<![CDATA[Annette Collins

<![CDATA[Annette Collins - Blog]]>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 16:51:22 +0000Weebly<![CDATA[St Brigid's Day]]>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:38:14 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/st-brigids-day

St Brigid's Day, February 1st

A relatively new holiday in the Irish Calendar. In 2022, Caitlín Nic Gabhann was commissioned to write a tune and dance to honour St Brigid. Click below to view her promotional video - no word of a lie, a stunning piece of work.

I was really taken by the dance, also, I adore the timing of the slip jig. I was teaching 4 levels of dance online at that time, and when I asked Caitlín if I could teach her dance she said:

" Hi Annette, absolutely !
I’d be honoured, that would be very very cool ! "

Since then we have performed the dance twice together, firstly at the Willie Clancy Festival, and again in Belfast - my claim to fame! Click this image for a quick peep, a private link.

Click here to download a free copy of the sheet music for this tune.

Click here if you would like to purchase a home-study course and learn this beautiful dance.

A quote from a student regarding my home study courses: "Hi Annette, I did not yet thank you for this material. Its absolutely fantastic! I wonder how much work you put into this. Hope you are well with greetings from Langerwisch, Germany, Björn"

Brigid the Saint

It’s believed Brigid was born in Faughart, County Louth, in 450AD. She was heavily inspired by Patrick’s teachings, became a Christian, and devoted her life to helping the poor, sick, and elderly.

With her newfound faith, Brigid entered a convent. She then went on to found convents across the region, including an Abbey built just beside an oak tree just outside Kildare town.

She’s believed to have died in 525 AD and was eventually canonized as a Saint. She’s seen as a patron of Ireland, protection and healing, poetry, babies and midwives, dairy and livestock, beer, blacksmithing, and more.

St Brigid is featured in many different legends, but the one she is most well-known for is her cloak.

St Brigid’s Cloak

Needing land to build her convent, Brigid went to the King of Leinster, who refused to take her request seriously. So instead, Brigid asked that he would give her just as much land as her cloak would cover.

The King agreed, but when Brigid and her friends took each corner of her cloak and pulled, it expanded to cover a vast area.

Believing it was a miracle, the astonished King kept his promise, gave Brigid the land, gifted her food, money, and supplies, and converted to Christianity himself.

Brigid built her Abbey there in Kildare, near where St Brigid’s Cathedral stands today. Not only that, but the name ‘Kildare’ comes from the Irish “Cill Dara” meaning “Hill of the Oak”, which suggests it may have been inspired by Brigid and her abbey.

Brigid the Goddess

Many feel that St Brigid’s stories were the Catholic Church’s adaptation of the Pagan Celtic Goddess Brigid, so they would be easily accepted.

The Goddess Brigid is a powerful deity in Irish and other European folklore. She was a member of the Tuath de Danann, a daughter of the Dagda, and is considered the Goddess of the harvest, fertility, healing, poetry, fire, and Spring.

The celebration of Brigid and of Spring also traditionally happens on the 1st of February. It’s known as the ancient time of “Imbolc”, the start of the season of Spring in Celtic Ireland.

Above text from McNeela

If you know anything of me, you will know - much like family and friends - I love the writing of my brother Tom, here is his piece on St Brigid, published in the Irish News in February 2026.

]]><![CDATA[words of wisdom]]>Thu, 01 Jan 2026 13:03:14 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/words-of-wisdom

An article from my brother Tom, an award winning writer, who has a weekly opinion column in the Irish News. He regularly includes family members in his meanderings, enjoy the read!

HERE we are, on the cusp of a new year.  It's a truism, I know, but it seems to come around more quickly every year, and the hope that comes with turning over a new leaf is tempered by the realisation that I am closer still to what writer Rabelais called "le grand peut-être" - the great perhaps.

It's the sense of time passing that always makes me mournful at the turn of the year.  My preference for New Year's Eve is to take to my bed early and wake up with the dirty business of passing time' done and dusted for another year.

When I was a teenager, I did just that.  Bed at 10, the radio on in the background, lulling me to sleep.  I was happily in the land of nod when the midnight bells were ringing out - only to be rudely awakened by my parents and siblings, who dragged me from my pit for a round of Auld Lang Syne.

Let's just say I did not enter into the spirit of things.

Rabbie Burns may well be one of the world's great poets, but were 1 to be allowed to eradicate one song from the canon, it would be that dirge - particularly the version sung by Rod Stewart.

You can take your "cup o'kind-ness" and pour it down the drain, for all I care.

I am now old enough to decide on my bedtime, but this year I will bow once to social pressure and stay up to midnight for the bells.

When we link arms and sing Auld Lang Syne, it will be in memory of a father who loved it, and family togetherness, enough to risk the ire of a teenage mutant human and drag him out of bed in the dead of night.

One thing I am increasingly conscious of as l age is that traditions are important, not just as markers of the year, but as reminders of our common humanity and the links to parents, grandparents and generations of family beyond the time history describes.

And that surely is what this time of year is about.  It's not just the Christmas story of a birth in a stable, lowing cattle and wise men travelling across the desert; it's our ancestors' elemental understanding of the passage of time.

The Celts were at one with the seasons, and recognised that in the depths of winter, life was stirring and the resurrection of spring was at hand.  The sun that shone over Tara, over Newgrange, over Navan Fort and over the Giant's Ring, is the sun that sustains us today.  And like ancestors, we should reverence it.

Many of our winter traditions find their roots in that Celtic past - holly wreaths, Yule logs, glowing candles, family gathered round the hearth.  Even though our modern world is unrecognisable from theirs, this season is proof of the old adage 'plus ça change, plus c'est le même chose'.  Yes indeed, everything alters, and everything remains the same.

Our basic needs are the same as any ancient Celt's; and sustaining our spirit comes best from being in touch with the living world around us, by understanding the ebb and flow of nature and by being at one with it.

