Irish Dance and Pop Culture

Beoga's "How to Tune a Fish" released worldwide this week

Part of the allure of Irish dance is the strong sense of cultural tradition -- the idea that our sets and ceili dances have been passed on for generations, and we dance to the same tunes as our ancestors. But, man, those tunes get a little tired after a while. With that said, we like to liven things up on occasion with fresh, fun, lively music. And for that, many Irish dancers turn to the musical stylings of Beoga!

Beoga -- gaelic for “lively” -- is a favorite band among Irish dancers because its members have a knack for meshing traditional jigs, reels, hornpipes and slip jigs with modern influences. This week, dancers and trad music fans alike rejoice: the band’s brand new album “How to Tune a Fish” was released worldwide and is available for purchase online, and it’s sure to get toes tapping, hands clapping and -- dare I say -- hips swaying?

“One of the tracks has sort of a hip hop beat, believe it or not,” multi-instrumentalist Seán Óg Graham said of the last song on the album.

Poodle Sock It to Me: Irish dance hosiery regulations and origins

A few years ago, the Irish dance scene was buzzing over a proposed hosiery mandate that would force ladies aged 18 and older to wear black tights in competition, banning adult ladies from feising in the standard white poodle sock. The call to prohibit the popular mid-calf white quilted socks among mature dancers was dismissed, but the discussion opened up a whole can of worms regarding dancers’ footwear.

When it comes down to it, there is no standard sock rule in the An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha list of regulations. The only related entry deals with the density of tights worn by dancers. It states:

“Where tights are worn, they must be of a denier of not less than 70.”