Last night the event I went to turned out to be very cool. If you didn't read the last post (though...I can't imagine why you wouldn't have...) I was going to an event that I thought had something to do with dance, but I couldn't be sure because the only information I could find about it was all in Gaelic. I walked by the building earlier in the day and it just looked like a plain building front. I thought it might be some kind of community center or something, but I couldn't see into any windows or doors, so I couldn't really tell.When I arrived in the evening one of the gates had been opened and there was just a little back alley that led around to the back of the building and a very small sign that said something in Gaelic and had an arrow pointing down the alley. There were no people around and I couldn't read the sign, but I followed the arrow only to discover that down the alley, around the back of the building is a tiny, dark little pub! Of course! I was even more shocked to see that it was swarming with people inside and at least half of them were tourists (how did they find this place???) Soon enough the Sean Nos Dancing demonstration started and it was very very cool to watch.
Sean Nos dancing is a particular style of Irish step dancing that is much closer to the traditional origins than modern Irish dancing is. It is very simple--almost anyone could probably do it--and it is almost completely improvisational. Even though it doesn't have any of the fast, flashy kicks that you see in modern Irish dance, it is still really entertaining to watch because it is really expressive and there is a lot of room for personal style. I don't know, maybe it's not so interesting for you all to read about, but I was fascinated. After the Sean Nos demonstration (three solo dancers) they started Set dancing (group dances) and people got up and did that. Very cool to watch as well. So here are two pictures, on the left is a girl doing Sean Nos step dancing and on the right are some people Set Dancing.
Tonight I'm probably going to go to a similar kind of event, so I expect that will be pretty cool as well.
On another note, I found a mostly vegetarian restaurant and ate vegan shepherd's pie for lunch.
Also, I packed pretty light for this journey and it's been like a month of the same few outfits now and I officially hate all of my clothes.
Oh and also, I went to the Galway City Museum this morning (free admission!) and I saw St. Ursula's skull. Here it is:
6 comments:
You'll recall that St. Ursula's was the name of the really cool girl's school you attended in Toronto. You and Nicole were sooo cute in your uniforms. I'll bet you can still remember all the words to O Canada!
What you don't tell us is how well you did when you got out on the dance floor and impressed the crowd with your fandango. We want pictures please.
I'm just wondering why you keep posting Guinness Signs....mmm Did you do any dancing?
just arrived in Nica. I found WIFI! Whoa. I love reading your blog. How... goes it ;)
a skull...that's cool. i only saw finger bones in italy, and maybe a leg bone.
Katie, I have laughed outloud over some of your comments and observations of Ireland and the people you've met. You are having such a fabulous experience and seem to be be coping with the hassels of travel. Thanks for keeping us informed.
That was totes Christian Bale.
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