Welsh dance

For Welsh clog dancing, see Welsh stepdance.

Welsh dance Dawns Gymreig
Medium	Dance
Originating culture	Welsh
Originating era	17th century [1]

Welsh dance (Welsh : Dawns Gymreig), also known as Welsh folk dancing (Welsh : Dawnsio gwerin), is the collection of traditional dances originating in Wales. While Welsh dance shares similarities to traditional Cornish, English and Irish dances, Welsh dance has a reputation as more difficult and more athletic than its counterparts.

Often performed in traditional Welsh costume to Welsh folk music, Welsh dancing traditions were almost entirely lost in the nineteenth century as religious fervour took over the nation and such activities came to be viewed as immoral. However, traditions such as the Llangadfan Dances, the Llanover Dances and the Nantgarw Dances were recorded and revived by a small group of academics and enthusiasts. As such, Welsh dance once again regained its position as an integral part of Welsh cultural life in the twentieth century.

History

There is a lack of written records of Welsh dance before the eighteenth century with Gerald of Wales's description of a Welsh dance near Brecon on St. Almedah’s day, 1188 being a rare exception. ^[2]

This lack of early documentation could exemplify how integral dance was to everyday life in Wales, while the lack of written sources can be viewed as a feature of the cultural changes enforced by the Penal laws against the Welsh and Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. These acts saw certain aspects of Welsh culture legally prohibited, as the Kingdom of England forbid any public assembly by Welsh people, banned them from holding property in English boroughs and prohibited Welsh men (and English men who married Welsh women) from holding public office. The affect of these changes was to replace Welsh culture within the affluent class with an anglicised gentry, who used the English language and English customs almost exclusively. ^{[3] [4]}

17th and 18th centuries

These prohibitions on Welsh culture had diminished by the seventeenth century, although the early century is notable for traditional Welsh dances being included as part of solely English collections under English translations of original Welsh names (Hoffedd ap Hywel becoming the English country dance Powell's Fancy). The English composer John Playford began collecting and publishing Welsh dances in the mid-17th century. These dances included Lord of Caernarfon's Jig and Abergenny while John Walsh also published a number of Welsh dances in the early 18th century, such as Evan's Delight (1718) and Meillionen (1726). ^{[5] [6]}

Written evidence of the popularity of Welsh dance is also more readily found by this time. The discoveries of William Robert’s poem Taplas Gwainfo (The Taplas of Wenvoe) and William Thomas’ diaries, provided historians with the earliest proof of the popularity of social dancing at outdoor festivals in Glamorganshire. ^[7]

William Jones and the Llangadfan dances

William Jones and Edward Jones were critical figures in recording and reviving traditional Welsh dance in the 18th century.

The eighteenth century saw a revival of interest in Welsh culture. Williams Jones was active in arresting the loss of Welsh dances and music. Wishing to revive the dance and music traditions from his own area, he interviewed the elderly members of his community and worked closely with his own father, William Sion Dafydd to revive the dances he had learned in his youth in the sixteenth century. Through his work, Jones rediscovered numerous dances together with the ancient airs, melodies and stanzas that accompanied them. The corpus of work is today known as the Llangadfan Dances. ^[8]

In the course of this work, Williams Jones became a notable authority on manuscripts and printed collections. Jones actively corresponded with the London-based Gwyneddigion Society and other contemporary men of letterssuch as Edward Jones (Bardd y Brenin), bard to King George IV, which in turn provided Edward Jones with valuable material for his own printed volumes. ^[9]

19th century decline

Lady Llanover was responsible for cultural revival which saw the Llanover Dances become a feature of events at Llanover House

As early as 1703 Ellis Wynne was attacking "the evils of dance" and warning about what effects the closeness of the sexes may have on the population. The extrovert and carefree nature of the Welsh psyche was becoming one of zealous piety, with all forms of dance being viewed as enjoyment and closeness with the opposite sex were deemed as sinful by many. ^[7]

While the national, social and moral consciousness of Welsh people would be forever changed by the religious movements of the eighteenth century. The nineteenth century saw a new renaissance of Welsh cultural institutions, which attempted to record and revive Welsh traditions that were being lost to these rapid social changes. ^[10]