When night closes in, we'd do well not to flood our world with the brutality of electric light but to burn a candle or two, to sit around the fire and share our stories with one another.

That's fanciful I know in a world dominated by mobile devices, world that is always switched on, a world where our agency has been taken away from us.  But this coming year I will do what I can to live more in the moment, and to better understand one of the greatest gifts given to us - the world around us.

The ancient Irish understood winter to be a time to take stock of who we are and where we are in our lives, and to look forward to the renewal which comes with spring.

I know too well that the madness of the world will reassert itself once we get into January, that the things that get under my skin will once again make their presence felt.  But if I sit quietly - whiskey in hand - and listen hard enough, I can hear the spirit of my ancestors telling me that I will be better able to deal with the madness if l am better grounded.

I know too that if I listen hard enough, I will hear the rich bass-baritone of my father singing "Should auld acquaintance be forgot".

A happy and rooted new year to you all.

The megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange is lit up during the winter solstice, which marks the start of longer days and new life. Our basic needs are not so different from our ancestors who built the ancient monument.

]]><![CDATA[To Prove a POint!]]>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 14:47:52 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/proving-a-pointOireachtas na Samhna 2025

What an experience, these words and photos to follow will give you an insight into my first dip into competitive dance.

When I first started step dancing (at the age of 40), I could hardly “step it out” in front of my class-mates, and as you can imagine, the inevitable “end of term” performance filled me with dread, given the addition of an audience.

I have come a long way from that moment, and am a firm believer of “Face your Fears”!

A friend talked me into entering the dance competition, one of the festival events at Oireachtas na Samhna, persuading me with phrases like:

“people need to see representation from the North”

“people need to see that there are other forms of traditional dance than Connemara sean nós”

While I wholeheartedly agreed with all she said, all I could think – “I’m not the competitive type”! Cáitriona left me to ponder ... a week later, the deadline for entry was imminent, we were still texting and chatting, and 30 mins before the deadline we both agreed to enter by saying:

“feck it, why not, what do we have to lose”!

Partners in the crime!

On 31 October 2025, I arrived at the Europa Hotel for the preliminary round, I was number 39 out of 42, the earlier competitions were all running late, but I was happy to sit with some friends and watch the younger age groups compete before mine began.

The start of the adult competition was announced, and I would have to say that the event was much more relaxed than I was expecting, or was I just in my “happy place” watching so many talented dancers take to the stage one by one?

My name was called ... I “stepped up” and danced my best, in a wee cocktail dress (everyone else in slacks).

Once the last competitor had finished, the judges left the room to discuss who would be placed among the 20 finalists, and low and behold last but one – “Annette Collins” was called … what was going through my head?

A mix of “oh my God that’s amazing” - as well as – “I guess that means I have to come back tomorrow and do this all again”!

The buzz in Belfast throughout the festival was amazing, the listing of events incredible. The air was filled with the Gaelic language, and I was pleased I could follow some of what was said. Tá mé ag foghlaim an teanga faoi láthair – I’m learning the language at present – please join the growing masses dipping back into our native tongue!

A day later I was back on the train to Belfast, I registered for my competition and went into the main hall of the Waterfront to watch the younger age groups. It was odd to see traditional dance in such glitz - lights – cameras – action!

I headed back stage about an hour before my slot (I was 2nd from the end), our room was filled with Tayto crisps, boxes of chocolates, and lollipops … what does that say? The only person around my age, was the musician who was playing for us – Tom Doherty.

I engaged with the other dancers, and asked if they were curious about traditional steps that had been handed down from one generation to the next … one lad responded with “yes, I remember my grand father dancing like that” … we chatted a bit and watched the event on someone’s phone, while we were all called/lead to the side wings, one by one.

So, at the age of “60 years young”, I walked out on stage at the Waterfront, one of Belfast’s biggest entertainment venues, to perform a traditional dance with a musician I hardly knew, at an event that was being televised – live.

To be truthful, I was oblivious to the large welcoming applause, or how it compared with those competing before me. I was back stage at the time, and on the whole it was hard to work out what was going on, except that everything was running late, and they needed to be finished before the “News”!

My name was called:

“Annette Collins, our first competitor from Co Armagh”

I also believe I was the only person from the north who made it through to the final – I guess those facts led to a greater reaction from the audience, as said this year’s event took place in Belfast.

My age group was “over 18s”; I am so much older than 18, that I could have been a granny to many of those I was competing against … the reason I was there had no correlation to competition, I was there to “Prove a Point”.

Traditional steps are worth showcasing, it is never too late to start your journey in dance; I ask of you to - do your part in saving this dance form, rarely seen; and sadly, rarely taught around Ireland.

While I had been talked into competing, I have no regrets – my performance (link below) showcased some of my old style repertoire, my love of dance, my love of tradition. This series of five steps was handed down to me via an unbroken line from the Dancing Masters of old: a series of four jig steps given to me by Patrick O'Dea, and a final step that had been give to me by Jackie O'Riley who received it from Patrick.

Sadly, Patrick is no longer teaching but I visit him from time to time - ❤️

Also of interest, I was the only person to dance jigs in the competition; I could see the adjudication panel from the stage, they were dimly lit, three in total, one of whom had not been present at the previous day's competition, and no word of a lie, the only way to explain her demeanour was:

"a bunny in headlights"

Not surprising really, as she had just sat through 3 hours of reels, with the majority of competitors requesting the same tune.

In my mind the competition needs a bit of a shake up, allocate a tune "TO" the competitor a week ahead of the competition, include in those tunes, other dance types, hornpipe, jig, polka, slide not to mention Ireland's very own "slip jig"! Probably not at the younger age groups, but definitely at the higher levels.

