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Jig

The jig (Irish: port, Scottish Gaelic: port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It first gained popularity in 16th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and other parts of the British Isles,[1][2] and was adopted on mainland Europe where it eventually became the final movement of the mature Baroque dance suite (the French gigue; Italian and Spanish giga).[3] Today it is most associated with Irish dance music, Scottish country dance and the Métis people in Canada.[4] Jigs were originally in quadruple compound metre, (e.g., 12
8
time), but have been adapted to a variety of time signatures, by which they are often classified into groups, including double jigs (6
8
), slip jigs (9
8
) and single jigs (12
8
).

This article is about the folk dance. For other uses, see Jig (disambiguation).

Ireland and Scotland[edit]

During the middle of the 16th century the dance was adopted in Ireland[11] and in the 17th century Scotland, where it was widely adapted, and the jig is now most often associated with these countries, especially Ireland.[12] The jig is second in popularity only to the reel in traditional Irish dance; it is popular but somewhat less common in Scottish country dance music. It is transcribed in compound metre, being 6
8
time. The most common structure of a jig is two eight-bar parts, performing two different steps, each once on the right foot, and one on the left foot. As with most other types of dance tunes in Irish music, at a session or a dance it is common for two or more jigs to be strung together in a set, flowing on without interruption.

Straight and sand jigs[edit]

In 19th-century America, the jig was the name adopted for a form of step dancing developed by enslaved African-Americans and later adopted by minstrel show performers. Danced to five-string banjo or fiddle tunes in 2
2
or 2
4
metre played at schottische tempo, the minstrel jig (also called the "straight jig" to distinguish it from Irish dances) was characterized by syncopated rhythm and eccentric movements. Jig dancers employed a repertoire of "hits" on the heel or toe, ""hops" on one foot, "springs" off both feet as well as various slides and shuffles.[17] The most famous early jig dancer was Master Juba, an African-American who inspired a host of white imitators, many of whom performed in blackface. John Diamond, an Irish-American who competed with Master Juba in a series of "challenge dances," was among the most prominent of these white minstrel jig dancers. Minstrel jigs, as well as clogs and breakdowns, were crucial to the evolution of 20th-century tap and soft-shoe dancing.


A variant of the straight jig was the "sand jig" or "sand dance," performed as a series of shuffles and slides on a sand-strewn stage. The most prominent sand jiggers of the 19th century were two women, both born in New York in 1855: Buffalo native Kitty O'Neil and her Manhattan-born rival Kitty Sharpe.[18] Sand dancing was a staple of minstrelsy, variety and vaudeville, and was kept alive in later decades largely by African-American tap dancers, including John Bubbles, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr., Harriet Browne and, most prominently, Howard "Sandman" Sims.

Shakespearean dance

The Irish Washerwoman

Swing

Baskervill, Charles Read (1929). The Elizabethan jig and related song drama. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Brissenden, Alan (1981). Shakespeare and the dance. London: Macmillan.  978-0-333-28523-7.

ISBN

Clegg, Roger; Skeaping, Lucie (2014). Singing Simpkin and Other Bawdy Jigs: Musical Comedy on the Shakespearean Stage : Scripts, Music and Context. University of Exeter Press.  9780859898782.

ISBN

Cullinane, John (2001). Further aspects of the history of Irish dancing in Ireland, Scotland, Canada, America, New Zealand and Australia (2nd ed.). Cork: John Cullinane.  0952795256.

ISBN

Irish footwork