012: 1990s

• First created as interval entertainment act for the Eurovison Song Contest then extended into ninety-eight-minute stage show

• Music score by Bill Whelan

• Lead dancers: Michael Flatley and Jean Butler

• Global success

  —>Impact on the commercial success of irish traditional music and dance

  —> Influencing a new commercial image and sound

• Conference held in Dublin

• As direct response to river of sound controversy

• Led and organised by musicians

• Convered topics:

  —> Tradition and change

  —> Education and organisation

  —> Commercialisation

• River of sound = television series on contemporary irish trad. Music

• Generated an ongoing debate around the issues of change and continuity in trad. Music

• Set out to portray trad-music in several categories:

  —> Voice, dancing, trad. Instruments, classical influence, repertoire, structure

• Introduced many young musicians to a popular TV audience for the first time

= scrupulous or exaggerated observance of insistence on traditional rules or structures, esp. in language or style

Product of 1950s folk revival

• = making changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas, products

• Cumulating from 1970s super groups

• Innovation can be threatening when perceived as

  —>Neglectful/disassociated from past

  —>Introducing “otherness” into the music

  —>Inauthentic due to lack of feeling or soul

• Globalization and commercialisation of music industry

• Emergence of world music

• Expanding of the irish traditional music market à from niche to wider category

  —>Celtic music

• Increase in global performance platforms for irish traditional music artists

• increased commercialisation and sexualisation of ITM and dance

• introduced sex into irish traditional dancing

• aided consumer consumption of irish culture