Sean nos reel dancing with Patrick O'Dea, 30-03/09-10/2004

1) Basic seven and three (Cork) Celtic Bompa in sean nos dancing class

This is a very simple movement that starts with three sevens and ends with two threes. Both are done differently than I was used to so far in traditional step dancing: instead of starting with a hop or cut with the starting leg in front, the leg is moved backwards, and the seven then progresses in the opposite direction. The same goes for the three.
It is possible to add some extra beats or moves on the up-beat of the three or seven (i.e. beat 4 or 8 of the preceeding three or seven) such as a tip-heel-swivel, or treble-hop. You can Patrick see doing that after the 2nd and 3rd seven in this video (mpeg, 1MB).
The complete sequence for this step on the right (i.e. starting with the right foot in front) is: seven (starting with) right (leg), seven left, seven right, three left, three right. You end up with the left foot in front so that you can repeat the entire step on the left, transposing all steps.

2) Sevens with tip (Cork)
This step is the same as the previous one, except that the normal seven is replaced by a seven with tip. To do that, you simply replace the last three beats of the seven with a tip-hop-back. So if you start the seven on the right, instead of putting the right foot behind the left foot on beat 5, you bring it forward and tip the floor in front of you. You then hop on the left on six, and place the right foot back behind the left one on seven. You end up in the same position as a with a regular seven.

3) Threes up front (Cork)
With this step, a few other basic movements are introduced:

brush out, brush back: (on right) brush the right foot forward, hop on the left, brush the right foot back, hop on the left. Depending on where in a larger step this movement is done, either the brushes or the hops may be stressed.
walk: simply step forward on one foot and bring your weight on it.

The complete step then goes likes this: brush out brush back on right, walk right walk left, three on right, three on left, seven with tip on right, three on left, three on right.

4) Heels up front (Cork)
For this step two more basic movements are needed:

heel out: bring the foot forward and place the heel down, the toe pointing outwards. Do not take weight on that foot.
step: simply take weight on the foot
half cut: (on right) bring the right foot, with the toes low to the ground in front of the left shin.

The complete step goes (on right): brush out brush back right, walk right, walk left, heel out step right, heel out step left, heel out right, half cut right, step right, step in left (i.e. step with left foot behind the right one), seven with tip on right, three on left, three on right.

Here is a heels up front video-clip (wmv).

5) The three tips (Cork)
This is another combination of basic steps described above going like this: brush out and back right, three right, brush out and back left, three left, brush out and back right, three right, three left, three right.

Patrick ODea in sean nos dancing class

6) Cross over (Cork)
For this step, there is one new basic move to be introduced: the cross-over proper. For the step on right, you bring the left foot right in front of the right foot, put down the tip on the first beat and the heel on the second beat. On the third beat, put the right foot down left in front of the left foot with a little push off (taking body weight shortly), and on the 4th beat place down the left foot on the spot, i.e. behind the right foot.
Then, the complete step on right is:

seven with tip on right (7 beats, 1 pauze);
crossover right (4 beats), right foot steps behind (1 beat), left foot on the spot (1 beat), right foot steps in front (1 beat), left foot on the spot (1 beat);
right foot down on the spot (1 beat), heel out left (1 b), left foot back next to right one (1 b) heel out right (1 b), half cut right (1 b), step right step left in (2 b), pauze (1 b);
seven with tip on right (7 beats, 1 pauze)

It is not too difficult, the main problem being getting the rhythm right. And of course, to find the right style to make the cross-over look pritty.

Here is a video-clip showing the cross-over (wmv) done by Patrick. It is the first half of the clip that covers the cross-over, the second part being "the clap" what I'll discuss next.

7) The Clap (Cork)
This step requires also an additional basic step, called the "crosskeys". On the right, it goes:

put right foot in front of the left, toes of each foot pointing outwards as in the traditional style's basic position (beat 1),
twist both feet by turning on the ball of each foot such that the toes point inwards (beat 2) and make sure to have the body weight on the left foot,
put the right foot behind the left one, again as in the traditional style's basic position (beat 3)
take weight on the left foot (beat 4)

The complete step then goes:

Brush out right (the brush on the up-beat of the previous bar, and the hop on the left foot on the first beat) and back, three on the right (possibly with a small leading hop on the left and syncopation of the first beat), stamp on the last beat (8 beats);
Brush out and back right again, but now starting with the brush out on the beat (4 beats); slow tip down right (2 beats), kick left foot on the heel of the right foot (1 beat), pauze 1 beat;
with a late upbeat take weight on left foot, do the crosskeys (4 beats), tip-hop-back right (3 beats), the fourth beat now being available to start the entire sequence on the left.

Here is a video-clip showing The Clap (wmv) done by Patrick. It is the second half of the clip that covers The clap, the first part being the crossover discussed above.

8) The Sevens (Mayo)
With this step, Patrick introduced us to a different style, showing two steps from a dancer from Mayo that used a peculiar sequence to finish each step. The sequence, which we will call finish further on and runs over two bars of each 4 beats, goes like this (to get the rhythm right, we must divide each beat in a triple):
//tip-R, , /hop-L, , /back-R, ,/Step-L, ,1st beat of fast treble right//2nd beat of fast treble right, ,hop-L/back-R, ,/step-L, , /stamp-R, ,//. In this sequence, we used "//" for the bar boundaries, "/" for the beat boundaries, and "," for the triple boundaries.
You should also be aware that the basic seven is done differently in this style than explained above. For a seven right, one jumps on beat 1 bringing (or keeping) the right foot in front, taking weight on th eleft foot, and then moves to the right by stepping with the right foot in front to the right on beat 2, step in left on beat 3, step further on right, etc.

The complete step then goes:

seven to the right (8 beats, with pauze on 8th beat);
finish (8 beats);
tip-L hop-R, tip-L down-L, tip-R hop-R, tip-R, hop-R (8 beats);
finish (8 beats).

9) The Buckle (Mayo)
The basic step (on left) which gives the name to the entire step, starts in the traditional style's basic position with right foot in front, but with the toes of the right foot upwards. Then "smeared out" over three beats, put the toes down on the first beat, twist out the left ankle and bring the left foot in front of the right one, toes pointing up, taking weight on the left heel. On the 4th beat, take weight on the right foot with a heel down.
The complete step (on right) then goes:

half cut right, right down, brush out left, brush left back crossing right leg, brush out left again, brush back, left back down, right heel out in front of left foot, taking basic position as just described. This all takes 8 beats, and there is no hopping in between the brushes.
buckle left (4 beats), buckle right (4 beats);
down-R, heel out left, half cut left, rock three times with left foot behind (8 beats);
finish.

Here is The Buckle on video (mpeg, 1.7 Mb)

10) A shave and a haircut
This is an easy step that gets its name from the very ending, performed only on the left to finish off a dance.
The ending goes like this: stamp-R on the up-beat, stamp-L on the first beat, 4-drum left (i.e. as a triple on the second beat tip-L tip-R heel-down-R, with heel-down-L on the third beat), back-down-R on 4th beat. Then four the second bar, pauze on first beat, back-down-L on second, and brush out right across left on third beat. Here is a slow demo of the Shave and a Haircut basic step (mpeg, 1Mb).

The complete step then goes:

On right:

Brush out and back right, three (Cork style) right
Brush out and back left, three (Cork style) left
Brush out and back right, three (Cork style) right
Three left, three right

On left:

Brush out and back left, three (Cork style) left
Brush out and back right, three (Cork style) right
Brush out and back left, three (Cork style) left
shave an a haircut

To be sure how to do it, watch this A Shave and a Haircut video-clip (mpeg, 4Mb).