Slip jig () refers to both a style within

Irish music Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music (or Irish folk music). It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st ...

, and the

Irish dance Irish dance refers to the traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, including both solo and group dance forms, for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance has evolved over centuries and is believed to have its roots i ...

to music in slip-jig time originating from England. The slip jig is in

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, traditionally with accents on 5 of the 9 beats — two pairs of

crotchet A quarter note ( AmE) or crotchet ( BrE) () is a musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem usually poi ...

quaver 180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest. 180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together. An eighth note ( American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...

(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 a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

, the jig and the

hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms and their associated tunes, played and danced in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England, with Hugh As ...

. 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 ...

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 for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

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'' dances in céilidh

folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...

, 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 and the

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

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 Music of Ireland