that again. Seven sounds in total. The first two are two brushes, out and in. One, Two. Hop to re-initiate. One, two, three. Brushing out and in. Four, is the hop and five places the foot back down behind one’s self. One, two, one, two, three, four, five. We’ll see that now in medium tempo. Doing it now, at up to fast tempo, alternating right side and left side again. How to do the Double Treble in Irish dance.

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How to do front clicks and double clicks in Irish Step Dance?

In the front click or the double click the objective is to strike the heels together in midair, therefore producing a clicking sound.

We’ll look at front click first.

In the front click the dancer keeps both legs straight. Stepping first on the right leg, lifting the left leg in preparation. Swinging the left leg through followed by the right leg in quick succession and striking the heels in midair.

The objective is to get the second leg even higher than the initial swinging leg. We’ll look at that again.

It’s helpful to keep the feet turned out in order to achieve the front click.

A variant on the front click is to cut or bed the second leg that swings through. An example of that is this.

We’ll see that again from the side angle.

An additional style of click is called the double click whereby the dancer produces two sets of heel strikes while jumping in midair.
In some ways this is similar to the entrechat in the soft shoe style whereby the feet are changing back to front.

Double click.

We’ll try that again. Helpful to keep the feet turned out on both the front and back click.

How to do front clicks and double clicks in Irish dance

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How to combine Irish Step Dancing moves into a beginner routine. Once you have mastered a certain number of Irish Dance movements, you’ll have acquired a vocabulary. Now it is time to take that vocabulary and put it into a sequence. You can think of this, your vocabulary, as being letters and your sequence as being words.

So we are writing or choreographing a beginner Irish Dance routine.
In this example we’ll use three of our basic Irish Dance moves, the first being skips, which we’ll demonstrate for you here. A series of three skips. And one-two-three, two-two-three, three-two-three. We will also use point hop backs a series of two which we’ll demonstrate for you here: and point hop back, point hop back. We will also use the side seven. In this instance traveling to the right side. We’ll demonstrate that for you here. And hop two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Taking those three basic Irish Dance vocabulary moves, the skips, point hop backs, and the side sevens we’ll now create them in a routine. We’ll begin by doing four skips in a circle around oneself. And hop one-two-three, hop two-two-three, hop three-two-three, hop four-two-three. We’ll add on two hop backs on the right foot first. And point hop back, point hop back. We’ll finish with a side sevens traveling to the right. Cut two, three, four, five, six, seven.
This completes our sequence and gives us eight bars or eight counts of music. We’ll demonstrate that sequence more fluidly for you now and I will count us in for eight. Ready and it’s one-two-three, two-two-three, three-two-three, four-two-three, five-two-three, six-two-three, seven-two-three, and eight-two-three.

That completes a beginner routine on the right side. In Irish Dance to choreograph a step we always do eight bars on the right side and flip it to match it symmetrically with eight bars on the left side. We’ll now demonstrate that same sequence of moves on the left side beginning with the left foot for the skips in a circle around oneself.

And hop one-two-three, hop two-two-three, hop three-two-three, hop four-two-three. Two point hop backs, starting with the left side sevens, traveling left. We’ll now count that on the left side. Ready and hop one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Finally we’ll demonstrate the beginner routine on both right and left with no interruption. Counting in total and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight to the left hop one, and two, and three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That is one example of how to do a beginner routine in Irish Dance.

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How to do running trebles in Irish dance. Running treble designates a series of trebles alternating right foot and left foot. These can be done going forward or going backward. In order to progress forward with the running treble, the foot lifts up from behind and is placed then in front. We’ll start with a series of running trebles going forward on the right side. And… It’s important when doing the running treble going forward that the back foot lifts up and tucks behind before it’s presented to the front. We’ll see that again. To do a running treble going back, the foot goes from the front to the back, or from forward to backward, as this. Here, too, the foot should be lifted when it’s in the back position. How to do running trebles in Irish dance.

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How to do tips going forward in Irish step dancing. Tips are also called tip steps, flaps, or one-twos. This is because the dancer makes two sounds with the foot. The first sound is created by brushing the foot out away from the body. The second sound is created by a transfer of the weight stepping onto that foot and changing feet.

