Step Dancing in Ireland

Prize: Shortlisted for The Katharine Briggs Folklore Award 2014: 'A well conducted and contextualised ethnography with a useful historical perspective. The study brings out the developing tensions between tradition and traditionality (with local traditions being eroded in favour of a more broadly accepted version of the tradition).' The Folklore Society 'Recommended.' Choice 'Catherine Foley’s excellent study of step dancing is highly recommended.' Dance and Song ’... although a volume intended for scholars, Step Dancing in Ireland. Culture and History also lends itself to a non-specialist readership; it should certainly be considered a must for scholars and students of dance anthropology and ethnochoreology.’ Blogfoolk.com ’... an in-depth and unequalled study of Irish step dancing which covers a rich tradition spanning a period from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first century ... This book is, without doubt, a must for all overs of step dancing, music and the history of Irish music and dance and is a comprehensive and valuable contribution to the study of dance in Ireland.’ Béaloideas: The Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society ’ ... a thoroughly-researched and well-written work, with many enlightening examples from Foley’s fieldwork interviews being used to illustrate the history and development of step dancing. For those interested in Irish history, it provides another perspective into the social attitudes and values of the rural community being studied. For those who are unfamiliar with the discipline of ethnochoreology, it provides a worthy introduction to dance research and its potential usefulness in sociocultural studies. Finally... this book provides an excellent example of how to go about a fieldwork project in order to faithfully represent the experiences and understandings of the people whose lives we are privileged to study.’ Australasian Journal of Irish Studies