The following 3 videos will give any beginner a great start with some famous Irish dance steps.
How to do a Hop Back:
Video Transcript
How to do hop backs in Irish step dance – Beginning with the right foot, the dancer lifts the leg, extends it, bends it, and places it down behind with a slight hop. We’ll look at that again on the right foot. Lifts the leg, bends it, replaces it behind — then alternates onto the left side. Lift the left leg, bend it — place it behind.
A series of hop backs looks like this – right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg. And trying hop backs a little more slowly, you can see how the dancer first extends and then bends the leg. This is also known as an envelopé in classical ballet – always returning to the balls of the feet.
If we watch that from the side angle you can see how the motion is almost like peddling a bicycle backward. Right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg. With each landing of the hop, the dancer returns to the balls of the feet — never lowering the heels throughout the series of hop backs. How to do hop backs in Irish dance.
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Irish Dance Master Class
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How to do Jump Backs:
Video Transcript
How to do jump backs in Irish step dancing — To prepare for a jump back, the dancer points the right foot, lifts it, extends the leg, bends the leg, places it behind, and lands with both feet together. Then alternating onto the left side, lifting the leg, extend and landing both feet together.
We’ll look at the jump back from a side view and you see how the movement again is similar to pedaling a bicycle backward. Always landing on the balls of the feet. The jump back is similar to a hop back in Irish dance with one major difference. In the jump back we land both feet together at the same time.
By contrast, with the hop back, one foot lands at a time. We’ll look at hop backs for just a moment to compare the two. Hop back — same extension, feet are landing at different times. For the jump back, similar extension – feet land together. How to do jump backs in Irish step dance.
How to Do a Hop Step Move
Video Transcript
How to do the hop step move in Irish step dancing – To prepare for the hop step move, the dancer points the right foot, lifts it behind by bending at the knee, initiates the hop, lands the right foot in front, then repeats that action on the left side, lifting the left leg behind, landing it in front. This alteration continues for a series of hop steps. Hop step right, and left, and right, and left.
We’ll look at that from the side view, so you can see how the foot is always pointed and lifted behind. Hop step right, and left, and right, and left. The dancer is always on the balls of the feet throughout the hop step sequence — hop right, hop left, hop right, hop left. The hop step is different from the hop-two-three, because the dancer is not shifting the weight.
In the hop-two-three, the weight shifts – hop-front-back-front, hop-front-back-front, hop-front-back-front, hop-front-back-front. By contrast, the hop step immediately alternates to the other foot – hop-step, hop-step, hop-step, hop-step — with no additional weight shift. How to do the hop step in Irish step dancing.
Recommended Product:
Irish Dance Master Class
This E-book will teach you the proper technique of doing Ballet. It highlights common errors and gives practical ways to fix them. Detailed Movement Guide – From Plié to Pirouette, Sur le Coup de Pied, Arabesque, Battement Tendu, Glissé, Jetté to Developpé and Grande Battement. Also includes audio and video resources. Get your today and start improving your dancing.