 The following article appeared in the July 1,
2002 edition of the
Fairfax Connection.
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Irish Music Festival
by Dar Haddix
The Connection
Sad ballads, lively hornpipes and the rhythmic stomp of Irish step dancing were some of the sounds heard at the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann's Irish Music Festival held in the City of Fairfax's van Dyck Park on June 29. CCE's local O'Neill-Malcom branch sponsored the event, in which 10 bands and students and teachers from seven Irish dance schools performed a variety of Irish music, step dancing, and set and ceili dances. Step dances are by tradition solo, competitive dances; set and ceili, or figure dances, are social dances. "This is the first time we've held it here," said Hugh Conway, one of the organizers. |
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Brett Jordan, armed with a fiddle and a camera for the festival, explained, "Ceili
means party," and added, "My wife used to dance...she's retired now." Jordan's
daughter Sarah is a student at the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance.
Caterina Earle, teacher at the Culkin School, interspersed dance performances
with history and trivia, including how step dancers' "hard" shoes are now tipped
with fiberglass, not leather and nails. "They still get the sound," she said,
"but the fiberglass tends to chip."
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Comhaltas Ceoltoiti Eireann, which translates from the Gaelic as Irish Musicians
Association, is headquartered in Dublin with 400 branches around the world, said
Bob Hickey, the festival's main organizer. Hickey said CCE also offers Irish
dance lessons, concerts, dances and other events in Van Dyck Park's John Wood
Center.
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