by Keelie A. Sheridan
Keelie at her St. Padraig's Day Ceili in the Times Square Subway. Photo by Jorge Luna.
I’ve recently become preoccupied in my personal practice with a desire to examine the forms and traditions I’ve inherited and embodied due to a nagging suspicion that I’ve missed something. My creative fire is currently fed not by pursuit of the new, but reacquaintance with the old. I began Irish dancing at the age of 8 and have always been fascinated by and resistant to the ‘rules’ that govern the more technical ‘step’ dancing. Turned out toes, locked knees, hyper-erect spines, stone-stiff torsos and arms; these rules have lived in my body for the past two decades- prominently shaping my movement repertoire, my musculature, my sense of cultural identity and my performer’s instincts. Conversely, ‘social céilí’ dancing, a branch of ‘set’ dances performed socially by dancers and non-dancers alike, embraces the spontaneous, imperfect act of celebration through (intendedly) unified movement. The execution of the actual dances at ceilis is secondary to the music and tertiary to the importance of everyone (regardless of ability or knowledge) joining in the dance.
The introduction of the Penal Laws in Ireland in the 17th century suppressed the celebration and practice of Irish culture, including dance, music and language, making the act to preserve, perpetuate and practice these traditions an active and dangerous act of defiance. There are tales that suggest that the rigid upper-body in step dancing came about because communities would gather in basements to dance and celebrate and the lookout above would warn of approaching English by percussively stamping with their feet while giving no signs of their intentions to someone in eyesight of the windows of the house. A beautiful turn of phrase floats around insisting that the Church once declared public dancing ‘lewd, licentious, immoral and unbecoming to its flock.’ The term ‘céilí’ originally referred to a social gathering inclusive of any combination storytelling, music-making, dance and revelry. The name is derivative of the old Irish term céle (companion), and are mentioned formally in literature beginning in the late 19th century, though the tradition of social music and dance far predates this in Gaelic tradition.
I proposed contemporizing and recontextualizing céilí dancing as the theme for the Training Ensemble in late December 2014, though I’ve toyed with the idea for years. I’ve decided to focus on the essence of my personal experiences with the form, rather than trying to distill some sort of universally agreed upon definition. This approach requires an air of authority and the audacity to pick and choose which pieces move and which stay the same. What makes a céilí a céilí? Important to me are the stories these dances tell- commemorating places/ architectural features (The Bridge of Athlone, The Walls of Limerick), historic events (The Siege of Ennis) and the mundane (The Haymaker’s Jig, The Bonfire Dance, Haste to the Wedding).
I began by teaching the group a sampling of the céilís I grew up performing. We’ve learned a heys (hedges) dance utilizing two long lines lines, a round dance and a quadrille (four couples in a rectangle). The ensemble embraced these dances wholly, even taking a field trip on St. Padraig’s Day to share the dances with the Times Sq. subway station (photos and video available here). As the group began to acclimate to the form, we simultaneously used physical theatre tactics and improvisation to develop a céilí-inspired conversation about our commonalities as a group, focusing primarily on New York City as an entity. Searching for the physical expression of our shared experiences has provided a broad base of what ceili dancing might look like if it had evolved out of our current society, rather than a few hundred years ago. Using the physical instincts of a beautifully diverse group of performers has expanded my understanding of how bodies can be used for expression and symbolism and group-reflection of weather and mass transit and intimacy in an infinite sea of humans. I re-evaluate if what we’re doing is still ‘céilí’ with every shift we make away from tradition, but the unifying essence of the dance strongly prevails, assuring me we’re on the right track.
On Friday, April 10th at 8p we’ll open the doors of The Church of Grace & St. Paul (123 W. 71st St.) for a free/by donation potluck and sharing of both traditional Irish céilí dances and newly conceived New York céilís. As exciting as it is to develop and tinker with these concepts in our workshops, the very spirit of this dance depends on the enthusiasm and participation of the masses. Please join us for our celebration of oldness, newness, difference and sameness. Research has proven it’s scientifically impossible to have a bad time at a céilí and the price is just right.
I proposed contemporizing and recontextualizing céilí dancing as the theme for the Training Ensemble in late December 2014, though I’ve toyed with the idea for years. I’ve decided to focus on the essence of my personal experiences with the form, rather than trying to distill some sort of universally agreed upon definition. This approach requires an air of authority and the audacity to pick and choose which pieces move and which stay the same. What makes a céilí a céilí? Important to me are the stories these dances tell- commemorating places/ architectural features (The Bridge of Athlone, The Walls of Limerick), historic events (The Siege of Ennis) and the mundane (The Haymaker’s Jig, The Bonfire Dance, Haste to the Wedding).
I began by teaching the group a sampling of the céilís I grew up performing. We’ve learned a heys (hedges) dance utilizing two long lines lines, a round dance and a quadrille (four couples in a rectangle). The ensemble embraced these dances wholly, even taking a field trip on St. Padraig’s Day to share the dances with the Times Sq. subway station (photos and video available here). As the group began to acclimate to the form, we simultaneously used physical theatre tactics and improvisation to develop a céilí-inspired conversation about our commonalities as a group, focusing primarily on New York City as an entity. Searching for the physical expression of our shared experiences has provided a broad base of what ceili dancing might look like if it had evolved out of our current society, rather than a few hundred years ago. Using the physical instincts of a beautifully diverse group of performers has expanded my understanding of how bodies can be used for expression and symbolism and group-reflection of weather and mass transit and intimacy in an infinite sea of humans. I re-evaluate if what we’re doing is still ‘céilí’ with every shift we make away from tradition, but the unifying essence of the dance strongly prevails, assuring me we’re on the right track.
On Friday, April 10th at 8p we’ll open the doors of The Church of Grace & St. Paul (123 W. 71st St.) for a free/by donation potluck and sharing of both traditional Irish céilí dances and newly conceived New York céilís. As exciting as it is to develop and tinker with these concepts in our workshops, the very spirit of this dance depends on the enthusiasm and participation of the masses. Please join us for our celebration of oldness, newness, difference and sameness. Research has proven it’s scientifically impossible to have a bad time at a céilí and the price is just right.
Discussion Question
What traditions inform your art? How have you intentionally or unintentionally contemporized and recontextualized them? Leave your answer in the comments below.
About the Author
Keelie A. Sheridan's creative mind was forged in the campfires of a nomadic Irish dancing troupe that eventually settled in New York's Adirondack mountains. She turned her favorite childhood hobby (lying) into a career and has kicked around NYC for over a decade telling stories through dance, word and image. Keelie has studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Stella Adler Studio, the Wild Irish Acres Dance School and the Niall O’Leary School of Dance. She earned a MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College and competed in the 2009 Irish Dance World Championships. Keelie has appeared in world premieres and reprised works by playwrights including Charles Mee, Ben Gassman, Paul Ketchum, Elizabeth Irwin and Mac Wellman. Keelie is currently a company member of The Ume Group and The Void Theater Company. She devises and implements multi-disciplinary arts curriculum for pre-K-12th grade students in Brooklyn with several arts organizations. Keelie is a 2016 Mitchell Scholar and will obtain her MFA in Theatre Directing at Trinity College, Dublin, sponsored by the US Ireland Alliance. For The Ume Group, credits include performing in "A Mass for Isis" and Dream Dances and leading the Winter/Spring 2015 Training Ensemble.
www.keeliesheridan.com
www.keeliesheridan.com
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