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A Changing Focus: The Evolution of Irish Step Dancing Competitions in Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2019

Abstract

Considerable differences exist between Irish step dancing competitions in the current era and those which were held in the late nineteenth century. This article traces the evolution of step dancing competition praxes in Australia, exposing the multiple transformations which have occurred over time. It focuses on the shift from cultural representation to individual aesthetics and the ways in which this change has resulted from disparate influences both within the genre itself and from the broader sociocultural status of Irish immigrants in Australia.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Dance Studies Association 2019 

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