Sean-nós & Set Dance with Maldon
Specializing in easy to follow step by step instruction for all levels
Willie Keane’s Advance & Retire Step
Woodshed – Left Side
Biddy Martin’s
Playlist for kid’s class with polka songs and steps
There is no right or wrong here today. Improvisation is about play and playing with your steps and the music. Mistakes are not mistakes, keep going and exploring.
Insert a movement – insert a movement or a pattern into the original step. You might have to remove an equal amount of bars to make the step square or you can choose to leave them in and have a step that goes across the bars of music or something that you square off eventually.
Full variation & creation list document
You can also apply all of what we have learned over the last 6 weeks to your set dancing. Here’s the Cashel set if you would like to apply this to your set dancing.
Cashel Set – You could map what advance & retire step you might use for the Cashel set. There are other polka sets as well that you could do this with.
Here are a few mapped out options for you to explore.
Roisin Steps to Polkas – Mapped out
Polka steps – Mapped out
Alternate between happed and unmapped. Chose one step to keep going back to or map out a routine and leave everyother 8 bars open.
Unmapped. You can take everything you have learned and dance unmapped. Your steps can be unmapped but if you want some guide rails try picking a few improvisational tricks and dance with them in mind. In class we only danced one at a time as an exercise. The skys the limit. Pick as few or as many as you want to play with. Full variation & creation list document
Continue to work on your routines mapped or unmapped.
Music page – Membership music page. Here you will find many of the tunes on this site in one place. Each tune has a page with resources and downloads. Some tunes have a breakdown of the tune in a spreadsheet that you can use for writing and mapping out steps. If there is a tune that is not done yet and you would like to use it please let me know and I will create a breakdown for you. Over time my hope is to have a breakdown for each tune on the site to make it easy for you to create routines and choreography.
Here are a few tunes to get you started.
Discover the Joy of Irish Set Dancing! Whether you’re a novice or an experienced dancer, these classes are designed for everyone. Step-by-step instruction makes dancing accessible and enjoyable for all skill levels.
What You’ll Learn:
Connemara Steps
Links to reference material on the site.
Maldon’s Spotify Profile – I have many playlists that you can save to your own account or save the link. The are organized by tune, by set dance and by ceili nights. The tune playlists are great if you are practinging your steps and want a playlist of tunes.
Maldon’s YouTube Profile – I have many playlists here as well. They are organized by sets, tunes, dances and more. Save them to your own youtube account for easy reference or save the link. Youtube you can slow down the video if you want to practice at a slower speed.
Download tunes for practicing at home.
Irish old-style step dance classes focus on teaching the traditional dances that paved the way for modern step dance and the Riverdance style. These dances share a similar structure but are performed close to the ground. Unlike sean-nós dance, old-style step dance incorporates choreographed steps executed on both the right and left foot, usually lasting 8 bars each and repeated on both sides for a total of 16 bars. Join us to learn these timeless dances that have been passed down through generations.
The class recording tab included all the live zoom classes for this course. Each dance we will cover has it’s own page as well so you can go directly to that tab to work on each dance. The members only page had links to additional material related to this course. The tunes tab has streaming playlists and recording that you can download for practicing.
The job of journeywork with Céline Tubridy and Michael Tubridy. Music by Michael Tubridy, flute. Recorded for the DVD ‘Irish Traditional Step Dances’, Dublin : Michael Tubridy, 2007.
Céline and Michael Tubridy learned this dance from the Clare dancing master Dan Furey.
Helpful links and resources
Step creations or choreography
| TUNE | STEP |
| A1 | |
| A1 | Lead out – JOJW first half 2x |
| B1 | Joe – ground cuts |
| B1 | |
| A2 | 2 tricks rocks / heels |
| A2 | |
| B2 | JoJW Bunny Hop |
| B2 | |
| A3 | Joe – Drum |
| A3 | |
| B3 | JOJW Finish stamp |
| B3 | |
| A1 | 1234 patern |
| A1 | |
| B1 | heels / drums / heels |
| B1 | |
| A2 | tip down shuffle 12 hop back stamp |
| A2 | |
| B2 | Cut & Kick |
| B2 | |
| A3 | drums / ground cut |
| A3 | |
| B3 | 3 full shuffles / heels / JOJW ending |
| B3 | |
| A1 | Murry #1 / Classic Joe (Murrary side & heels) |
| A1 | |
| B1 | Ground Cut or Cross with tips |
| B1 | |
| A2 | Rock |
| A2 | |
| B2 | tip cut / ground cut / kick cut |
| B2 | |
| A3 | Heels |
| A3 | |
| B3 | Murry #2 |
| B3 | |
| A1 | Ground cut / heels / rock |
| A1 | |
| B1 | tip cut / cut & kick |
| B1 |
Membership links related to this course
Job of Journeywork practice music – A part only, B part only, Full tune with an extra A. These are in a google folder. You can download them or save them to your own google drive.
Spotify Playlist for the Job of Journeywork. Feel free to save it to your own Spotify account for future reference.
This course is suitable for dancers of all levels, from beginners to advanced. We will focus on sean-nós jig steps, providing material tailored to each skill level. Throughout the course, you’ll learn steps, improvisation techniques, and variations. By the end, you’ll have a set routine and the opportunity to explore improvisation or freeform dancing.
Sean-nós, which means “old-style,” is a highly improvisational and rhythmic dance form that stays close to the ground. Unlike traditional Irish step dancers, sean-nós dancers swing their hips and use their arms to express the music. Historically, dancers performed solo on small surfaces like the hardwood of a half door or the top of a barrel, leading to steps confined to a small space. In sean-nós dance, the dancer and the musician are closely connected, with the dancer interpreting the music through their movements.
Roisin’s Steps
Step Creation and Improvisation
Goal Setting, Dreaming & Mindset Coaching
I have been studying life coaching, mindset coaching and goal setting for the last 6 years. It is one of the things that has helped me though my cancer treatment and I am excited to share what I have learned with you. When I ask my students what their biggest struggle with dance is the response I usually get is practicing or building a habit of practicing. We are going to explore goal setting, keeping motivation going, practicing and dreaming big together.
Fridays 7:30 AM
This first week we will make a best moments list, a looking forward to list and a massive goals list. These are lists that the writer and speaker Jon Acuff uses in his books. They have really helped me get into the right mindset for inspiration and motivation. Here are my lists if you want to see them. I currently keep a journal in my bedroom and will sit down here and there and add to my best moments list. I am finding that I add something most days and it brings me gratitude, hope, inspiration and joy. If fact my best moments list is on my looking forward to list!
Homework – test one of your goals for a week.
Goals
Notice what helps you with this goal and as we continue over the weeks. What helps me most is having a time and place in my calendar for that goal, accountability with others, being kind to myself and having a range of what it means to work towards this goal.
Sound track’s “Our dreams are all unique but our doubts are all the same.” Jon Acuff
This week pick a goal for the month. Dump the things you need to do for that goal.
Calendaring
What can you do in the next 3 days that will make the next 3 weeks better?
What can you do in the next 3 days that will make the next 3 months better?
Books