The latest news on IrishSetDances.net!
“The CharLady” has been selected by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha for inclusion on to the list of officially approved Set Dances. A milestone achievement, Michael is most honored and humbled by this recognition and is looking forward to the official inclusion date set for June 1, 2012. After that date, all championship dancers will be allowed to dance “The CharLady” in competition at feiseanna worldwide. Read the story behind The CharLady.
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Shortly after the release of “The Official List III: Planxty Hugh O’Donnell and The Traditional Sets”, I was receiving positive feedback about the format used on that CD to feature Planxty Hugh O’Donnell at multiple metronomic speeds (66-73) as well as the Traditional Sets at a choice of speeds. Several teachers had commented that it was helpful to have multiple speeds available to them while they were creating the steps to their new Set Dance. Then, almost immediately after the release, upon further consideration and input from teachers and adjudicators, An Coimisiún opted to slowdown the Traditional Set speed for St Patrick’s Day. Considering how dynamic Irish Dancing has become, as well as the need for multiple speeds for every possible dance, lead to the idea of a download based Set Dance project, hence, Anthology. While some of these tunes were covered in the original Official List 1 and 2 recordings, there was an interest for a fresh set of recordings with more orchestration and a bigger sound! Over 20 recording sessions later, all of the approved Set Dances, plus those approved by An Comhdhail, as well as those recently considered for inclusion to the approved list, plus some additional bonus tracks, were recorded. Each of these Set Dances feature new arrangements and orchestrations similar to those of my more recent recordings, The Whispering Door, and Planxty Hugh O’Donnell and The Traditional Sets. All of these Anthology Set Dances are now available from this website, and will also be available from iTunes. I hope you will enjoy them for many, many years to come.
On the musical horizon for 2012 is the original tunes recording that had been initially planned for 2011 with a 2012 release. The recording of Anthology changed that timetable. That project, which will feature all new original music composed by Michael Fitzpatrick, will likely get underway in the summer of 2012, and will, like Anthology, principally be a download release as well, with a limited hardcopy release for those who like CDs.