Irish Dance Connections Map

Created by Kate Spanos, Ph.D.

There are many ways to be an Irish dancer.

Explore Irish dance as a connected field of practices, repertoires, vocabulary, movement, music, attire, places, institutions, and settings. The layout provides orientation; the links show relationships, continuities, divergences, and contested terms.

Show node types

Relationship lens

Search map content

How to read relationship lines

Solid line Direct or central relationship

Dashed line Partial, qualified, contextual, or less consistent relationship

Dotted line Shared, contested, overlapping, or differently defined term or idea

Central principleA central principle of the map: no single practice is centered and no single attribute—whether a style, a shoe, a tune type, a place, a competition system, or an “old/modern” label—adequately defines an Irish dance practice. Meaning emerges through the relationships among various Irish dance practices, movements, structures, terms, and settings.

Do you have feedback on the map? Let me know!

© Kate Spanos Irish Dance. All rights reserved.

Video example

Watch on YouTube