- what an experience -

Here’s an insight to “Irish humour”, after the event my dance classes were curious to know about the experience, and I was happy to share it with them. When I mentioned that back-stage, each age group were allocated their “own room”; Alison asked if I was in a room of my own! 🤣🤣🤣

Here are a few other quotes too - my friends and family left me feeling like a superstar.

Part of the beauty of the Irish dance tradition is that it was passed on from one person to the next, one generation to the next.

Sadly, the passing-on of traditional steps is rare to find in many parts of Ireland.  The only way I would fill a higher level class would be to offer it online, with the majority of people attending from countries other than “The Emerald Isle”.

But!

I do run lots of beginner type classes and workshops, many have been funded by the Council – are they well attended, sadly not!  So, do what you can to encourage people to dance – the benefits are HUGE!  Help me and people like me pass on a tradition that has “gone out of style”.

- click this image to watch my performance -

]]><![CDATA[the fleadh in belfast - 2026]]>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 19:19:07 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/the-fleadh-in-belfast-2026Here is an article from my brother Tom, an award winning writer, who has a weekly opinion column in the Irish News. He regularly includes family members in his meanderings, enjoy the read!

]]><![CDATA[Dance Hall Act Feb 1935]]>Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:59:07 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/dance-hall-act-feb-1935

“The Public Dance Halls Act”
- an article from Edwina Gukian, dated 19 Feb 2025

Translation of “An Diabla Sans Halla Damhsa”:

"The Devil in the Dance Hall"

On this day 90 years ago a way of life changed for the people of Ireland, "The Public Dance Halls Act" was signed into law on the 19 February 1935.

This meant that you could no longer gather people together to dance without - a dance license, ie you could no longer organise house dances, or crossroads dances, or dances in local halls, ie there could no longer be a form of public dancing whatsoever unless you applied for a license, and paid the fee AND were approved by a judge. If you did not comply, you were prosecuted; people in authority were entitled to oppose, which usually meant the Gardaí and the parish priest.

"The Irish" are an exceptionally social race, we live for the weekend, to come together to drink, dance, play music, and connect. The Irish of the early 1900s were no different, this act had serious implications on Irish society.

Houses, halls and rural crossroads became heavily monitored by church and state for any illegal dancing.  Homes were raided, musicians’ instruments thrown into the fire, dance platforms driven over and families names blackened from the pulpit.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as “the people” still found ways to have secret house dances and hired look-out boys to watch the roads when the dances were on. My grandad told me that he was playing at a house dance outside Boyle one night, the look-out boy came racing in to say the priest was on the way, when he burst in the door everyone had the instruments up in the loft and were all on their knees saying the rosary!

The 1935 Dance Hall Act forced dancing into a controlled environment under the watchful eye of state and church where they ensured lots of room was left between dancing couples’ bodies – ie space “for the holy spirit” to pass. "Traditional Irish céilí dances" were solely allowed – definitely not any “disrespectful” foreign dances “Set dancing” being one of those foreign dances …

The roaring ‘20s jazz music and dance scene in New York made its way to Ireland’s dance halls by the 1930s and were fairly embraced. Foxtrot, swing, shim sham, lindy hop… and with that, dance halls soon became the clerical obsession. They claimed degenerate dance halls were the curse and ruin of the country.  All-night dances were filled with evil, temptation and sin. People who arrived to these dances from outside the parish in motor cars were scoundrels of the lowest type. Apparently “the devil himself" appeared in several dance halls across the country, sweeping women off their feet with devilish charm and foreign footwork.

Women attending unlicensed dance halls and illegal dances underwent extreme public scrutiny for their presumed immodest dress, public smoking, how they danced and who they socialised with at these unsupervised events. Modern women were widely believed to be a threat in public spaces. The public shaming was not confined to the Catholic church but formed a wider culture of complaint from all classes of society and gender.

Only 9 days after the 1935 Dance Hall Act became law, contraception was made illegal under the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Both the Dance Hall Act and contraception ban came from the same Carrigan Report recommendations.

The 1935 Dance Hall Act is still an active law in Ireland today.

Related article on Jimmy Gralton

A Leitrim man born in 1886, whose life became one of the most controversial stories in 20th-century Ireland, he became the only Irish-born citizen ever to be deported from Ireland.

He grew up in Effrinagh, emigrated to America twice, and returned home in the early 1930s with big ideas about community, education, and freedom. On his own land he built the Pearse–Connolly Hall, a tin hall where locals could dance, learn, debate politics, take classes, play music—basically, a place where working people finally had a space that was theirs, outside the control of Church or State.

That freedom didn’t sit easily with the conservative forces of the time. The hall had an attempted bombing, shots fired through the window when a dance was on, it was condemned from the pulpit along with all that entered it, and eventually it was attacked and burned to the ground on Christmas Eve 1932.

Gralton himself was labelled a radical, a communist, a danger, “an undesirable alien”. In 1933, without ever being charged with a crime, he became the only Irish-born citizen ever deported from Ireland. He was put on a ship back to America and never allowed home again. To this day, no official records survive explaining the true legal basis for his deportation.

To many, Jimmy Gralton represents resistance, community spirit, and the working-class people’s fight for cultural and social freedom. His hall may be gone, but the story of the man who built it, the people who stood with him and all they believed in still resonates in the music, dance and community of Effrinagh today.

Edwina's creation of "The Gralton Big Band" is a salute to this Leitrim legend.

Featuring: Cathy Jordan • Ryan Molloy • Stephen Doherty • David Doocey • Matthew Berrill • Jim Higgins • Conor Caldwell • Brona Graham • Ben Castle

Edwina's project "The Devil in the Dancehall" was been funding by the Arts Council of Ireland.

]]><![CDATA[Fave dance videos]]>Sun, 08 Dec 2024 17:21:23 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/fave-dance-videos

I regularly share my favourite web links with dance friends and students, here they are for all to view, enjoy!