Catherine Margretta Thomas was born in 1880 ^{[11] : 31} in the village of Nantgarw. Her parents were Daniel and Hannah Davies. ^[12] As a child she enjoyed watching the local dances ^[13] as they were performed in an open space below Twyn Chapel in Caerphilly ^{[11] : 32} and at Nantgarw and Y Groes Wen. ^[13] Due to the hostility of the local churches to folk dancing, Catherine Margretta Thomas' own mother was not keen on her daughter going to see these dances, but Catherine was able to convince her father to take her along to witness the displays. The rise of Nonconformism in Wales meant that by the time Catherine Margretta Thomas was in her teens folk dancing had practically been eradicated in Nantgarw. ^[13]

20th century revival

Children learning traditional Welsh dance at an Urdd Gobaith Cymru camp in 1971. Organisations such as the Urdd helped to revive interest in Welsh dance throughout the 20th century.

See also: Welsh Folk Dance Society

According to Ceinwen Thomas, Welsh Dance had "died hard" ^[13] by 1911 when she was born in Nantgarw to Catherine Margretta Thomas. ^[14] With other twentieth century writers stating that "The fervent zeal of the religious revival of the latter part of the last century and the early years of the present century, persecuted and exiled old traditionally Welsh dances." ^[15]

However, as the influence of Nonconformism waned and by the time Ceinwen Thomas was attending school she was discussing the tradition of dancing in Nantgarw with her mother. ^[13] After Ceinwen Thomas had left college she met Walter Dowding of the Welsh National Folk Dance Society. She told him about her mother's recollections of folk dancing in Nantgarw. He put her in touch with Doris Freeman. Together Catherine Margretta Thomas, Ceinwen Thomas and Doris Freeman worked to notate the dance steps from the traditional dances that Catherine Margretta Thomas could remember. ^[13] These notes were then passed on to the Welsh National Folk Dance Society by Ceinwen Thomas. ^[16]

Other scholars also searched for the roots and influences on folk culture on dance, such as Susannah Berrington Gruffydd Richards, and W.S. Gwynn Williams.

Lois Blake

A leading member of the English Folk Dance Society, Lois Blake moved to Wales in the 1930s. Blake collected remnants of the Welsh dance tradition, which she published in her work "Welsh Folk Dance" in 1948. The following year, Blake and founded the Welsh Folk Dance Society and became the society's first president. ^{[17] [18]}

Nantgarw dance tradition

Main article: Nantgarw dance tradition

Ballet Cymru performing with Dawnswyr Nantgarw (Nantgarw Dancers) at the Wales Millennium Centre (left) and Morris Dancers performing a Nantgarw Morris (right).

The Nantgarw dance tradition is a style of Welsh folk dancing from the South and Valleys regions of Wales, specifically associated with the small village of Nantgarw. The style encompasses both handkerchief and stick dances. The dances call for eight dancers in four pairs. ^[19] The style was first put into dance notation by Dr. Ceinwen Thomas (1911-2008) who wrote down what her mother, Catherine Margretta Thomas, could remember of the dances that had been danced locally when she was young. ^[20] The Nantgarw dances take their name from the village of Nantgarw in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf where they are said to have first been performed. ^{[11] : 32}

21st century

Welsh dance is seen as an integral part of Welsh cultural events, such as the St David's Day celebrations at the Senedd building

Today, Welsh dance is seen as an essential expression of the culture of Wales with the Arts Council of Wales and the Senedd government funding and promoting dance programmes and competitions. For much of the early century the community dance sector was seen as strong, with Community Dance Wales developing "world-leading activities" (including disability initiatives), courses in higher and further education and new venues such as the Wales Millennium Centre. However structural and economic issues has seen support for Welsh dance decline sharply in recent years, with the Arts Council experiencing a 40% budget cut in real terms Since 2010. ^[21]

Competitions

Day of dance, Caerphilly Castle.

Some of the most integral competitions in Welsh dance are those of the local, Urdd (youth) and National eisteddfodau, and Welsh dance competitions is an intrinsic part of any eisteddfod. ^[22] Notable dancing groups include Nantgarw Dancers hailing from the Pontypridd area and Talog dancers from Carmarthen. Both groups have enjoyed significant success in National Eisteddfod competitions. Nantgarw dancers have also had significant success in international competitions such as the Llangollen International Eisteddfod in Wales, Lorient Folk Festival in France and Mallorca World Folk Festival in Spain. ^{[23] [24]}

Reputation for difficulty

"Men and women individually selected us to dance. As the females were very handsome, it is most probable we would have accepted their offers, had there not been a powerful reason to prevent us - our complete inability to unravel the mazes of a Welsh dance."

