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In Set Dancing News you'll find a huge amount of information about set dancing:Set Dancing News was the first web site about Irish set dancing. It first went on-line in December 1995 and was announced in January 1996. At the time it was based in London and called the London Set Dancing News. It was originally intended to provide information of interest to dancers in London, with listings of local, British and Irish events. Nearly from the start it was apparent that there was international interest in the site and set dancing. After a few months London was dropped from the name and the site concentrated on providing as much information as possible about events in Britain and Ireland. This eventually broadened to Europe, North America and anywhere set dancing is found.
- This is the Home page where you'll find the full contents of the site and a short description of set dancing. For more about set dancing, see The Joy of Sets.
- The News page has recent articles and reviews about set dancing. Old news and reviews are available on separate pages, volumes 1—1997-1998, 2, 3—1998-1999, 4—1999, 5—1999-2000, 6, 7—2000, 8, 9, 10—2001, 11—2001-2002, 12, 13, 14, 15—2002, 16—2002-2003, 17, 18, 19—2003, 20—2003-2004, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25—2004, 26—2004-2005, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31—2005, 32—2005-2006, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37—2006, 38, 39—2006-2007, 40, 41, 42, 43—2007 and 44—2007-2008 (Index).
- Set dancing workshops, ceilis and summer schools are listed on four pages—Ireland, Britain, Europe and North America. The list for Ireland is a particularly long one—it shows events well into next year so you can use it to plan holidays and weekends away.
- The directory of weekly and regularly scheduled classes and ceilis is split over four pages—Ireland, Britain, North America, Europe and elsewhere. There are local groups of dancers in many locations around the world. Refer to this list to find the nearest dancing at home and when travelling. Note that the Europe page currently contains information for other parts of the world, in particular Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
- The teachers and organisers pages for Ireland, North America, Britain, Europe and elsewhere list hundreds of people and organisations around the world involved with set dancing. These pages automatically appear at the bottom of the screen—click a highlighted name on the main screen to see a phone number for that person. There's a separate page with Dialling instructions to use when phoning contacts. The page of Bed and breakfasts can help you find accommodation in Ireland.
- The schedules for the busiest set dancing teachers appear on Workshop teachers' schedules. A seasonal list of Festivals in Ireland may help with your travel and entertainment plans.
- The Set Dancing News Mailing List is an email information service. Emails with additional news and requests are sent occasionally by Set Dancing News, and members are welcome to make comments, announcements and requests. You can join from the web site or by sending an email to this address: setdancingnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
- There are hundreds of photographs in Set Dancing News. Selected recent events are listed in the Photo Gallery, each with a collection of up to a hundred photos. Older photos are listed in the index of 73 Photo Albums. More photos are included with articles in the News, Old News and Ceili Bands pages.
- The Set Dancing Library is a large list of books, tapes and videos of interest to set dancers. It includes books with instructions for dancing sets, tapes with music arranged for sets and videos demonstrating how to do it. In the Set Dancing Anthology, New Articles, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 and Volume 4, there are some interesting and amusing quotations found in the books.
- On the Links page you'll see a selected list of Internet sites of interest to set dancers. A separate page contains Video, audio and radio links from web sites around the world for your viewing and listening pleasure.
- The Connie Ryan page is a memorial to the very popular and influential set dance teacher who died in 1997. It contains obituaries, tributes, photographs and other articles about Connie.
- Recent articles about the bands and musicians that play for set dancing are found in the Ceili Bands page. A new band is added every couple of months. Earlier ceili band articles are in Ceili Bands Volume 1.
- The magazine for Irish set dancers—Set Dancing News is available as a magazine by subscription. See this page for information on subscribing, back issues and the contents of every issue published. There's also a printable subscription leaflet.
- Note that the translations provided above are experimental. The resulting translations are very basic at best, upset the text, layout and links, and are incomplete for longer pages on the site. Despite these faults it's hope they will be useful to readers of those languages.
