Glossary

Irish step dance carries a working vocabulary of Irish-language words, most of which are spelled nothing like they sound to an English reader. Pronunciations below are rough English approximations, not phonetic transcription — enough to say the word without embarrassment.

The words you will meet first

Feis (fesh): Literally a festival or assembly; in practice a one-day competition. Plural feiseanna (fesh-AH-nuh). See the feis.
Oireachtas (uh-RAKH-tus): An assembly or gathering; in the dance world, a regional championship. The same word is used in Ireland for the national parliament.
Céilí (KAY-lee): Originally a friendly evening visit; now an evening of social group dancing, and by extension the repertoire of group dances themselves.
Ár Rincí Fóirne (awr RINK-ee FOR-neh): "Our team dances" — the standardised handbook of thirty céilí dances.
Rince (RINK-eh): Dance. Rincí (RINK-ee) is the plural.
Ghillie (GILL-ee, hard g): The soft lace-up leather shoe worn for soft-shoe dances. See the shoes.

Dances and tune types

Reel: An even, brisk dance and tune type in duple metre; danced in soft shoes, and also in hard shoes at a slower tempo as a treble reel.
Jig: A dance and tune type in compound metre, the beat dividing in three. The light jig and single jig are soft-shoe; the treble or heavy jig is hard-shoe and slower.
Slip jig: A soft-shoe dance in 9/8 — three groups of three beats to the bar — producing a gliding, hovering movement. In competition it is danced by female competitors.
Hornpipe: A hard-shoe dance in four, played with a long-short swing, at a moderate tempo.
Set dance (solo): A solo dance tied to one specific named tune with an irregular structure, with traditional steps attached. Not to be confused with the social meaning below.
Set dancing (social): Group dancing in square formations of four couples, descended from nineteenth-century quadrilles; a separate living tradition from competitive step dance. See figure dancing.
Sean-nós (shan-NOHS): "Old style" — used both of unaccompanied traditional singing and of a low, close, improvisatory style of solo dancing associated particularly with Connemara, quite distinct from competitive step dance.

Competition vocabulary

Grade: A competitor's level — beginner, advanced beginner, novice, prizewinner and the championship levels above them. Determined by past results, not by choice. See grades and championships.
Recall: To be called back for the final round of a championship after the earlier rounds. Only recalled dancers are placed.
Adjudicator: The qualified judge who marks each performance. At championship level a panel judges together.
Round: One of the several dances that make up a championship: typically a soft-shoe round, a hard-shoe round and, for recalled dancers, a set dance.
Tabulation: The process of converting adjudicators' marks into placings. At panel-judged events the system is designed to limit the influence of any single outlying judge.

Costume and dress

Brat (brat): A cloak or cape, worn falling from the shoulders and fastened at one shoulder with a brooch. See costume.
Penannular brooch: A ring brooch with a gap in the ring and a long pin, the form copied by revival-era dance brooches from early medieval Irish metalwork.
Interlace: The interwoven ribbon and animal ornament of early Irish manuscript and metal art, adopted as the standard embroidery vocabulary of twentieth-century dance costume.

Institutions and general terms

An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (un KUM-ish-oon leh RINK-ee GAY-luk-uh): The Irish Dancing Commission, established in 1927 under the Gaelic League to certify teachers and adjudicators and codify the dances.
Conradh na Gaeilge (KON-ruh nuh GAY-lig-eh): The Gaelic League, founded 1893 to revive the Irish language, and the parent of the modern competitive structure.
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (KOLE-tus KYOLE-tor-ee AIR-un): The traditional music organisation founded in 1951, running classes, sessions and competitions worldwide.
Bodhrán (BOW-rawn, "bow" as in bough): A shallow goatskin frame drum played with a short double-ended beater.
Uilleann pipes (ILL-un): The Irish bellows-blown bagpipe, quieter and more chromatic than the Scottish highland pipes.

Hearing these words spoken is far more use than reading an approximation. Much of the digitised material at dúchas.ie is in Irish, and TG4 broadcasts in the language daily, which is the easiest way to get the sounds into your ear.