If any of these links no longer work, drop me a line and I will remove them. I will add the date beside additional items and they will remain "new" for a couple of months. If you have any links you would like me to add, just drop me a line - here

Videos:

Steps Across the Pond
An international group of percussive dancers who have been meeting online since the summer of 2020. We enjoy sharing steps, conversation, and life for two hours once a week, in 2023 we created our first joint project:

Video 1: new choreography from Maria Monakova to a tune called: "Tá An Coileach Ag Fógairt An Lae" - click. here

Video 2: Five Hornpipe Steps from Frankie Roddy of Derry, inspired by Annette's research project funded by Instep RT - click here - released in December 2024, on the 20th anniversary of his death. Coming soon! A home study course teaching these steps, a free resource.

Video 3: the Sam Sherry Improver's Waltz Clog with music by Brian Pickell, in this piece we decided to include our students, filmed in Ireland, Canada, USA, Russia click here to view.

YouTube channels from some members of the group:

Annette, in Ireland - click here
Kristen, in Colorado - click here
Maria, in Russia - click here
Kate, in Russia - click here

Again & Again - a wonderful piece including Kate which was choreographed by Lena, her teacher - click here (5-1/2 mins)

Lena's YouTube Channel - click here

My most recent collaboration with Jenifer Hobson (Scotland), Maria Monakova and Maria Fadeyeva (Russia), as well as Jackie O'Riley and Rebecca McGowan (USA) - click here

Slip Jigs & Hop Jigs

I have always loved this quirky 9/8 time signature

Jackie O'Riley - Dusty Millar Hop Jig

(this dance is available as a home-study course click here)

Rebecca McGowan & Kate Spanos - Donncha & Celine's Slip Jig

Caitlín NicGabhann - St Brigid's Day Slip Jig

(available as a home-study course click here, read more about St Brigid here)

Kieran Jordan's take on the slip jig - click here

Ednie Wilson - An English Percussive Slip Jig

Three members of Steps Across the Pond met in April '24 for the first time, and created this piece: The Silver Slipper Hop Jig

A personal fave ❤️ Maria Monakova's choreography to a tune called "The Butterfly" - click here to see her students, here to see Maria, and here to see me dancing it a couple of miles from my home on the shores of Lough Neagh (this dance is available as a home-study course, click here)

Something a little different from me, dancing Irish Percussive steps to a Breton Ridée track click here to view. Three Irish dances were incorporated into this piece.

Did you know that one of the figures of the "Piper's Set" is danced to slip jigs? Two figures of the set were recorded at the Willie Clancy Festival, the slip jig is the 2nd of the two starting at 3 mins 19 secs, click here to view.

Feeling the Love - ❤️
Maria Monakova's students dancing to my recorded track of St Patrick's Day - click here

Quote from Jackie O'Riley:

"Maria's video is awesome! I love the choreography, so fluid and tasteful, really lets the dance shine through!! Your track sounds fantastic!"

Other Funky Stuff - 😊

Jackie O'Riley & Rebecca McGowen dancing Mount Phoebus' Hunt - click here
Dannsa Scotland YouTube channel - click here
Blast from the past, 5 lassies in little black dresses in 2012 - click here
Nic Gareiss' YouTube channel - click here
Miss Moonshine's YouTube channel - click here
Sabra McGillivray's YouTube channel - click here

 - this video is a particular favourite - click here

Toby Bennet's YouTube channel - click here
Kieran Jordan's YouTube channel - click here

Longer videos:

An interesting BBC documentary "Why Dancing is Key to Our Humanity" (5 mins) - click here

An old documentary about Devonshire Step Dancing (7 mins) - click here

Another wonderful old documentary about Welsh Clogging (15 mins) - click here

A discussion about sets & sean nós with Brenda O'Callaghan & Pat Murphy (15 mins) - click here

Traditional Quebec dancing, performance and tutorial of "The Brandy", from 1974. (18 mins) - click here

South Derry Dancing from Joe & Mary McGuiggan (24 mins) - click here

Caitlín NicGabhann presents "Drawing from the Well", Episode 3 (30 mins) - click here

Wheatland Fest, the 1st 40 yrs (+ a very young Nic Gareiss (40 mins) - click here

Tap Dancing Documentary, with an intro in Swedish, (54 mins) - click here

Becky Hill (60 mins) - Becky Hill & Friends

Talking Feet Documentary on Traditional American Southern Dances (90 mins) - click here

Cartlan Ghradam Ceoil - an Irish version of the Oscars, the tribute to Joe & Siobhan O'Donovan begins at 12 mins, with dancing from Joe's prodigy: Patrick O'Dea (total length: 90 mins) - click here - to read more about Joe, click here (added 0326)

Other links:

First of its kind - a visual album of dance:
From the Floor | Jackie O'Riley & Rebecca McGowan

My all-time favourite dance fest, Le Grand bal de L'Europe:
A HUGE dance festival lasting 2 weeks (late July into August). Dancers can attend for a day, few days, week, or even the whole thing, a mecca of dance, live music at all workshops and into the wee hours: www.gennetines.org

In July 2024, and again in 2025, I was invited to teach into the Irish traditional music festival – Rencontres Musicales Irlandaises de Tocane – held in the small rural town of Tocane Saint Apre in the Dordogne region of south-west France, 140km east of Bordeaux. It is the longest running trad fest outside Ireland, and even made it to the Irish Music Archives. I believe this could be a yearly destination for pleasure! They change their tutors every 1 or 2 years.
ITMA post
Official Website

]]><![CDATA[joe o'Donovan (1918 - 2008)]]>Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:11:25 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/joe-siobhan-odonovan

The Quintessential Dance Master Passes
May 15, 2008

From the Hob by Paul Keating

MY recent visit to St. Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork City was arranged by the O’Donovan family to visit the patriarch of the Cork family that was synonymous with traditional dancing both in the city and throughout Ireland and America. Daniel Joseph, age 89, more commonly known as Joe, was in his final days there. The family kept a daily vigil as his health declined swiftly from the Eastertide when he was hospitalized and unable to attend the Killarney event where TG4 awarded him and his wife Siobhan, their lifetime achievement award as part of their annual Gradam Cheoil awards.