A Walk through Wales - Richard Warner, 1799 ^[7]

A young Welsh dancer extinguishes a candle with the sole edges of his clogs at the 2012 Urdd National Eisteddfod in Snowdonia (Eryri)

Welsh dance has a long reputation as more physical or difficult than other folk dances. In his recording of the Llangadfan dances, Williams Jones noted the relative difficulty of Welsh dance. He describes many of the dances as having "sharp twists and turns rendering them fiendishly difficult to perform well", and stated that they were probably "too fatiguing for the bodies and minds of the present generation, and requiring much skill and activity in the performance". ^[25]

In 1798, Richard Warner noted the athleticism of the dances he witnessed at a Welsh ball which he described as "a contest of agility between two brothers, who danced two distinct hornpipes with so much power and muscle, variety of step and inflexible perseverance, as exceeded everything we had seen". ^[26] Warner also noted that he and other English attendees were unable to participate at a Welsh dance due to the complex nature of the dances themselves. ^[7]

Welsh stepdance is also seen as a competition of stamina and athleticism, which includes unique "tricks" such as high leaps into the air, snuffing out a candle with the shoes and toby stepping (kicking legs out in a squat position similarly to Cossack dancing). ^[27]

References

1. Celtic Culture: A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. 2006. p. 563. ISBN   978-1-85109-440-0.
2. M, Mellor (1935). Welsh Folk Dances. An inquiry by Hugh Mellor with notation of certain dances. London: Novello and Company. p. 7.
3. "BBC Wales – History – Themes – The 1536 Act of Union". BBC. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
4. P, Morgan (1983). Ranger, T (ed.). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43, 56. ISBN   9781107604674.
5. Celtic Culture: A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. 2006. p. 563. ISBN   978-1-85109-440-0.
6. Hyde, Dale (2012). "Welsh Folk Dance History". Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
7. Breverton, Terry (2009). Wales A Historical Companion. ISBN   1445609908.
8. Blake, Lois (1954). The Llangadfan Dances (2nd ed.). Wrexham and Cardiff: Gwynn Publishing Company. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
9. "A Rank Republican and a Leveller, William Jones Llangadfan". The Welsh History Review. 17 (1–4): 378–380. June 1994. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
10. Philip, A.B. (1975). The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945 – 1970. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 2.
11. Lile, Emma (1999). A Step in Time: Folk Dancing in Wales. National Museum of Wales Publications. ISBN   978-0-7200-0474-8.
12. "Catherine Margretta Thomas (Welsh)". dawnsio.com (in Welsh). Welsh National Folk Dance Society. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
13. "Easter Course Address (English)". dawnsio.com. Welsh National Folk Dance Society. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
14. "Dr Ceinwen H. Thomas 1911 – 2008 | Hanes Plaid Cymru".
15. Williams, A.E. (1984–1985). A Welsh Folk Dancing Handbook. The Welsh Folk Dance Society.
16. "Tom John's Rally / Comments". thesession.org. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
17. Palfrey, Eiry (2019-02-27). "Blake, Lois (1890 - 1974), historian and promoter of Welsh folk dancing". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
18. "Review of Welsh Folk Dance" . Journal of the International Folk Music Council. 1: 65–66. 1949. doi:10.2307/835952. ISSN   0950-7922. JSTOR   835952.
19. Blake, Lois (1966). "The Nantgarw Dances". Folk Music Journal. 1 (2): 102–106. JSTOR   4521744.
20. "Nantgarw Fair Dances". dawnsio.com. Welsh National Folk Dance Society. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
21. Pimbley, Karen. "Wales Dance Review" (PDF). Arts Council for Wales. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
22. Britton, Eirlys. "Clog Dancing". Dawnswyr Nantgarw. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15.
23. "Welsh Folk Dance Society - Teams". Dawnsio. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
24. "anrhydeddau". www.dawnswyrnantgarw.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
25. Jenkins, Geraint H. (1994–1995). "A rank Republican (and) a leveller: William Jones". Welsh History Review: Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru. p. 380. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
26. Jaffé, Nigel Allenby (1990) Folk Dance of Europe. Folk Dance Enterprises. page 295. ISBN   0-946247-14-5
27. "BBC Wales - Music - Folk and traditional - Clog dancing in Wales". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-06.