See also
- Cèilidh
- Culture of Cornwall
- Feis
- Fest noz
- Noson llawen , a Welsh equivalent
- Troyl
- Twmpath , another similar Welsh gathering
Nos lowen (former spelling noze looan) is a style of Cornish-Celtic dance, and associated music and events similar in style to the Breton fest noz but featuring only Cornish dances. nos lowen is Cornish for 'happy night'. [1]
Nos lowen is a relatively recent development in Cornish music and dance, which started in the 1990s, some twenty years after the beginning of the revival of Cornish dancing generally. It may be a reaction to the more formal approaches of the earlier revival, in which the social dance night, known as the troyl , presented the Cornish dances in the style of a Scottish or Irish cèilidh . The nos lowen approach on the other hand was inspired by the Breton fest noz format, which itself had emerged in the 1960s. Both nos lowen and fest noz were new ways of celebrating what were often quite ancient dances from their respective regions. Nos lowen was initially spearheaded by the Cornish group Sowena, and traditional dancers. It places greater emphasis on simpler dances, which are also often the oldest ones, such as snake dances and furry dances, in order to increase participation and remove the need for a caller. The nos lowen movement continues to enjoy much success in Cornwall as does the troyl approach.
While nos lowen is essentially a dance style, an associated style of music has grown around it which is generally more progressive than many folk bands, possibly to appeal to a younger audience. It also places more emphasis on rhythms and longer songs in order to produce the tribal trance-like state associated with the repetitive dances. Proponents include Tredanek, Dalla, Davey & Dyer, and Heb Mar.
The proper Cornish plural of nos lowen is nosow lowen, but people often simply say "nos lowens" when speaking English, in the same way people might pluralise "ceilidhs" in English. Nos lowen is sometimes abbreviated as "nsl" online or in event listings. The earlier spelling noze looan was based on the Late Cornish orthography; with the introduction of the Standard Written Cornish, the spelling nos lowen is now used.
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerably to include everything from traditional music to a wide range of hybrids.
Cornish is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, knowledge of Cornish, including speaking ability to a certain extent, continued to be passed on within families and by individuals, and a revival began in the early 20th century. The language has a growing number of second-language speakers, and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a first language. Cornish is currently recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and the language is often described as an important part of Cornish identity, culture and heritage.
A cèilidh or céilí is a traditional Scottish and Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a home or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous subgenres.
Cornwall is a Celtic nation with a long musical history. Strengthened by a series of 20th century revivals, traditional folk music has a popular following. It is accompanied by traditions of pipers, brass and silver bands, male voice choirs, classical, electronic and popular music.
"Bro Goth agan Tasow" is one of the anthems of Cornwall. It is sung in the Cornish language, to the same tune as the Welsh national anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau". The Breton anthem, "Bro Gozh ma Zadoù", also uses the same tune.
Dalla was a band specialising in traditional Cornish music who were active from the late 1990s until about 2017. They were known mainly for their festival and concert performances, but until about 2013 also played music for Cornish Nos Lowen dance nights. After this, they used the name 'Skillywidden' when playing as a dance band. Skillywidden continues to be one of the main Nos Lowen dance bands.
The modern Celts are a related group of ethnicities who share similar Celtic languages, cultures and artistic histories, and who live in or descend from one of the regions on the western extremities of Europe populated by the Celts.
A barn dance is any kind of dance involving traditional or folk music with traditional dancing, occasionally held in a barn, but, these days, much more likely to be in any suitable building.
A fest noz is a Breton traditional festival, with dancing in groups and live musicians playing acoustic instruments.
The culture of Cornwall forms part of the culture of the United Kingdom, but has distinct customs, traditions and peculiarities. Cornwall has many strong local traditions. After many years of decline, Cornish culture has undergone a strong revival, and many groups exist to promote Cornwall's culture and language today.
Cornish literature refers to written works in the Cornish language. The earliest surviving texts are in verse and date from the 14th century. There are virtually none from the 18th and 19th centuries but writing in revived forms of Cornish began in the early 20th century.
The Bretons are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. They trace their heritage to groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, mostly during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. They migrated in waves from the 3rd to 9th century into Armorica, which was subsequently named Brittany after them.
Perhaps no other musical instrument is as emblematic of Breton music as is the bombard. The bombard is a contemporary family of oboes widely used to play traditional Breton music. A bombard player is known as a talabarder.
Cornish dance originates from Cornwall, UK. It has largely been shaped by the Cornish people and the industries they worked in. In most cases, particularly with the step dancing, the dances were still being performed across the region when they were collected.
The serpent dance is a traditional Cornish dance associated with the Midsummer festival of Golowan and Cornish cultural events such as nos lowen.
Noson lawen is a Welsh term for a party with music, similar to a cèilidh.
Troyl is a colloquial Cornish word meaning a barn dance or céilidh, a social evening of dance, music and song.
AberFest is a Celtic cultural festival celebrating all things Cornish and Breton that takes place every second year in Cornwall, UK, around Easter. The AberFest Festival alternates with the Breizh – Kernow Festival which is held in Brandivy or Bignan in Brittany, alternating between those two Breton locations.
Breton dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Brittany, the Celtic region of France. The dance has experienced a reappropriation in the late 1950s, with the development of the Celtic Circles and Fest Noz.