Before leaving his room that Sunday knowing his time with us was short, I bade him goodbye by saying Slan Abhaile (safe home) and saw a huge smile of recognition come over his face which I took as his last expression of the friendship we shared for 24 years.

Three days later, on April 30, 2008, Joe O’Donovan, the dancing master, was gone to his eternal rest a few months shy of his 90th birthday. At least he left this world knowing that his native country had truly recognized how much he had added it to its legacy and heritage as symbolized by the TG4 award.

Driving around Ireland, I had a lot of time to reminisce about Joe and Siobhan O’Donovan and our first meeting in Miltown Malbay back in July of 1984 at the Willie Clancy Summer School.

As a younger — and much fitter — ceili dancer and teacher at the Irish Arts Center, I wanted to learn the country set dances of my parents properly. I had heard that since 1982, there were formal dance classes established at the WCSS organized by Joe O’Donovan, the Cork City native who spent a lifetime gathering sets from all around Ireland along with fostering sean nos (old style) step dancing learned from his own father, who had a dancing school.

I was immediately impressed with his command and control of a large class in the Miltown Community Hall and the sense of banter between him and his wife Siobhan, whose sense of humor took the seriousness out of Joe at times and helped make the classes both productive and enjoyable.

Separated by just a few months in age (Siobhan will be 90 in June), it was clear they were close friends as well as a married couple who had a zest for life. They found a pastime that allowed them to stay young and to meet and make new friends from all over the world.

I learned my lessons well with him and began to teach set dancing at the Irish Arts Center upon my return, the first such class in New York City at that time, but in my mind I felt that more formal instruction would be necessary from a more authoritative voice.

When I returned next year in 1985, I asked Joe and Siobhan if they would consider coming out to America to teach set dancing in cities where I knew there were dancing contingents in place. Since Joe had retired and they were in good health, they were eager to do it.

Ironically we pulled together a network of cities or towns where ceili dances (think figure dances promulgated by the Gaelic League) prevailed, and asked them if they would consider showing students some variations in Irish folk dancing in the country sets as taught by the O’Donovans.

Lo and behold, we were able to create the first tour for a set dancing master in America that lasted almost six weeks in May and June of 1986. So popular were they, it was even easier to put a similar junket together in 1987 in the late summer and fall, including the very first Cape May set dancing weekend at Congress Hall in 1987.

Subsequently there were three more excursions to America teaching set dancing and performing step dancing at festivals and events as far west as the Mississippi River (Missouri and Minneapolis), up and down New England and as far south as Virginia.The organizational work of Joe O’Donovan put a fast-growing set dancing program in place at the annual Willie Clancy Summer School that sparked the extraordinary setdancing revival of the 1980s in Ireland.

He incorporated the incredibly organized and modern-thinking Brooks Academy wing of the Dublin-based Pipers’ Club (Na Píobairí Uilleann), who not only learned the sets but published books and tapes that
facilitated the spread of the country sets along with the Clare and Kerry dancers who had the original style that characterized the regional sets to lead classes as well.

Joe laid the foundation for that revival both at Willie Week and throughout Ireland, and inspired many other dancing masters who had different skills and mobility who took advantage at the new-found interest in Irish set dancing as a social and healthy past time.

In America where the country sets had been transmitted in extremely limited fashion and were in danger of dying out all together as the tradition bearers who knew them died out, a more pro-active stance had to be established.

With the availability of a knowledgeable dance historian like Joe and his spirited partner Siobhan, who could take extended journeys over to America, the proper grounding was assured here, and it made it much easier to build on and welcome the likes of Connie Ryan, Mick Mulkerrin, Donncha O’Muinneachain, Timmy McCarthy, Jack Slattery and others who carried it further to the vital state it exists in at present in
the U.S.

It was more than serendipity at work when our paths crossed in Miltown Malbay back in 1984 when I was returning to my own dance roots in exploring the country sets that my own parents and their parents danced in Clare.

By engaging with an elderly couple from Cork who were completely devoted to one another, there was much more than the simple transmission of steps and the movements that go with them.

The importance of dance in Irish society bore lessons that Joe and Siobhan taught in a variety of ways, sometimes with even speaking or lifting a foot. While Joe had danced all his life since his father had a dancing school in Cork City after the Civil War along with his brother Mick (who married Siobhan’s sister Breda, who was a champion dancer from the school), Siobhan was a late bloomer.

After their three children were reared (Michael, Rory and Maire), she took up step dancing at the age of 54 so she could spend more time traveling around with Joe, who was increasingly in demand for his teaching skills.

Talk about the mature learner, but it was also indicative of the close bond between them that made any reference to one without the other an unnatural utterance.

If the clergy were trying to take sensuality and romance out of Irish dancing, they had their work cut out for them with people like Joe and Siobhan and the feelings they help to generate when they taught their workshops, and afterwards when you spend time in their company in the after hours.

It is those after hours in their company as we went from place to place or homewards that left such an impression upon me and the others who grew fond of them from their American visits.

Joe was definitely an original and a proud Irishman who viewed his life through that prism. One would be tempted to say that his like will not be with us again, but amidst his incredible body of work he inspired a young man with Clare roots who happened upon one of his workshops in London as a small boy.

Padraig O’Dea was so taken with the dancing master that he soaked up all his knowledge and steps and channeled his mentor as he devoted his own life to teaching dancing of sets and sean nos steps. He became so close to Joe and Siobhan that the family asked him to dance at St. Oliver’s Cemetery where Joe was laid to rest on May 3 in Cork.

