Discoveries...Ireland: Music & Dance—A Rich Culture

In this fifth installment of the Discoveries...Ireland series, traditional music and dance take center stage, with the focus on the simple pleasures derived from the beat of the hand drum, melodies of the fiddle, and drone of the bagpipes. The center of musical life in many Irish communities is the pub, where pints and instruments change hands here in a performance before an all-ages audience—many of whom participate as musicians themselves before the evening is through. Also featured are street musicians in Kilkenny and a guitar-flute duo playing their live gig for tourists at the Cliffs of Moher. Of special note here is Raithcairn Village, a community whose residents speak Irish for their daily interactions and host summer theater performances featuring stories told in the old language—making a life, and business, of keeping many Gaelic traditions alive. Filmmakers Jim and Kelly Watt also travel to the Kilrush music festival, where intricate routines find dancing couples morphing into a quartet and then back to pairs again. Offering a fine celebration of the passion and energy found in a particularly rich aspect of Irish culture, this is recommended. Also newly available in the Discoveries...Ireland series is Castles—Ancient Treasures. Aud: P. (C. Block)