Oasis+International+Festival+2015

Bella Farkas  International Festival   December 7, 2015

During my team’s (Oasis) recent seventh and eighth grade field trip to the Fairgrounds in Essex for the International Festival, I watched the Heather Morris Dancers, a group of Irish Step Dancers, perform on stage. Female dancers were dressed in tight, long-sleeved, black tops on which there was an embroidered white pattern around the neckline, with dark green skirts, black tights and white socks, while the male dancers were dressed in a black suit which, like the black tops of the female dancers, had a white embroidered pattern around the neckline with a green tie. The dance itself consisted of tapping, leaping and kicking in which there was constant movement. The rhythmic tap of the dancers’ feet upon the ground was drowned out by a man playing a long instrument that greatly resembled a flute (it must be noted that the man did not blow into the instrument to produce a sound, instead he controlled it through a bag under his arm) though it completely differed from a flute in sound. The instrument actually sounded much like Scottish bagpipes and greatly enhanced the performance’s overall depth. I have since made inquires into what this instrument may be and have found that it is a Uilleann pipe and is often called the “Irish bagpipe.”

I personally found the performance entertaining and very exciting to watch. Simply the way the dancers moved around the stage was enough to keep me, as well as the rest of the audience, absorbed, but I have to admit I was most interested and impressed with the Uilleann pipe player. The speed of his fingers covering and uncovering the holes of the pipe was truly incredible. As a cellist I understand how difficult it is to move your fingers at very high speeds while controlling the sound of the instrument with a bow, or in this case, a bag under the pipe player’s arm. In addition to the appreciation of the level of difficulty involved in playing this instrument, I found the upbeat, Irish tune to be fun to listen to and found that I needed to hear the full song.

Irish step dance grew closely in relation to traditional Irish music. Traveling dance instructors spread Irish dance across the country through teaching. Irish dance is notable for its emphasis on the rhythmic tap of the dancers’ toes while the dancers’ arms are rigid by their side. This is thought to be because competition venues, such as fairs, were often small so there was little room for the dancers to perform. This caused them to dance on table tops, and even barrels, for exposure as well as practice. Because of this, dances are very contained and arm movement is virtually non-existent. In time, larger places for competitions were built and the dance evolved to include more movement across the stage. The Heather Morris School of Dance incorporates Irish dance with other dance forms of the region such as Highland Scottish dance as well as dance forms from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia which had many Scottish immigrants.

While at the International Festival, I saw a second performance, which was belly dancing. The group was called Shimmy On and consisted of two middle aged, Caucasian women who were dressed in traditional belly dancing outfits. One had on a long black skirt while the other one had on a long pink skirt, though both were floor length with gold metal disks that sounded of bells when the disks made contact. Their blouses matched the their skirts in color and kept the theme of a gold accent with gold designs. A mesh panel about half a foot high existed at approximately their midsection, exposing their stomachs. The pair of dancers invited a group of twenty kids up onto the stage to dance with them, and among the volunteers were seven or eight students from Hunt Middle School. They (Shimmy On) demonstrated how to essentially “shake” in the proper way so that your entire body vibrates.

The performance was much briefer than last year when I watched the same performers at the International Festival. I also found that the dancers spoke to the audience about belly dancing more than they actually belly danced. When the performers called people up onto the stage I had a momentary impulse to avert my eyes (I would never in a million years attempt to belly dance, especially not in front of my whole team. I am both uncoordinated and awkward when it comes to dancing). But that being said, watching my classmates attempt belly dancing is both utterly mortifying and greatly gratifying and amusing all at the same time. The two performers in Shimmy On know how to captivate an audience's attention and hold it.

Belly dancing has its roots in the Middle East, though it is not completely agreed upon by experts exactly where in the Middle East it originated. Most believe it originated in Egypt. Infact, it is believed that belly dancing was one of the first dance forms and that the ancient pyramid builders of Egypt were belly dancers. At that time, the dance was largely used to entertain the Pharaoh and his guests, to keep them happy while they discussed important matters, but when none of the kings were left, their dancers began to dance for the high class society  to  earn a living by performing in shows, festivals and private sessions. This early Egyptian form of belly dancing was very contained, but as it spread to other countries it was adapted into different forms, such as the very outward and energetic Turkish form of belly dancing. In time, belly dancing became somewhat of a staple dance in much of the Middle East, Mediterranean, and northeastern Africa. Eventually the dance caught on in the west and became more widely known and even performed by westerners. At this point there are numerous variations on the dance form, but the soul of the dance, being mainly torso-driven, with an emphasis on articulations of the hips, still remains integral to this ageless art form and a key part of Shimmy On’s performance. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