Broken-hearted, the 30-year-old O’Dea danced the Blackbird, one of the old set dances handed down through the generations which he learned from Joe. I can just imagine Joe with a broad smile looking down from above and conspiring with the good Lord to see if there was another “Siobhan” out there to lift Patrick’s spirits and make his life complete.

Condolences can be sent to Siobhan O’Donovan at Dunchaoin, Iona Park, Mayfield, Co. Cork, Ireland.

]]><![CDATA[Frankie Roddy Remembered]]>Wed, 29 May 2024 13:22:15 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/frankie-roddy-remembered

The idea behind this project began life long before I saw the Instep funding opportunity. During the pandemic I started to teach solo Irish dance online, I offered new material each term, and as a consequence dusted off many steps and routines that I hadn’t visited for quite some time. I also started to learn new repertoire, the Arts Council of NI awarded me a grant to meet with Joe McGuiggan, who taught me some of Frankie Roddy’s dances.

I can remember asking Joe if he knew who was currently dancing these steps, I was shocked by his response: “me and now you”. When I came across the Instep call for projects, I saw it as an opportunity to revive more of Frankie’s steps and deliver them to a global audience online.

Here is the journey to date:
Scroll to the bottom if you would like to read these events in chronological order.

February 2026

What wonderful news! I just heard that the Irish Traditional Music Archives would like to add my project to their website.

This might be a strange thing to say, but my parents who were both steeped in Irish traditions would be so proud; we lost them some 10 and 20 years ago, never forgotten, and perhaps we never stop trying to please them.

January 2026 - "the premier"

I brought my Frankie Roddy presentation and newly finished video of Three Sea Captions, to Instep Research Team's AGM. Both were very well received, click below to view.

October 2025 - with a little help from my friends - 😊

The recording of the Three Sea Captions, on piano, is complete and work is underway to record a video of the dance ... with a little help from my friends, watch this space.

I record in my own living room, and surround myself with panels and drapes and quilts, to help the sound. I tend to keep Buddy in the room with me, as there would be a chance that he'd bark outside which might spill into the recording. Here's a photo of him, peeping his way into my cocoon - ❤️🐾❤️

September 2025 - back to the grind stone!

I have self-imposed an end-year deadline on this project - 😊

So where are we now ... the notation of steps 1 to 5 is with Jackie O'Riley for review - though I still need to turn all those delightful little characters around for the "left foot" ... 🙃 - here's a little peep at my work, steps 1 to 5, right foot only.

I have been working on a piano arrangement of my second chosen dance, The Three Sea Captains, a set dance in jig time. I plan to record this arrangement and use it in the home study videos, a free download, funded by Instep Research Team. Here's the intro, more to follow - 😊

April 2025

Most of my activities were brought to a stand-still as I broke a bone in my hand in a fluke accident - 🙄 - I was advised not to dance - 😥 - it was with great distress that I closed the lid of my piano - with my one "good" hand ... 4 weeks in plaster with limited use of my fingers 😥😥😥 ...

Yes, a very difficult time, and lots of things had to be postponed, but thankfully I was all better by the time the summer arrived and took myself and my new campervan to France for a mix of work - teaching into Tocane (an Irish fest in France) and Le Grand Bal (a mixed European folk dance festival), and then 2 weeks of vacation.

March 2025 - studies continue!

With a trip to Killybegs, Co Donegal to meet with Joe McGuiggna and learn/review a second dance from Frankie's repertoire: "The Three Sea Captains", a set dance in jig time (8 bar step, 20 bar set); I had already worked on the dance from video footage.

I also took the opportunity to explore this beautiful part of the country, and of course Buddy, my 4-legged partner in crime, came along too.

14 December 2024 - Frankie's Steps "go live"!

Elizabeth MacDonald and 2 of her students, Lisa O'Driscoll and Tanya Brown performed Frankie's 5 hornpipe steps at "The Celtic Christmas Show" in the Alderney Landing Theatre, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (photo below). Annette taught the steps to Elizabeth at an online workshop funded by Instep RT.

Jeremy Finney played my composition on fiddle for their performance and my oh my what I would have given to have been there in person (video to follow). According to Joe McGuiggan, this may well have been the first time the steps were danced as a set since Frankie was competing, which was around 1950.

The evening of music and dance also featured dancers from the Diaga Irish Dance, Acadian step dancer Chelsea Comeau, singer Patricia Murray, Highland Dancers from the Marielle Lesperence School of Dance and the Dartmouth & District Pipes and Drums. Elizabeth also recited several readings during the evening, organized and presented by Zeph Caissie, founder and director of Diaga Irish Dance, himself a former World medalist and Riverdance cast member.

Photo by Heather Colquhoun

December 2024 - show-casing Frankie's Hornpipe

Annette & her online dance friends (Steps Across the Pond) released a video of Frankie's hornpipe steps, a fitting homage on the 20th anniversary of his death.

The response to the video has been amazing - click this image and enjoy!

October 2024 - Frankie's great grand daughter starts to dance ...

How sweet - Frankie's grandson, Emmet, sends me a photo of him teaching his 1 year old daughter, Caragh, her first dance steps - ❤️

September 2024

My Frankie Roddy project is gathering momentum! A video of his hornpipe steps will be released before year end from a number of contributors - watch this space.

Back at the ranch, I am tackling another part of the project, notating the steps into Michael Tubridy's system of notation. I have decided that Friday mornings will be devoted to this task, well, Friday morning #1 lasted well into the afternoon! Jackie O’Riley did warn me, that it'll take at least 10 times as long as I expect! Part of the funding covers Jackie tutoring me in this system of notation - yes, I am learning a new skill.

So, given this was the first free weekend since my summer travels, and my sarcastic self, has entitled them "Fun on Fridays with Frankie" - I hope it is giving him a laugh!

Even this initial template alone took quite some time to create, oh for the love of dance!

Can anyone hear the pitter patter of tiny feet?
My thanks to my nephew, Josh, for creating these icons for me.

