Y Sipsi The Gypsy

Welsh Clogging has long been a fascination of mine. I love the stories about it and being part of a living, breathing "tradition" (I am always a little wary of using this term because of it's connotations with the past, I'm not sure it is the right word to use as clogging is very much alive and kicking (excuse the pun!), but I am short of another so it will have to do) I love that I am continuing to do something, that once a long time ago, someone else did, they passed it onto someone else, and eventually it got to me.
Clogging managed to survive the Methodist Revival and is Wales' only unbroken dance tradition (there's that word again!). Emma Lile states in her book A Step in Time: Folk Dancing in Wales, that the reason clogging survived was largely due to the gypsy families 'who were less influenced by the condemnation of religious leaders' (Lile 1999: 34). Dance in Wales had almost been obliterated, Hugh Mellor recalls that when he began collecting the dances of Wales at the beginning of the 20th Century he was told ‘Wales has no dances; if she had they have been forgotten generations ago.’ (Mellor in Williams 1985: 6). 
Religion was life for the Welsh who set for Patagonia 150 years ago. There is a lovely clip of Nain Maggie ( of Casa de te Nain Maggie) talking about the crossing and the importance of Capel here, I can only find it on facebook so appologies for the poor quality.

---

So we have this dichotomy. The Nonconformist views of the Methodist Church and the folk dance which it tried it's hardest to repress. So, what happens we use both these as influence? 
The Welsh Folk Dance we know today has been shaped by the history it has endured, it is remembered in pieces and fragments of memories from those who saw it. When working with it to create choreography we are allowed a freedom, to wonder, to imagine and to create. The patterns of the dances captivate me, as dancers weave in and out of each other, I cannot help but imagine the whisperings  between each other! (Often when I dance they are a reminder of which direction to go next!) But what if these were stories being told, of journeys and voyages, and the pathways of the dances maps guiding the next generation?
One of my favourite movement in Welsh Dance is the Gypsy. Two dancers lock little fingers and turn to change position. This fleeting moment of a concealed touch gets my imagination whirring... what message does this secret touch contain, from today yesterday or 150 years ago.

Just to keep with the gypsy theme and because it's a lovely recording, here is Nansi Richards playing Pibddawns y Sipsi on the triple harp.