Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers

preserving the cultural tradition of Irish ceili and set dancing since 1991

Us
A wee bit more about us. Click here if you're interested in the class location and times or want to join. At the bottom of this page is a contact if you'd like to send an email to us.

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About Us: Who We Are

Located in Maryland near Washington DC, the Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers (RKIDs) is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that focuses on promoting and preserving the cultural tradition of Irish dancing, music, literature, and art. To that end, we provide both social activities and teach Irish social, or folk, dance classes. These dances differ from Irish step dances in that they do not require high energy jumping nor wearing of special shoes. More information about our organization is here.

The classes give us the opportunity to advance our skills in Irish dance. We are a social group — good friends who like Irish dancing in an atmosphere of fun and friendship.

You don't need to bring a partner to the dance classes.

Health and Safety Guidelines

Per our Mission Statement, we want everyone at class to have a good time and get good, healthy exercise. No one should attend class if they feel ill or aren't up to the physical challenge of Irish social dancing. We follow Montgomery County, MD school system rules on preventing the spread of Covid-19, which for now means both the wearing of face masks and Covid (or other) vaccinations are optional - i.e., up to you - whether attending class or our other in-person social activites. We appreciate your cooperation in complying with these protective health and safety guidelines.

There are two types of Irish social dances, set and ceili (pronounced kay-lee) ? with both accompanied by music. The ceili dances are almost entirely done using skip threes (or other step dance-style steps, e.g., the rising step in the Haymakers' Jig) and sevens with hands held high, while set dances use a variety of different types of steps. Patterned formations created by couples or individuals follow movements which characterize a particular type of dance. Originating in Ireland as a means of socializing at parties and ceilis, they often resemble square or contra dancing.

from the Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers encyclopedia


The difference between ceili dances and set dances is the style in which they are danced, not the music. The music (reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, slides) is specific to the dance but not to the determination of whether it is a ceili dance or a set dance.

All ceili dances are danced in the style of competitive step dancing ... hop 1-2-3s and hop 1-2-3-4-5-6-7s, up on the toes with (ideally) feet coming off the floor on the hops. In some cases, the “rise and grind” step from step dancing is used, and in one case, the “sink and grind” step from step dancing is used. A ceili dance is continuous with no breaks within the dance. The ceili dances have been specified by a dance commission in Ireland. There are 30 official ceili dances, but there are also other ceili-style dances (e.g., Every Man’s Chance, Hooks and Eyes) that are not included in the official book. The type of music used, and sometimes the exact tune, is specific to the dance.

Set dances are composed of “sets” of figures (varying from 2 to 9) that are based on the French quadrilles and that have developed into a wide variety of local variations across Ireland. Generally, there is a break between the figures in a set. They are danced in squares (sets) of four couples or half-squares (half-sets) of two couples. The footwork used is specific to the set, but in general it is much less hoppy than ceili dancing, and the feet are generally kept close to the floor, even when battering or doubling. There are hundreds of sets, and more are being choreographed all the time.

— courtesy of Marilyn Moore

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RKIDs' classes are held on Tuesday evenings at a public school in Gaithersburg, MD. There is one class per evening. There are two semesters offered yearly: from September to mid-December and from January to mid-May.

Our dance class mission is "Provide a fun, safe environment of instruction and support to Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers building on existing knowledge and using familiar steps, skills, and dances."

The Typical Class Session

Each session begins at 7:00 pm and ends at 8:45. Classes begin with brief RKIDs' activities announcements, then review of steps pertinent to the dances being taught that night. Afterwards we usually do a ceili dance, followed by a break, a slow dance (waltz, march or similar two-hand dance), optional break, then a few figures from a set dance. Students are encouraged to practice and review at home what has been taught in class. There are YouTube videos available for many of the dances.

Class Goals

The overall goals are:

Our specific goals are for students to do the following tolerably well and in time to the music:

Click/Tap on this expanding strip to view our syllabus of core dances. Many of the current semester of dances are selected from this list.

 

Waltz and Two-Hand dances also include:

Step by step instructions for most of the dances can be found by clicking the shoe icon or using the resources on our Instructions page. Bolded dance names have links to example videos, although the way we practice some of these dances may vary.


Dress

Attendees dress casually and comfortably. No special type of shoe is required, but leather- or felt-soled shoes are usually better choices than other materials since many of the dance steps are glides.

 

Other Club Activities

In addition to the dance classes, parties and cultural enrichment events are held during the year. When feasible, the group participates in Irish-oriented parades in the Washington DC area. Any members who are interested are encouraged to participate, but that isn't required. Members and relatives of members are allowed in our parade unit if they wear green and comply with our dress code (i.e., preferably dressed in RKIDs shirts or jackets but we can make exceptions as long as they involve green garb), and can march unassisted.

 

Sample Dance Class Session