- my workstation -

August 2024 - a tune is born "Frankie Roddy's Hornpipe"

I met with my online dance buddies (Steps Across the Pond) to discuss our upcoming video project - to record the hornpipe steps, the idea came from Maria Monakova and I was thrilled at the thought of how it would enhance this project.

There lay the problem of an appropriate track to dance to, so I decided to write a 5-part hornpipe, quite a task as this was to be my first ever composition. I used the rhythm of the steps as inspiration. Traditionally, choreographed steps were written to specific pieces of music and the rhythm contained within, so in reality I worked my way backwards from the steps.

Rough draft of the melody:

Then into Musecore, to begin work on the accompaniment:

a 5-part hornpipe is born!

The melody is available as a free download from the shop and I plan to upload the piano arrangement too.

Here is a quote from Joe McGuiggan (who taught me the steps and knew Frankie) on watching the video:

“What a beautiful tribute to Frankie Roddy, not just the learning and sharing some of his repertoire far and wide, but Annette’s newly composed delightful hornpipe 'Frankie Roddy’s' which complements his steps perfectly.”

July 2024 - Frankie's dances shared - his memory lives on

This isn’t part of my project, but I thought you’d like to know that we taught Frankie’s Derry Colmcille set at the Grand Bal this summer. Here’s a few photos from the ceili, there wasn’t an inch of space at the workshop, probably 30+ sets!

Many of those participating in the workshops bring the dances back to their own associations, so Frankie will be all over Europe soon!

No better man ❤️

June 2024

😊 - what gal doesn’t like a compliment … this came from a young man “Emmett Doyle”, we live quite some distance apart, and but for my current dance project, our paths may never have crossed. Emmet came across one of my home study courses, and made contact. I recently invited him to be a guest of honour as I delivered some of Frankie’s steps to an International audience of advanced dancers and teachers of traditional dance – they attended from as far west as Oregon, as east to Japan – and a number of countries in-between – there are no borders in dance.

Emmet is Frankie’s grandson, and is adding a layer to this project that I never had expected.

We met recently for the first time in person, and I believe this to be the beginning of a long friendship created through our love of tradition, and our dedication to passing it on to the next generation.

To quote Emmet: “Annette is a fantastic teacher of Traditional Irish Step dancing, I have studied both on her home study courses and online workshop, she breaks down steps to an easy to digest level and her passion for dancing shines through.”

June 2024

I began to teach 5 related hornpipe steps to an international audience, I delivered 5 sessions in total, teaching to two different groups, firstly my "Steps Across the Pond" colleagues in dance - a mix of percussive dancers from the US, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Russia. The second group, were my advanced online students, and I also opened this class up to other teachers of Irish traditional dance. There are a few photos of our sessions below.

We made an extra special welcome to Nora who zoomed in at 6am from the West Coast of the US, and Mika who watched from the comfort of her seat while travelling across Japan on a night bus! Others zoomed in from various other countries and time zones in between.

We have come a long way from the days of the travelling dancing master.

I also invited Frankie's grandson, Emmet, as a guest of honour and it was wonderful to hear him reminisce so warmly about his grandfather.

The next step in this project will be to create some home-study videos; these will be made available to all, and will be free to download. Funded by Instep Research Team.

May 2024

Frankie Roddy memorial ceili, Guildhall, Derry – sure how could I miss it given my current project researching some of his solo steps. A number of his family members were there and I was thrilled to meet with them for the first time ever, two daughters, Theresa and Noeleen, as well as a grandson Emmet.

Emmet and I have already been chatting online and sharing some steps via video – what fun to finally meet in person. I took great pleasure in asking Noeleen for the last dance, and Emmet caught us on video.

I plan to meet family members later this month to talk more about Frankie and take my
project a “step” further. This year is the 20th anniversary of Frankie’s passing.

From left to right, Noeleen, Annette, Theresa and a short video from the ceili with Noeleen & Annette dancing together.

Check out this article from the local paper, regarding the ceili:

frankie_roddy_derry_now_article_2024.pdf
File Size:	516 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

April 2024

Step Two! As many of you will know, I’m in the States and dipped into Boston to catch up with my dance buddies.  Jackie O’Riley & I also set some time aside to work on my Frankie Roddy project, the funding covers a number of hours with Jackie to tutor me in the finer details of Michael Tubridy’s system of notation.

We had planned to do this online, and I firmly believe working together in person saved us many hours of work and probable frustration!  As we were notating the steps, we were up and down from our notebooks, initially to teach Jackie the steps, and then to begin to analyse the physical detail as well as the rhythm of the movements, to help perfect the written notation.

Next step: finalise this draft on paper, another review with Jackie before I take the 10 pages of notes to the computer! No doubt another review with Jackie: it is just as well she likes this stuff!  After that I will start afresh with the 2nd dance: The Three Sea Captains in jig time.

March 2024

Step 1 - what a wonderful start to my Frankie Roddy project, I met with Joe & Mary McGuiggan, and together we worked on 5 hornpipe steps from Frankie. The first one I have known for quite some time, and would you believe, I first came across it on YouTube, with Kieran Jordan of Boston teaching – link below. It also appears in the South Derry Dancing video, and is the opening step to Frankie’s series of 5 steps.

Joe gave me 3 further steps that he knew, and then we learned the last step from a video that Joe had of Pat Henderson dancing step 5. Pat isn’t dancing at the moment, but was able to meet us for lunch, what joy.

I have now notated all five steps in my own shorthand, and the next step will be to transfer those notes into Michael Tubridy’s system of notation – with the help of Jackie O’Riley.

After Easter I will be running online workshops to deliver these steps to you, I have included a video, a sneak preview to one of the steps, newly learned by Mary & I! What joy to learn from Joe, who lilts throughout!

I am also planning to meet other people who knew Frankie, to build up some detail on his life. People speak very warmly of him, and he also seems to have been quite the character! I look forward to learning more, talking to members of his family and regret that I never got to meet him in person.