This then alternates, brushing away from the body, stepping on the foot. Brushing away from the body for a one, stepping on the foot for a two, and one, two. One, two continues the rest of the sequence. We’ll look at the tip step going forward at a medium tempo, and taking that now up to full speed, keeping in mind as the dancer progresses forward, the foot in the back is still lifting and tucking behind the dancer.

We’ll now look at the tip step from a side angle in order that you may see how the foot lifts and tucks behind the dancer. We’ll take it first at medium tempo and then at full tempo. Taking it now at full tempo. How to do the tip step in Irish dance.

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How to do the treble, or shuffle, in Irish dance.

The treble, or shuffle, is also known as a rally, batter, or one-two-three. I like to call it a one-two-three because the dancer makes three sounds with the foot. The first sound is created by brushing out. The second sound by brushing in. The third sound by transferring the weight and stepping on the foot.

This one, two, three sequence then alternates on the left side. Brush out. Brush in. Step on it. Change the foot. Repeating on the right. Out. In. Step. Left. Out. In. Step. We’ll look at that again at a medium tempo.

Keeping in mind that the feet are crossing with each alternation. Look at the treble, shuffle, rally, batter, or one, two, three up to tempo.

How to do the treble, or shuffle, in Irish dance.

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How to add arm movements to Irish Step Dancing.

Irish Step Dancing is notable and unusual in that, for the most part, the arms are not used in Irish Dance. Rather, they are held down by the side while the dancer’s feet move very very quickly, as seen here.

Particularly in competitive Irish Dance, the arms are held down tightly down by the side.

However, in different contexts, such as shows and performances, arm movement can be added into Irish Dance.

One of the most common ways to add arm movements to Irish Dance is to accentuate the movement by placing the arms on the hips. In this position, be careful that one’s fingers are pressed tightly together and do not look like claws, as seen here.

Rather the fingers are tight and straight and pointing into a v-shape. Thumbs are resting gently on the waist and shoulders are just slightly forward to accentuate the shape of hands on hips.

To experiment further with choreographing arm movements for Irish Dance one idea is to have the arm movements imitate the shape the legs are making.

For example, in a scissor step, the legs make a scissor shape, as do the arms, like this.

Additionally, when traveling in Irish Dance, you can think about having the arms open and close in alternating sequences.

For example, when doing a side Sevens step with the legs, the arms could be open in a nice diagonal step. And.

Finishing that sequence with a pivot turn, the arms could close above the chest.

Reversing this, on a diagonal step, the arms could be open in a nice diagonal shape. And.

Closing off, arms come in above the chest and you finish with a pivot turn.

These are some ideas about how to add arms into Irish Step Dance.

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How to do the Ceilidh position in Irish dance. Typically in solo Irish dance styles, the arms are held down by the side as you see us doing here. Our arms are straight, pinned closed to our side, and our hands are closed into fists. They are relaxed, though, not tense. Relaxed fists. However, when dancing group styles such as Ceilidh dance, a dance for eight people, dancers hold hands. They begin by pointing the right foot, clasping hands in a low V shape with a straight arm, raising the arms, and coming to rest arms elbow-length apart. If there is more than one partner in the shape, the outer hands would do the same thing with additional partners. However, in parts of the dance that call for just a couple or two dancers, the outer arm is held down by the side. Hands again are closed into fists as you would see in solo styles of Irish dance. How to do the Ceilidh position in Irish dance.

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How to do Fast Trebles in Irish Dancing. The Fast Treble is a variant of the one two hop back step. We’ll show the step in its original version first. The dance is creating four sounds.

The first sound by brushing the foot out away from the body. The second sound by pulling the foot back in. The third sound by a hop, where in the knee lifts slightly, and the fourth sound by placing the foot back behind the body.

Four sounds, we’ll try that again on the right foot, and one, two, three, four. To do a Fast Treble the hop has a different accent. It becomes more in line, more even with the other beats. Four sounds are still created but the knee does not lift slightly in the hop.

