The rinkafadda ( ga, rince fada or , "long dance"), also called simply the rinka, is a country or field dance that goes back to sixteenth-century

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. During this period, visitors to Ireland described the dance consisting of a row of men facing a row of women. Beginning at one end of the line, the couples start dancing one by one until all have joined in, dancing starting at one end, and going to the other and then back again. Noted for its social inclusiveness and its appropriateness to events of public rejoicing, accounts described how all social classes took part in the rince fada together. The ' Virginia Reel' and 'fadings', 'The Fading' or 'With a fading' - ("A Winter's Tale" Act IV) mentioned by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in A Winter's Tale have been associated with rince fada.

Notes

References

* Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (6th ed., Vols. 1-20). London: Macmillan. {{Irish dance Irish dance Contra dance