Nos Lowen (former spelling Noze looan) is a style of Cornish-Celtic

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, and associated music and events similar in style to the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

Fest Noz A Fest Noz (Breton for ''night festival'') is a Breton traditional festival, with dancing in groups and live musicians playing acoustic instruments. Although it is all too easy to write off the ' and ''fêtes folkloriques'' as modern inventions, ...

but featuring only Cornish dances. Nos Lowen is Cornish for "happy night".A bit of history on the Cumpas website: "A personal account of the remarkable revival of Cornish music and dance, and why it matters". By Neil Davey (originally published in Cornish World)"
''see'' Cumpas Ltd. Nos lowen is a relatively recent development in Cornish music and dance, which started in the 1990s, some twenty years after the beginning of the revival of Cornish dancing generally. It may be a reaction to the more formal approaches of the earlier revival, in which the social dance nights, known as

troyl Troyl is a colloquial Cornish word meaning a barn dance or céilidh, a social evening of dance, music and song. Etymology Edward Lluyd (1660?–1709) knew the Cornish verb ' - to twist, twirl, whirl, spin round. Edward Veale of Pentire, Newq ...

s, present the Cornish dances in the style of a Scottish or Irish ceilidh. The nos lowen approach on the other hand was inspired by the Breton

fest noz A Fest Noz (Breton for ''night festival'') is a Breton traditional festival, with dancing in groups and live musicians playing acoustic instruments. Although it is all too easy to write off the ' and ''fêtes folkloriques'' as modern inventions, ...

format, which itself had emerged in the 1960s. With both nos lowen and

they were new ways of celebrating what were often quite ancient dances from their respective regions. Nos lowen was initially spearheaded by the Cornish group Sowena, and traditional dancers. It places greater emphasis on simpler dances, which are also often the oldest ones, such as

snake dance 'Snake dance' is a term used to refer to a parade before or during a high school or a related event like a football game. The parade includes floats built by each high school class, marching bands, students, and alumni. Snake dance may also be mor ...

s and furry dances, in order to increase participation and remove the need for a caller. The nos lowen movement continues to enjoy much success in Cornwall as does the troyl/ceilidh approach. While nos lowen is essentially a dance style, an associated style of music has grown around it which is generally more progressive than many folk bands, possibly to appeal to a younger audience. It also places more emphasis on rhythms and longer songs in order to produce the tribal trance-like state associated with the repetitive dances. Exponents include Tredanek, Dalla, Davey&Dyer, Heb Mar. The plural of Nos Lowen should technically be 'Nosow Lowen' if you're speaking Cornish, but people often simply say 'Nos Lowens' when speaking English In the same way people might pluralise 'Ceilidhs' in English. 'Nos lowen' is sometimes abbreviated by 'Nsl' online or in event listings. The earlier spelling 'Noze looan' was based on the late Cornish orthography; with the introduction of the standard written form of Cornish, the spelling 'nos lowen' is now used.

References

{{Culture of Cornwall European dances Cornish culture

See also

References