For example, the first sound, the second sound, the third sound is a quick hop putting it down behind. We’ll try the Fast Treble now to medium speed and. And we’ll try it at full speed what really creates the monitor Fast Treble and… How to do the Fast Trouble in Irish Dance.

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How to do an advanced routine in Irish dance.

There are an endless variety of advanced routines one can choreograph for Irish dance, as long as one remains within the confines of eight bars for the right side and repeats it with a symmetrical or identical eight bars for the left side. Here we will demonstrate just one example of how to do an advanced routine in Irish dance.

We’ve selected eight moves to start wit,h beginning with a turn two three, and skip two three, hop steps, over two three, additional hop steps, double hop, twist back, jump back, entrechat quatre. This completes eight bars of the right leg of an advanced routine in Irish dance.

We’ll count that for you now. Ready, and, hop one, and two, and three, and four, and five, six, seven, eight.

We’ll now demonstrate the left side of our advanced routine beginning, with the turn two three, a skip two three, hop steps, over two three, additional hop steps, double hop, twist, jump back, entrechat quatre. This completes the left side of our advanced routine.

We’ll count that for you now. Ready, and, hop one, and two, and three, and four, and five, six, seven, eight.

We’ll now demonstrate the right side into the left side with counts. And, hop one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Left side. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

How to do an advanced routine in Irish dance.

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How to do the hop shuffle, hop back move in Irish dance. The hop shuffle, hop back move consists of five sounds that the dancer creates. The first sound is created by landing a hop. The shuffle is two sounds – a brushing out, a brushing in. This is followed by another hop and placing the foot back down behind the dancer for a total of five sounds.

We’ll try that again with the right foot. Hop, brush out, brush in, hop, put the foot back down. We’ll look at that now on the left side, same sequence of steps. Hop, shuffle out, shuffle in, hop, back. Trying that now at medium tempo, alternating right foot and left foot. Keeping in mind when placing the foot back behind, the foot must be crossed upon completion.

Taking the hop shuffle, hop back move now at full tempo. How to do the hop shuffle, hop back move in Irish dance.

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How to do the scissors move, an Irish dance.

True to its name, in the scissors move, the dancers are imitating a pair of scissors sharp, straight, and pointed openings and closings.

First I’m going to illustrate the proper position of the scissors move. The foot is extended to the side, pointed, the knee is straight. This happens simultaneously on both the right leg as well left leg, opening with that straight pointed position at the same time. We’ll show one scissors jump now.

The dancer initiates with the right foot in front, but lands with the left foot, thus the feet are changing mid air. We’ll show a second scissors jump now, going from the left foot in front to landing with the right foot in front.

When the scissors jump alternates in a series we can alternate right foot in front then left foot then right foot. The dancer will demonstrate now doing an alternating series of scissors jumps. Legs are pointed, feet are straight, initiation and landing are always from the balls of the feet.

We’ll show a side view of the scissors jump alternating, and landing left front, right front, left front, right front, always keeping legs straight, feet pointed, initiating a landing from the balls of the feet.

How to do the scissors move and Irish dance.

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How To Do The Entrechat move in Irish Step Dance.

As the name suggests the Entrechat is the move that Irish dance has borrowed from Classical Ballet. In the Entrechat the dancers legs are changing position mid-air, back to front.

We’ll demonstrate this slow for you now. To begin the dancers feet are going to straight and pointed as they change legs going back to front. This is happening mid-air during a jump.

Looking at it again slowly, the dancer’s legs are going back to front. Legs are straight, toes are pointed. Done in real time the Entrechat looks like this.

As always in Irish dance we’re landing and initiating the jump from the balls of our feet unlike in ballet where the Entrechat includes a pilot. In Irish dance we’re landing on the balls of our feet like this. Initiating and landing in Entrechat.

The Entrechat can also be done on the left side, the opposite side. In this case the left leg would be going back to front in mid-air. Done more slowly, going back to front in mid-air. Seeing the left side Entrechat now in real time.

