#3 Irish Dance

Accounts of dancing in the seventeenth century suggest that dancing was by that time extremely widespread throughout Ireland. A report from 1600 mentions that Irish dances were group dances similar in form to English country dances, and later references mention the "rinnce fada", also known as the "long dance" or "Fading". This dance, performed to a jig tune though not to any particular piece of music, became the customary conclusion to balls held in Ireland towards the end of the seventeenth century. At this time, dancing was commonly accompanied by musicians playing bagpipes or the Jew's harp.