Related info:
Kieran Jordan teaching the Derry Lead: Here
South Derry Dance video: Here

Recorded during our practice session, for the sheer fun of it.
From left to right Mary, Joe, Annette. Joe on vocals!

July 2023

Thrilled beyond belief - to tell you that I have been awarded a bursary from Instep Research Team for a new project concerning Frankie Roddy of Derry: champion dancer, teacher and adjudicator.

I will be:
- looking into his life, and talking to people who knew him
- learning some of his repertoire
- delivering these dances to an online audience
- creating tutorials for the dances
- learning a new skill! I will notate these dances into Michael Tubridy’s system, and look forward to collaborating with Jackie O’Riley who has an in-depth knowledge of his system.

Many thanks to the Instep Bursary Team for supporting my proposal.

I look forward to learning more about Frankie, learning some of his repertoire, collaborating with Joe & Mary McGuiggan, Margaret Wray and other dancers in Derry who knew him - and delivering these dances to you for free. Or you may wish to work from the home study package - also a free resource, all funded by Instep.

I will begin this project in September, and deliver the classes in 2024.

Drop me a private message if you knew Frankie, or have any information about him!

Of note:
Facebook page: Instep Research Team
Website: https://insteprt.co.uk

]]><![CDATA[maria monakova]]>Tue, 14 May 2024 19:39:52 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/maria-monakovaTeacher, Choreographer, Musician

In preparation for an upcoming workshop, teaching The Butterfly, I sought out some background information on lady who created its beautiful choreography and taught it to me - non other than: Maria Monakova.

We meet online each week along with a number of other percussive dancers, and enjoy each other's company and steps!

BIO
Maria Monakova is a self-taught dancer and musician living in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.  She plays and sings in a band called "Magic Beans" and loves to create rhythmical patterns on the bodhran.  She learned to play the piano as a child and has transferred some of these skills to the piano accordion.

Maria began her journey in dance in 2005 with Irish competitive dancing; she then discovered traditional step dancing and sean-nós improvisation, and ultimately gave her heart to this discipline.  Maria learned her first sean-nós steps from Marian Conneely, Ronan Regan and Emma O'Sullivan when they visited Russia (2011-12); she took lessons from Mick Mulkerrin and Mairead Casey during a later visit to Ireland.

From Maria:
“My first real sean-nós workshop took place when Marian came to Moscow, by that time I already had a good understanding of Irish dance and my competitive background was of great help, so sliding into this style was a very natural process.”

Maria now choreographs her own steps, and her routines are loved by all who see them - around the globe. She loves to share her work and passion for Irish dance with enthusiasts in her hometown as well as online.  She continues to watch and learn from other percussive styles.

From Maria:
“I am often asked why I chose a foreign tradition over my own; the answer is a simple one, Irish music stole my heart the very moment I heard it.”
----------
Link to Maria's YouTube channel (theselfstarter): click here to view.

Link to The Butterfly, choreographed to the popular tune of the same name, a slip jig in 3 parts, 9/8 time: click here to view.

Link to Annette dancing these steps, close to her home: click here.

Annette loved this dance from the onset and in the summer of 2024, she performed this piece at:

The Willie Clancy Festival - Co Clare
Folk LT - Lithuania
Rencontres Musicales Irlandese - Tocane - France
Le Grand Bal de l'Europe - aussi / also in France

Now available as a home study course, check here for more info.

Click here to view Annette & Maria's first joint dance project, filmed near their respective homes in 2023.
~~~
To view their 2nd joint project filmed in 2024, click here

]]><![CDATA[may allen close (1928-2016)]]>Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:24:11 GMThttps://www.annettecollins.com/blog/may-allen-close-1928-2016

In preparation for my King of the Fairies class, I asked Mary McGuiggan for some background information on May Allen (Close) and received the following text in October 2020.

"May Allen lived, all of her life, outside Randalstown in the townland of Gillistown. She taught throughout South Derry and West Antrim and northern area of Tyrone.  Mostly on both sides of the Bann River.

I was lucky enough to attend her class in Bellaghy (my home town) when I was four.  I remember getting my first dance costume ... blue ... Bellaghy GAA colours!

Then, because my daddy was travelling to Belfast on a Wednesday, I moved to Greenlough, just down the road in the opposite direction. No big deal, same teacher but purple costume.

And there began a friendship that continued until she died.

She married Joe Close, had 4 children, Anne, Thomas, Aileen and Deirdre.
Although she hadn't learned her dancing through an Coimsiún (feiseanna), she decided she wanted to compete there and so had to attend classes with a qualified teacher. This meant her taking lessons with Anna McCoy in Belfast.

She went on to qualify as a dance teacher and adjudicator. She played piano accordion in the Green Cross Ceili Band, taught dance in all the local primary schools, choreographed concerts and talent competitions, Scoreanna, her dancers involved in feiseanna at local, Ulster and All Ireland level.

She was also involved in organising many of these events and found time to have extra practices in her house where she also found the time to bake scones and apple tarts.

Phenomenal woman.  We learned jigs, reels, slip jigs, hornpipes and many set dances including King of the Fairies. We had no taped music, she lilted everything but for our set dances, she played her accordion. We loved it when she brought it to class.

Most of the music we danced to was Scottish Dance Music. I only became aware of that in later years. Our only live dance music was Ceili House on Saturday night on the radio. Makes sense as we lived in the heart of what is now called “Ulster Scots".  She taught lots of 2,4,6,8 team dances including a newly composed which we called the Big Twelve!!

She encouraged me to teach, sending me off to teach a class of over 100 children in a wee hall outside Portglenone when I was only 16!!

Myself and her daughter Anne became her first dancers to qualify as teachers. She has many more since then, including all her own family."

These words were written by Mary McGuiggan of Balachy, Co Antrim, N Ireland.

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