The rinkafadda ( or , "long dance") or rinka is a country or field dance that goes back to sixteenth-century
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. During this period, visitors to Ireland described the dance consisting of a row of men facing a row of women. Beginning at one end of the line, the couples start dancing one by one until all have joined in, dancing starting at one end, and going to the other and then back again. Noted for its social inclusiveness and its appropriateness to events of public rejoicing, accounts described how all social classes took part in the rince fada together.
The '
Virginia Reel' and 'fadings', 'The Fading' or 'With a fading' - ("A Winter's Tale" Act IV) mentioned by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
in
A Winter's Tale
''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...
have been associated with rince fada.
Notes
References
* Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (6th ed., Vols. 1-20). London: Macmillan.
{{Irish dance
Irish dance
Contra dance