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Thejig (Irish:port,Scottish Gaelic:port-cruinn) is a form of livelyfolk dance incompound metre, as well as the accompanying dancetune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles,[1][2] and was adopted onmainland Europe where it eventually became the final movement of the matureBaroquedance suite (the Frenchgigue; Italian and Spanishgiga).[3] Today it is most associated withIrish dance music,Scottish country dance,French Canadiantraditionnal music and dance (trad) and theMétis people in Canada.[4] Jigs were originally in quadruple compound metre, (e.g.,12
8 time), but have been adapted to a variety oftime signatures, by which they are often classified into groups, including double jigs (6
8), slip jigs (9
8) and single jigs (12
8).
The termjig was probably derived from the Frenchgiguer, meaning 'to jump' or theItaliangiga.[5] The use of 'jig' in Irish dance derives from theIrishjigeánnai, itself borrowed from theOld Englishgiga meaning 'old dance'.[6] It was known as a dance in 16th-century England, often in12
8 time,[7] and the term was used for apost-play entertainment featuring dance in early modern England, but which 'probably employed a great varietyof dances, solo (suitable for jigs), paired, round, country or courtly';[8] inPlayford'sDancing Master (1651) 'the dance game in "Kemps Jegg" is a typical scenario from a dramatic jig and it is likely that the combination of dance metre for steps and non-metrical passages for pantomime indicates how a solo or ensemble jig might have been danced by stage players.'[9] Later the dance began to be associated with music particularly in6
8 time, and with slip jigs9
8 time.[10]
During the middle of the 16th century the dance was adopted in Ireland[11] and in the 17th century Scotland, where it was widely adapted, and the jig is now most often associated with these countries, especially Ireland.[12] The jig is second in popularity only to thereel in traditional Irish dance; it is popular but somewhat less common in Scottish country dance music. It is transcribed incompound metre, being6
8 time. The most common structure of a jig is two eight-bar parts, performing two different steps, each once on the right foot, and one on the left foot. As with most other types of dancetunes inIrish music, at a session or a dance it is common for two or more jigs to be strung together in a set, flowing on without interruption.
The following distinction is primarily observed in modern competitive Irish dance and should not be confused with the general notion of how the jigs are played and classified among traditional Irish musicians.[13]
A light jig is the second-fastest of all jigs. The performer's feet rarely leave the ground for long, as the step is fast, typically performed at a speed around 116 atfeiseanna. There are several light jig steps, varying with each dance school, but the rising step, or the rise and grind, is standard in almost all light jigs. The right side version of the rising step is performed by putting weight on the left foot, lifting the right foot off the ground then hopping on the left foot once. Hop on the left foot again, bringing the right foot back behind the left foot and then shift the weight onto the right foot, leaving the left foot in the air. Dancers use the phrase "hop, hop back" for these three movements, and there is a slight pause between the hop, and hop back. The next movement is a hop on the right foot. Then shift the weight, left-right-left-right. The phrase for this whole movement is: "hop, hop back, hop back 2-3." To do the step on the left foot, reverse the left and right directions.[14]
Slip jigs are in9
8 time. Because of the longer measures, they are longer than thereel and the light jig, with the same number of bars to the music.[15] The dance is performed high on the toes, and is often considered the "ballet of Irish dance" because of its graceful movements that seem to slip the performers across the floor. Slip jigs are performed at a speed of 113 bpm at feiseanna.
Single jigs should not be confused withslides; they are the least common of the jigs, performed in ghillies, in a6
8 or less commonly a12
8 time. Musically, the single jig tends to follow the pattern of a quarter note followed by an eighth note (twice per6
8 bar), whereas the pattern for the double jig is three eighth notes twice per6
8 bar.
Hop jigs are the fastest of all jigs next to light jigs, but the termhop jig causes some confusion, as some people use it for a single jig, while others use this term to refer to a tune in9
8 time.
Among the latter, some do not distinguish it from a slip jig, while some reserve the term to a slip jig variant that has special characteristics, in particular an emphasis onquarter note–eighth note pairs.
Treble jigs (also called the hard or heavy jig) are performed in hard shoes, and also to a6
8 time metre. They are characterized by stomps, trebles, and clicks. Many set dances are performed in treble jig time, a few being Drunken Gauger, Blackthorn Stick, The Three Sea Captains, and St Patrick's Day. Two types of treble jigs are performed at feiseanna: the traditional and non-traditional (slow) treble jigs. Beginners will do a treble jig at traditional speed (92 bpm), while more advanced dancers will dance the non-traditional (slow) treble jig at 72 bpm.
In 19th-century America, the jig was the name adopted for a form of step dancing developed by enslaved African-Americans and later adopted byminstrel show performers. Danced to five-string banjo or fiddle tunes in2
2 or2
4 metre played atschottische tempo, the minstrel jig (also called the "straight jig" to distinguish it from Irish dances) was characterized by syncopated rhythm and eccentric movements. Jig dancers employed a repertoire of "hits" on the heel or toe, "hops" on one foot, "springs" off both feet as well as various slides and shuffles.[17] The most famous early jig dancer wasMaster Juba, an African-American who inspired a host of white imitators, many of whom performed inblackface.John Diamond, an Irish-American who competed with Master Juba in a series of "challenge dances", was among the most prominent of these white minstrel jig dancers. Minstrel jigs, as well asclogs and breakdowns, were crucial to the evolution of 20th-centurytap and soft-shoe dancing.
A variant of the straight jig was the "sand jig" or "sand dance", performed as a series of shuffles and slides on a sand-strewn stage. The most prominent sand jiggers of the 19th century were two women, both born in New York in 1855: Buffalo nativeKitty O'Neil and her Manhattan-born rival Kitty Sharpe.[18] Sand dancing was a staple of minstrelsy, variety and vaudeville, and was kept alive in later decades largely by African-American tap dancers, includingJohn Bubbles,Bill "Bojangles" Robinson,Sammy Davis Jr.,Harriet Browne and, most prominently,Howard "Sandman" Sims.
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