Dancing at a wedding is always a blast, and the first dance is always heartwarming to watch, but have you ever seen a wedding with Irish step dancing? Even if you have, I’m not sure you’ve ever seen it quite like this!
The groom, best men and some other wedding guests all stole the dancefloor with this amazing performance!
Unless you yourself are Irish, then you probably have a few specific things that come to mind when you think of Ireland.
Beer, St. Paddy, shamrocks, leprachauns, and the accent.
How far off am I?
Honestly, Irish culture is so much more rich than what the wider world gives it credit for!
Ireland is also home to beautiful architecture, crazy and unique mythology, vast landscapes, and of course, step dancing, among other things!
Below is a photo of Trinity College, in Dublin. Beyond being a massive library full of knowledge, it is also incredibly picturesque and inspiring! Doesn’t it make you want to just sit and read among all of those books?
Step-dancing is really old.
Possibly older than Christian Ireland even! It’s gone through centuries of evolution and change, but it was only (relatively) recently, in the 20th century, that Irish dance became a solid concept as we know it today.
The change was thanks to the creation of An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) which standardised Irish dance and began certifying people.
Even before then, Irish dance was an integral part of Irish society. Irish dance was featured as a competitive sport and also a large focus in social customs, like weddings!
In the photo below, you can see Irish dancers in traditional outfits, the big wigs included!
No doubt the importance of step dancing in Irish culture is where the groom and his troupe picked up their impressive moves!
The groom especially, Bill, channels his inner Michael Flatley in the video!
Bill’s backup dancers may be dance lords, but he really is the Lord of the Dance. That’s a distinction that matters in Irish culture!
Michael Flatley, recently retired, popularised Irish dance the world over, and is considered the world’s most famous Irish dancer! He broke the Guinness world record for tap dancing by tapping his feet 35 times per second. I don’t even have an analogy for how fast that is, my feet move once every like two seconds when I’m running. No, I haven’t won any races.
Flatley actually had to retire because of the stress dancing was putting on his body. He was having constant back, leg and rib pain, which he attributed to his dancing. Who can blame the guy for wanting to stay ahead of that?
“I am always in pain. Agony. Every morning my poor wife has to witness me spending the first few minutes of the day trying to straighten my back and push my legs to start working.” -Michael Flatley
Luckily, while groom was no doubt beat after his performance, he only had to do it for the wedding, so his body probably won’t start giving out in the same way.
To see the amazing dancing and listen to the catchy stomp-beat, click on the video down below!
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