In December 1997 the first issue of Set Dancing News, the magazine, was delivered to 150 subscribers. It was intended to be a bi-monthly newsletter version of the web site for those dancers not on the Internet. Since then it has turned into a sixty page colour magazine delivered to close to two thousand subscribers.
Since May 1999, Set Dancing News has been based in Kilfenora, Co Clare, where Bill Lynch maintains the web site and edits and prints the magazine between dances. Both the web site and magazine are dedicated to the interests of set dancers and set dancing. The web site is completely non-commercial—access is open to everyone, no money is given or received for anything presented here and there is no paid advertising. The magazine is supported by subscription and advertising fees, but is otherwise run on the same basis as the web site. If you'd like to help support Set Dancing News, please take out a subscription or an advertisement.
A technical note—it's recommended you view Set Dancing News in true colour (24 bits), high resolution (800×600 and above) and in a maximised (full screen) browser window. It has been designed to work with Internet Explorer and uses style sheets and frames—make sure both are enabled.
If you're having trouble viewing Set Dancing News try one of the following links—
If you experience any difficulties with the site, please contact Bill Lynch with a description of the problem.
- Set Dancing News (recommended)—The browser window is split in three with main links at the top, addresses and phone numbers at the bottom and browsing in the middle. If you can't see the sections at the top or bottom of the window, try maximising the browser, using smaller fonts or adjusting the borders up or down.
- Set Dancing News (without frames)—Browsing in a full window. Use this if the link above doesn't work for you. Extra windows will probably be created as you browse.
Set dancing is a form of social dancing which has been popular in Ireland for over 150 years. Sets are danced by four couples in a square, and usually consist of three to six figures with a short pause between each. They are descended from the French quadrilles, which were brought to Ireland by the British army in the nineteenth century. Irish dancers adapted the figures to their own music and steps to form dances with great drive and enjoyment. After a period of decline in the fifties and sixties, sets are very popular today in Ireland and in Irish communities throughout the world.An excellent book describing the history of set dancing, the steps, the terminology and 64 of the most commonly danced sets is Toss the Feathers by Pat Murphy, published by Mercier Press. Refer to the Set Dancing Library for more information.
Note that set dancing is not the same as step dancing. Step dancing is the competitive solo form of Irish dancing now very popular because of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. If you want to dance like Michael Flatley, this web page is not going to help. To find a step dancing instructor near you, take a look at Ann's Irish Dance Page. On the other hand, if you're looking for good music, fun and friends resulting in the kind of joy you probably haven't experienced since childhood, read on.
Another form of Irish social dance is ceili dancing. This is a different, separate repertoire of dances which are commonly danced in Northern Ireland, England, America and Australia, but uncommon in the south of Ireland. The dances are in many forms, for couples or threesomes, in lines, squares and circles, including several in four-couple sets. They are danced to steps which are similar to those used in modern step dancing and unlike those for set dancing. While sets traditionally were passed on informally at home, ceili dances were taught formally by dancing teachers. The dances were introduced around the turn of the twentieth century. They suffered some neglect with the revival of set dancing but there is increasing interest in them. Some of the dances are good for beginners; others are as vigorous and enjoyable as a good set.
The word céilí or ceili also refers to an Irish social dance event with set dancing or ceili dancing or both, and possibly other types of dance such as the waltz, quickstep and jive. A fíor céilí, or true ceili, is one in which only ceili dances are danced—no set dancing at all—and are often conducted in Irish. Ceili and old time is a mixture of sets, ceili dances and waltzes. Nearly all the dancing referred to on this site is set dancing.
Bill Lynch's article, The Joy of Sets, explains set dancing to non-set dancers.
| Bill Lynch |
Set Dancing News, Kilfenora, Co Clare, Ireland 065 707 1363 Republic of Ireland 1 410 504 6000 North America 353 65 707 1363 elsewhere BillLynch@eircom.net |