Welsh clogs and old dances

Cardiff University Union was the venue for a night celebrating Welsh folk dance. There were a few comments I didn't agree with - i.e. that the Welsh Methodists and Evangelicals killed off folk dance - don't be anti-Christian, you lot! I've had a few conversations on this subject and certain academics are very proud of their evangelical heritage, they also say that these people were also champions of Welsh language and folklore! I have spoken to Gaels who agree that the church had nowt to do with the death of Gaelic, in fact without being made to read the Bible in Gaelic, they would have lost it altogether!! Some of the best 19th century Gaelic was to be found in sermons! Anyway, the Welsh too, benefited from a Welsh Bible which would in turn re-enliven the language...I'm not going into this, I am merely quoting the likes of Rhiannon Ifans who agrees with me - if you want an argument about it, see her, not me, this isn't a place to argue (addressed to the commenter who didn't even leave their name).



ok, that was a digression, it was just something that annoyed me while I was there. The dances were fantastic! They had been remembered through oral tradition and added to with other known country-dance elements. Us Scots could see clear links with the Scottish & English Country dances, and probably French too.



Clog dancing was also represented on the night by the grown ups and a brilliant wee boy who could snuff out a candle with his clog heels!! Jings! I've never seen such talent! Again there were shades of Highland step dancing and the clog dances of Industrial England.





Dance, I think, is a universal folk phenomenon in that one influenced all and vice versa. I even heard that a Scot went to the Circassian republic and discovered his fiddle tunes and dances were very like what was found there in the Russian continent!