KC Hlordsz International Festival December 8, 2015 IRISH DANCING

The international festival had Irish dancers. Some of them in some sort of green color and others were wearing different shades of blue. They were all wearing fancy clothing that had some sort of design made of different colors. The Irish dancers were, Heather Morris Dancers. All the performers looked focus and hopped up and down pointing their toes to the floor. You could hear the music in the background as the Irish dancers hopped in some sort of a line. One of the dancers would come first and dance, the other dancers would wait until it was their time to join the dancing. They would hop and skip having a pattern. All the dancers would follow the rhythm of the music. The ones that were dancing we're not going as fast as the ones coming into the dance. The Irish dancers were moving their feet criss cross, up and down, and side to side. The music that was played was going fast than slow, this was changing the speed of the Irish dancer’s.

While I was watching the Irish dancer’s, it was enjoyable and interesting. It was how the dancers moved their feet to the music in the background. The Irish dancers were moving while hopping and doing some kicks in the air. And how the dancers were coming on the stage then coming off and soon joining again. There were some leaps now and then, all of the seem very flexible. There were both male and female dancing. I thought the music that is played for Irish dancing fits perfectly on the dancing and all the movements. I did not see anyone join to dancing, but lot’s of people were watching it and seemed interested in the dancing. I heard others clapping to have a steady beat. The shoes that the girls are wearing are thin shaped ballet shoe with zigzag going across or shoes that would tap or make sound that includes a heel. I found the dancing very nice and fit very well with everything. The dancing made me feel good inside happy/joyful.

The instruments that are used in Irish Dancing music are: fiddle, tin whistle, flute and Uilleann pipes. I learned that the instruments like the, button accordion and concertina made their aspect in traditional music late in the 19 century. The Irish dancers do not move their arms it’s all based on the footwork. There are 2 different types of shoes, soft shoes are for reels and slip jigs (based on tempo of the music). Hard shoes are worn for hornpipes. For jigs it really depends on the music to either wear soft shoes or hard shoes. Competition clothing is more fancier and flashy than the uniforms. Irish dancing is originated in Ireland hundreds of years ago.

PARTICIPATORY DRUM CIRCLE

At the international festival I watched the Participatory Drum Circle. This was by the SaraGail Benjamin band. There were mostly elders on stage & they all had the same shirt, but different colors on it. It was the elders on stage with a bunch of drums of all shapes and sizes. Some of the drummers used mallets to hit the drum with. Others would use their hand to hit the drum, the drums would sound different. A smaller drum would have high sound and the other drums that were big had a low sound. They all had a symbol on their shirt all in colors, green, white, and purple. There was a person standing in front of the stage using a small drum, maybe making sure that everyone has the right tempo and is following along. All of them looked happy and looked like it was enjoyable. The elders that were playing the drums had a steady beat/good tempo. Overall it was really nice to see everyone up there and happy.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the band. It was cool & some others said it was amazing. I seen lot’s of people play the drums and this was different. This drum circle had did different things, like they all had a different type of drum and usually what I seen is that in a drum circle is that most drums should be some-what alike. I don’t remember seeing something like this in awhile at least. I don’t have any connection, but I have seen people play the drums almost to what theses elders did. This made me feel good everyone seemed to like it. It was just interesting and creative how they came up with the idea. Some of the elders did not have a drum they had different instruments that I could not see from afar, but I did see some of the elders have tambourines & some instruments I have never seen before!

A drum circle is when a group of people play any percussion instruments, such as drum. These are hand drums that they are using. Some examples of percussion instruments are: bells & cymbals created by the vibration of the instrument itself. I did not know that drum circles are a popular form of music therapy. Drumming has been a human activity since forever, but it has been an integral part of tribal culture on all the continents from Native Americans, to the Africans etc. Drum Circles: An Ancient Methodology for a Modern World. I also searched up and found out that Drum Circles help build teams and how it’s a great percussion instrument. This is what I learned about this experience at the international festival. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _