Slip jig () refers to both a style within Irish music, and the

Irish dance Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vari ...

to music in slip-jig time. The slip jig is in

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

, traditionally with accents on 5 of the 9 beats — two pairs of crotchet/ quaver (quarter note/eighth note) followed by a dotted crotchet note. The slip jig is one of the four most common Irish stepdances, the others being the

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

, the jig and the hornpipe. It is danced in soft shoes. At one time only men danced it, then for several decades only women, and today slip jigs can be danced by any dancer, though at a competitive level they are almost exclusively danced by women. This dance is graceful and controlled, with heels very high, often called "the

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

of Irish dance". There are also traditional Irish '' céilí'' dances which are slip jigs, though these are much less common than reels and double jigs. Because of its timing, the slip jig is longer than the reel for the same number of bars of music. In Irish stepdance competition, the

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 113 beats per minute is the same as other dances, but as each bar is longer, instead of dancing to 48 bars of music the dancer is only required to dance 40 bars of music (each of 2 steps). Stepdance judges prefer sliding motions with the feet and graceful movements that seem to slip across the floor. Slip jig timing can also be used for ''

strip the willow Strip the willow is a country or barn dance. It has variations depending upon whether it is being performed as a movement in a larger dance or a complete dance in itself. The form described here is that commonly used as part of a Scottish country ...

'' dances in céilidh folk dance, although the fact that most social dancers do not dance the step limits its use in set dance and ceili dance socially. The tunes are fast-paced and lively in contrast to the slower Irish stepdance tunes.

Example

Music of the slip jig "Drops of brandy": \relative c''

Other dances

Other dances in time are the Scottish Lilt in

Highland dancing Highland dance or Highland dancing ( gd, dannsa Gàidhealach) is a style of competitive dancing developed in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th and 20th centuries, in the context of competitions at public events such as the Highland games. It ...

and the

karsilama Karsilamas (From tr, karşılama, in Greek: ) is a Turkish folk dance spread all over Northwest Turkey and carried to Greece by Anatolian Greek immigrants. The term "karşılama" means "encounter, welcoming, greeting" in Turkish. The dance is po ...

of Turkish dance.

References

Muir, Rick. ''The Jig is Up!'' Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Tom Finucane Branch newsletter, November/December 2010

Arrington, Mark. ''Understanding Your “Slippery” Slip Jigs'' Diddlyi Magazine, 18 November 2009.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slip Jig Irish dances Competitive dance Irish music