Why is irish dance? What happened such that they decided to dance with *only the lower half of their body*??
when i google one source says an origin legend is some irish dancers, commanded to dance for the queen, danced with stiff arms to show they werent enjoying it
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Other cultures do only lower half stuff too, thinking of Russian Cossack dancing
Hmm
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I was told it was because traditionally they were holding up their skirts, so couldn't use their arms.
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According to what I heard, often danced on tables in pubs with more than 1 person per table, and didn't have much room for moving arms around. Source: am Irish
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Theory I heard: Irish step dancing derives from Lancashire step dancing, where the arms are held loosely. Lancashire step dancing was traditionally judged by someone sitting under the table on which the dancer was dancing, so the arms weren't involved.
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Maybe what happens when dancing in a circle and grabbing each other's shoulders? Then you'd need to explain why 'dancing' in a circle would be such a convergence point for humans everywhere.
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I'd suspect all the explanations are apocryphal. Most likely, I'd argue, is simply that it's visually interesting, and human nature leads us to try and push any art to the edge of its envelope.
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Maybe try searching legitimate sources. I'd start with the Journal of Musicology, but there are probably dance specific journals.
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the torso traditionally got propped up by ropes because they were too drunk to stand on their own