Who can tell my why Irish Dancers arms and hands are so still while their feet move so fast? 10Pts!?

There is actually a few stories going round as to why this is and it seems to change from teacher to teacher and place to place. Here's some I heard while learning Irish dancing,

(some are very strange)

- Irish dancers used to dance with their hands on their hips, a dance master around around the late 1800's started teaching his students to dance with their hands facing down, they began winning all the feiseanna and other dance teachers took up this style of irish dancing.

- The Catholic Church thought that the dancers looked provocative while moving their hands around, the priests decided to control the dancing to control the youth, and taught them Irish dancing with their arms and bodies straight.

- We all know the one about the English trying to stamp out the Irish culture, so they only moved their feet so they wouldnt be seen dancing through windows.

- Then there is also the one about the pubs being too small.

- The Irish believed in holding themselves erect and proud, and brought this into their dancing.

There is dozens of stories going around about why this is done, and I dont believe an exact answer is known. Around Dublin, Ireland where I grew up, everyone had a different reason.

Irish Dancers Feet

I've heard two separate explanations,

1) The English tried to outlaw some of the Celtic traditions including dancing. The Irish could still move their feet under the table without being suspected of dancing. Or they could dance in their cottages, but with their upper bodies still, again, they wouldn't be suspected of dancing.

2) Holding their upper bodies still allowed more dancers to fit into their small cottages.

Both seem plausible. I'm still looking for a definitive answer from a reliable source.

Here's a third,

3) "But perhaps the most likely explanation is a practical one. The solo dances are characterized by quick, intricate movements of the feet. Reportedly, as in "sean nós" (old style) dancing, the arms were kept relaxed or with fists on the hips before the late 1890's. Sometime in that decade or the one following, a dance master had his students compete with arms held firmly down to their sides, hands in fists, in order to call more attention to the intricacy of the steps. The adjudicator approved by placing the students well. Other teachers and dancers quickly followed the new trend." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance

"One explanation for the unique habit of keeping the hands and upper body stiff relates to the stage. In order to get a hard surface to dance on, people would often unhinge doors and lay them on the ground. Since this was clearly a very small "stage", there was no room for the movement of the arms.

Yet another explanation has to do with venue. Irish dance was usually performed in pubs or in small barns, where, because of the restricted space, moving the arms could be hazardous to both the dancer and the audience.

The Irish troupe explains that the pubs were much too small

for free movement of arms and that is why the dancing is

performed mainly with the feet and rarely with any arm play.

History is certainly interesting.

Can't tell you why, but when I was little my teacher made us hold weights in our hands to keep them closed and our arms still.

arms of ice

I thought it was so they could still hold their Guiness when they wanted to!

LOTS AND LOTS of practice!