# Celtic Dance/How solo step dance has impact social dance

"Competition is a social process that is so pervasive in Western civilization that no one can escape it" (Robson 2004).

## Overview.

Competitive dances and performance dances are mostly solo step dances. Even if there are many people, they will not interfere with each other, giving each other space, and there will be no contact between the bodies. Many social dances are group dances that cooperate and communicate with each other. Some social dances even exchange partners. So this article will discuss how solo step dance affects social dance.

## Objectives.
### Solo step dance.

Reel, slip jig, hornpipe, and jig are all types of Irish step dances and are also types of Irish traditional music. These fall into two broad categories based on the shoes worn: 'hard shoe' and 'soft shoe' dances. It complicated footwork, such as clogging or tapping, and often with limited movement of the upper body.
"To further regularize the process of adjudication and make results comparable, categories of evaluation are specified with equal weightings: timing, 25%; carriage, 25%; execution, 25%; and overall impression, 25%." (Hall, Frank. 2008.Chapter 4: Dancing as Competition, Pg. 17) It can be seen from the text that timing,carriage, execution, and overall impression are four important assessment category in dance.
"We dance to very strict tempo music. Therefore the dancing must pay tribute to the music. It isn't like ballet where the music pays a lot of tribute to the dance. The way we do, we interpret the music, especially with hard shoes on, and even with soft shoes. But we have to interpret the rhythm of the music. So that's uppermost in every adjudicator's mind when they sit down to adjudicate. And following timing and rhythm, comes deportment." (Hall, Frank (2008). Competitive Irish dance : art, sport, duty.) It can be seen from the text that step solo dance is very strict. It not only restricts the pace, but also integrates with the beat of the music. Some"gaudy" costume and appearance，the uniform clothing makes people feel that they are formal and professional. Dancers need deliberately controlling the rhythm, the transition of the dance stage, the promotion of the atmosphere of the entire stage. This point is very important that dancers' body need straight, very cheerful and flexible when dancing , and without giving a feeling of stiffness.

#### Some new forms about solo step dance.

As mentioned above, even if solo step dance appears in the form of group dance, they will do their own dances and will not affect others. After recent studies, I learned that the combination of step dancing and other forms will play a very special role. Flash mob dancing in the street is very casual, no restrictions on location and venue, no background music. Celebrate at the wedding, It can increase the novelty of the guests participating in the wedding and give people a unique feeling. Even combined with popular music, video editing, into a handsome popular dance.

### Social dance.

Social dance is an entertaining dance, usually performed with partners and groups, or as an entertaining and entertaining community activity. Sometimes, it does not need partners, but just a group of people. Social dance is very casual. First of all, he has no requirements for step dance clothing and tap shoes. Secondly, people are more casual in social dance, even freestyle dance with music, and they can make physical contact and cooperate with each other.
The shaping of the body by dancing changes the original state of the movement, improves the flexibility and flexibility of the body, enhances plasticity and shape beauty, corrects bad postures, forms good sitting, standing and walking postures, shaping a beautiful and healthy body shape, and maintaining a healthy mind Status, establish lifelong sports awareness, especially have a good influence and positive promotion effect on the cultivation of their own temperament. Form a good body shape Good body shape is an important factor in the formation of a temperament demeanor. So more and more people will choose to dance as a hobby to cultivate.
In dance rehearsals and stage performances, the spirit of unity, cooperation and mutual assistance between dancers and partners can be exercised. Only by cooperating with each other can they perform well, which can train the dancers’ spirit of cooperation and develop conscious compliance Good habits of rules and discipline.
The biggest feature of group dance is truthfulness, sincerity, and release of emotion. It is a tool for interpersonal communication, emotional communication, and soul communication. The characteristic of interpersonal relationship is that it has an emotional foundation.

## Impact.

RD confident expression of a culture "can embrace traditional art forms by breaking them apart and reconstructing them in an imaginative and innovative way." (O'Connor, Barbara. 1997. "Riverdance". In Encounters with Modern Ireland, Pg. 52). Although O'Connor is talking about how Riverdance broke the traditional and competitive Irish step dance, decomposed and reconstructed the traditional art form, group dance is also very likely because of the intervention of step solo dance, people will decompose and rebuild group dance and become more and more professional. For dance steps and music rhythm, time control will be improved.
Just as I quoted Robson's sentence at the beginning,"Competition is a social process that is so pervasive in Western civilization that no one can escape it", Competition is everywhere, even the most casual and recreational social dance. We can imagine a scene. In a dance party, the two people dancing in the middle must be the pair of dancers with the highest dance skills and the most gorgeous costumes. The spotlight always hits the most dazzling person, the focus of the crowd. So solo dance will affect social dance, if people want to perform very well from social dance, they need to learn competitive solo dance. People can improve their dance skills in competitive dance courses and further show their dance skills in social dance. "Competition has helped to define the dancing since the turn of the last century when the Gaelic League decided to promote various Irish cultural forms through contests. This is a fact impinging upon all others in the expressive form, the movement system itself, and the social practice of the dancing." (Hall, Frank. 2008.Chapter 4: Dancing as Competition Pg.3), I have to admit that the form of expression of step solo dance, the movement system itself and the social customs of dance are indeed a standard, this is a positive influence, it allows people to have a benchmark, let people know what is a standard action, and in which direction to work hard.

## Bibliography.

* Samantha Sobash (September 2014). The Psychology of Competitive Dance: A Study of the Motivations for Adolescent Involvement
* Hall, Frank (2008). Competitive Irish dance : art, sport, duty. Madison, WI: Macater Press. ISBN 9780981492421.
* Venable, Elizabeth (October 2001). "Inventing Tradition: The Global Development of Irish Dance". In LaPointe-Crump, Janice (ed.). Cord 2001: Transmigratory Moves, Dance in Global Circulation: Conference Proceedings. New York: Congress on Research in Dance.
* Catherine A. Shoupe (Spring - Summer, 2001). Scottish Social Dancing and the Formation of Community. Western Folklore, Vol. 60, No. 2/3, Communities of Practice: Traditional Music and Dance.
* Harrington, Heather (2020). "Consumer Dance Identity: The Intersection between Competition Dance, Televised Dance Shows and Social Media." Research in Dance Education 21.2 (2020): 169-87. Web.

## External links.

* Irish Step Dancing