The year Irish dance went viral
While theatres, performance spaces and pubs might have been closed during the pandemic, it didn’t mean the party had to stop.
Irish music and dance have been stepping out on hip, new digital journeys, with young people around the globe, thanks to the power of social media.
Riverdance, the incredible seven-minute 1994 Eurovision Song Contest interval act, catapulted Irish dancing onto the world stage. It changed the face of Irish dance forever and now a new crop of young people are juxtaposing traditional poses and intricate footwork with the pop hits of the moment - and it’s all going viral online.
Last year Morgan Bullock from Richmond, Virginia, was one of the first to demonstrate just how thrilling Irish dance moves can be, when matched up with mainstream music. The 21-year-old American captured a wave of international attention after her dance routine to the Savage remix by Megan Thee Stallion (feat. Beyoncé) went viral on TikTok.
TikTok has also made stars out of a group of seven lads from the west of Ireland, who have had incomparable success with their take on viral dance trends.
Cairde, which means ‘friends’ in Irish, have been rivals in dance competitions since they were kids. The group fuses jazz dancing, tap and even hip hop with Irish dancing to take the traditional genre to a whole new level.
They started uploading videos to TikTok during the pandemic for a laugh, soon becoming viral sensations and garnering tens of millions views and an army of followers along the way. The group’s boy-band charm was on display throughout their performance of Bad Guy by Billie Eilish, which took place at the famous Cliffs of Moher on St. Patrick’s Day this year – it was even beamed live into the UK talk show This Morning, as well as Good Morning America.
Now Cairde are planning for a world tour in 2022 and with other projects in the pipeline and their global popularity on the rise, the future is bright for this group of friends and college students.
Other Irish dancers repurposing traditional steps to fit modern beats and songs are the Gardiner brothers, Michael and Matthew. US-born but now living in Galway, they created Irish dancing history in 2015 by winning their respective world titles as brothers in the same year in Montreal.
While the digital space has been a boon for sharing Irish dancing during the pandemic, you can’t beat seeing some liveaction once indoor venues and arts centres fully reopen again.
One of the best places is Ireland’s National Folk Theatre, Siamsa Tíre in Tralee, Co. Kerry. It recently launched a series of ondemand and live dancing workshops to share the captivating Munnix style of dancing, which has survived since the 1700s.