Entrechats can also be done alternating in a series. We’ll look at that from a side view, and alternating Entrechats, always landing on the balls of the feet, legs are straight, feet are pointed.

How to so the Entrechat Move in Irish Step Dance.

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How to do the rock move in Irish step dance.

The rock move is an unusual move for Irish dancers, whereby they’re testing, really, the strength and flexibility of lateral motion in their ankle. It is recommended, particularly when trying this step for the first time, that you hold onto another person, a bar, a table top, or a counter for support, because you’re going to be rolling over on the side or lateral part of the ankle.

To initiate the rock step, the dancer points the right foot, lifts it, and places it behind, coming close together so that the two feet are laying nearly on top of each other. She then moves toward the direction of the front foot, rocking or rolling over to the left side, alternating by going toward the right side toward the back foot, and completing the series of three by returning to the front or left side.

Looking at that in real time, you can how the dancer’s going to do a series of three, initiating first foot behind, and front back front, rocking front, back, front, rocking front, back, front.

It’s very important when doing the rock step, for security and safety reasons, that the feet, and knees, and ankles are held tightly together. Look at that from the side view to see how the feet are snug in their position. And rocking front, back, front, and rocking front, back, front.

By front back front I’m referring to the direction in which the initial roll of the ankle happens. We’ll look at that again more slowly. The initiation happens with the right foot going to the back, and the dancer rocks toward the left side, toward the front foot side, and alternates toward the back foot side, toward the front foot side.

Switching sides, initiating with the left foot planting behind, the dancer then starts again with the front or right foot, the back or left foot, the front or right foot, for a series of three rocks. You can certainly do more or fewer rocks, but three is typically considered a complete series.

How to do the rock step in Irish dance.

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How to do the twist in Irish Step Dance.

A twist is a movement that’s done on the balls of the feet , but first we’ll demonstrate the sequence of the steps for you on flat feet before showing it on the balls of the feet. To initiate the twist, the dancer turns the toes toward each other pointing inward simultaneously. The dancer then slides the front foot behind and turns the feet out simultaneously. Now the left foot is in front.

To initiate, the dancer points both toes inward towards each other, slides the left foot behind the right foot while simultaneously turning the toes back out again. This is done on the balls of the feet while the dancer travels backward in real time. It’s important to try to maintain the same line while traveling backward, but you do not veer to right or left side. Looking at the twist from the side angle you can see also it is important that the feet are close together and the knees are pulled up. Twist from the side. How to do the twist in Irish Dance.

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How to dance the lead around in Irish step dancing.

The lead around is the first step of a dance. It can be done in either jig or real time. The lead around is meant to circumscribe the space, to delineate the space, by creating a circle with the dancer’s steps. In this example we’ll demonstrate a lead around with the skip two three step. You can, of course, insert other steps into the lead around. The important thing is that you maintain a circle in the space.

We’ll begin by going to the right side creating a circle of 360 degrees to the right. The dancer points the right foot and begins to articulate a circle in the space with skip two threes, traveling around, remaining on the balls of the feet, creating a 360 degree circle in the space. That pattern is repeated to the left as the dancer creates a 360 degree circle to the left.

When doing a lead around of 180 degrees on the right foot the dancer does eight bars or eight skip two threes. This is two, and three, and four, and five, and six, and seven, and eight. Repeating on the left foot to conclude the lead around with eight bars, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight bars for 180 degrees on the right and 180 degrees on the left.

A variation on the lead around is to do 180 degrees with the right foot and then 180 with the left foot to simply create one circle in the same direction. We’ll demonstrate that now. Coming around to the front. And continuing on with the left foot 180 degrees each side to conclude the lead around in Irish dance.

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How to do the Bicycle in Irish Dance.

The Bicycle is a relatively new move in Irish Dance. It emerged as an innovation within the competitive Irish Dance circuit.

To initiate the Bicycle, the dancer pushes off, in this instance, on the left foot. Her right foot is going to tuck up behind her, foot pointed. She will then proceed to tuck the left foot and retuck the right foot in quick succession.

The right foot is thus tucking twice and twice as fast as the left foot, which tucks simultaneously.

