Sir, - One of the most pernicious lies of our time is that everyoneis entitled to enjoy every experience without having to put anypersonal effort into it. Everything is made pastiche, Disneyworld! Andevery worthwhile experience is cheapened and devalued.
An instance is to hand in the forthcoming St Patrick's Festival. Isee from the official programme that there is to be a "monster céilí"on St Patrick's Day. A section in the programme sets out to "dispelmyths about céilí dancing" in a question and answer format. The secondquestion is: "Do I have to know how to dance?", And the answer is "no!"Further down, the public is invited to come along and "bounce around".
There are hundreds of céilithe held throughout Ireland every month,thousands every year. I do not believe that there is one of these wheresomeone could go along and simply "bounce around" without being askedto either dance or leave the floor. "Bouncing around" is a gooddescription of the activity that one sees accompanied by pop and rockmusic.
It is characterised by unrestrained individual expression. There isnothing wrong with that, but céilí dancing and set dancing are forms inwhich the dancers temper their urge for individual expression to adegree, so that they can produce a group dance. It follows thateveryone must know the figures of these dances if they are to dancethem. The two forms could not be more opposite or dissimilar.
None of this reality impinges on the organisers of this kitsch-fest.I can speak with some experience of the matter, because I was theperson approached on the first occasion that it was deemed necessary toinclude a "monster céilí" on the programme for the day, back in 1997 or1998. When approached, I said quite plainly that if they really wanteda céilí I would assist willingly, but if they simply wanted to have alot of people jumping around to Irish dance music they needed no advicewhatever. I was assured that it was the real thing that was required,and, with the assistance of my group, that was what was provided fortwo years.
Then the rot set in. Changes were made to the shape of the event.Stewarding on the day was assigned to people who had obviously beenbriefed to work to a different agenda to the one that had been agreedwith us, and it gradually changed into a bounce-fest - so much so thatwe were compelled to withdraw our assistance from the event.
No doubt I will be accused of seeking to keep Irish dance for anélite, closed circle. Well, I have spent the last 20 years giving myfree time, free, to teach these dances to anyone who was prepared toput in the effort. Hardly the behaviour of an élitist! This is but oneaspect of the depressing "marketing" of an Irish holiday for purelycommercial purposes. Although we live in a northern clime and havebarely emerged from winter, it seems we too must have our carnival.Anything Rio can do! We've seen it on TV; we want it and we must haveit.
In the course of this transformation of the event, anything thatsmacked of Irishness was abandoned, and anything that tasted of theexotic, however ludicrous, was embraced. A good example may be found inthe absence of pipe bands from the parade in latter years. While itseems that any group in the country can get themselves included in theparade if only they can come up with suitable fantasy costumes and anassortment of drums, the real professional drummers, heirs to adrumming tradition of hundreds of years, are excluded.
As in previous years, Dublin will be decked out exclusively ingreen. What a message that must send to the loyalist community in theNorth! But sure isn't it part of what we are? I think I will in futurefollow the counsel of a musician friend, and try to ignore the prancingof people who realise (a bit like the Christmas obligation) that once ayear that they are Irish. - Yours, etc.,
Dean Court,
Dublin 8.