You can imagine that you are running in the air.

We’ll demonstrate the Bicycle now in real time. And right foot tucks, left foot tucks, right foot tucks. And.

We’ll now demonstrate the Bicycle in slow motion. In the slow motion version, notice how the right leg is tucking twice and the left leg is tucking once.

Also, the right leg is tucking twice as fast as the left leg to give the illusion that one is running in the air. Notice, too, that the toes are pointed on both the right and left feet.

How to do the Bicycle in Irish Dance.

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How to do the birdie in Irish Step Dance. In the birdie, the dancer strikes a pose midair. This pose includes two parts. The first is a straight extended leg 90 degrees from the waist. This is the first pose that is achieved. Secondarily, the back leg tucks up behind the dancer with the foot pointed. These two moves are done simultaneously, as the dancer jumps. Like this, in real time. There, she hits the birdie position. We’ll look at that again in real time. The birdie position is similar in look to the over two three. However, there is no alternation of weight on the landing. To look at an over two three by contrast, the dancer achieves the same position midair and… But alternates the weight afterward. Looking at the over two three, again, the same position achieved in midair, weight alternation. By contrast, the birdie has no weight alternation on the landing. And the birdie. The dancer simply stops after achieving the birdie position. How to do the birdie in Irish Step Dance.

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How to do over two threes or jump two threes in Irish Step Dancing.

Over two three, or jump two three, is also called an Up Down Down. These names all refer to the same jumping step.

To begin the dancer points the right foot. The initial jump, or over, part of the step is an extension of the right leg. Imagining you’re stretching over a big puddle or a large hurdle.

The next leg bends as the dancer alternates weight. Two three. This repeats on the left side. The initial move is an extension of the left leg, nice and straight, foot pointed, going over a puddle or hurdle. The dancer’s weight then alternates for the two three

We’ll look at that again on the right foot. Stretching over two three. Stretching over two three. Stretching over two three. And over two three. We’ll try that progression again in more real time.

Right leg points and over two three. Over two three. Call jump two three. Jump two three. These can be done in a traveling progression as you just saw.

But the step is also used as a one off larger jump to insert within a piece of choreography. In this instance the dancer does a preparation step and completes the over two three by extending the leg much higher, at least 90 degrees from the waist. As if they were literally jumping over a hurdle.

And, over two three. And that instance the leg is lifted much higher to 90 degrees or waist height for the singular over two three or jump two three or up down down.

How to do the over two three, jump two three, or up down down in Irish Dance.

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How to do the butterfly in Irish Dance. Here we will demonstrate how to do a butterfly beginning with the right foot in front.

To initiate the butterfly, the dancer begins by turning both toes towards each other or inward. The right foot slides behind the left foot and the feet simultaneously turn back out. Showing that again, to initiate, the dancer turns the feet inward, slides the right foot behind and turn the feet outward. So it goes from a pointed to a flexed look while in the air.

The butterfly is a jumped position and needs transition from inward to changing position to outward are achieved in mid air. We’ll demonstrate the butterfly now in real time on the right leg and. The butterfly can also be done as an alternation , right leg, left leg, right leg with no in between hop and…

We will now demonstrate the butterfly in slow motion. Three things are happening simultaneously, toes are pointed inward, front footed sliding to the behind position, and toes are pointing outward. This gives the illusion of a pointed-to-flexed foot transition mid air. How to do a butterfly in Irish Dance.

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How to do a spin in Irish step dance. A spin is also referred to as a turn, but for our purposes we’re calling this a spin because it involves a pivot on one leg. A spin on one leg. We’ll demonstrate the position first from the side angle. Doing a spin on the right foot, the dancer places the weight on the right foot with a straight leg and lifts the left foot behind. Foot is pointed and raised in the back. Knees are together. This is the spin position that the dancer will rotate on the ball of the foot. Now in real time for the spin on the right. Spins can also be done on the left leg. The same position applies. The dancer rotates the shape on a straight left leg. Foot is lifted, pointed and raised in the back. How to do the spin in Irish dance.