ENNIS FLEADH NUA - Comhaltas Archive

and be intluenced as their life pathdictates, so that what is true for oneneed not be true for another. Some willhear the call for preserving elementalpurity and others will inevitably followthe "folk process" of development andexpansion, but just as we should cuiti-vate a tolerance and respect for genius,those among us who are dedicated tothe preservation of the living traditionsof their grandparents should becherished. If these people do not keepthe flame alive the current progressionof supercharging simple material willresult, in another 40 years, in a worldwhere people are playing a crossbetween "Balkan-fusion" and Americanjazzand getting their dander up indefending it as "real Irish traditional".DANCING FUN AT FLEADHNUATh. Koschatstrasse 16,A-9S00 Villach,Austria.In May of last year my wife and Iwere present at the Fleadh Nua inEnnis. It was our first time in Ireland,and we would have loved to participatein the evenings' ceili dances - but howto learn these steps in a hurry?That opportunity was given to us bythe three ceili and set-dancing classesoffered on Friday as well as on Saturday.We particularly appreciated thatour instructor, Mr. Pat Liddy, tried (andsucceeded) to quickly teach us the basicsteps and movement sequences, withoutundue emphasis on fmesse and perfection.His free -and-easy approach helpedto relax us newcomers and encouragedus to venture forth.Already on Friday evening at thebig ceilf we allowed ourselves to be pulledin by friendly locals to join varioussets- but not without first asking Pat,"Do we know this one?"Because of the classes, we alreadyhad quite a few friends and thus did notfeel like complete strangers. In one s~twe had a real international crew : anAmerican couple, an Austro- Americancouple (us), an English couple and alocal one.In Slimmary, we had a hell of a lot offun at the Flearih Nua and hope to beback some time in the future .PROF. DR. WALTERJ.BOUQUET FOR VIDEOLEHMr NN37 Willarong Road,Mt. Colah 2079,NSW, Australia.I read with great interest the article on'Tradition on Video' and would like tocompliment you and your committeeon fostering such a worthwhile recordof traditional music. To future generationsI'm sure these videos will providean added perspective to the soundrecordings and written music. Somewill, of course, argue that the oral traditionin years gone by was adequate topass down music, however, I can't helpbut think that with the modem style ofliving it would be almost impossible toreturn to this method.My second reason for writing is toenquire whether a copy of the DanO'Dowd tape can be purchased byoverseas members or clubs, and if so ,what would be the cost? I wasfortunate enough to meet Dan on histrip to Australia about six years ago ,and his mastery of piping and love ofthe music shone through despite his advancingyears.In Sydney I am one of six strugglinguilleann pipers who meet, unfortunately,on an irregular basis to try andmaster the art of piping. We are allmembers of CCE.If you can help it would be greatlyappreciated by the present and futurepipers in Australia.Keep up the good work .MELOSBILLHARTEMELOS - a first collection of poemsby Tomas b Canainn, well known asl.Iilleann-piper and music reviewer, hasjust been published by CLOG .Many of the poems have alreadyappeared in print, both in Ireland andEngland and have been broadcast onRTE. One of the poems, Nuala'sFiddle was the sole Irish contribution toRobert Nye's P.E.N. New Poetry 1 lastyear. Music, family ties and nature arehis themes.The author is Dean of Engineering atUniversity College Cork and teachesuilleann pipes · in the Cork School ofMusic. He played and sang for manyyears with the famous traditional T""~lCgroup NA FILl.TOMAS 6 CANAINNHe is author of Traditional Music inIreland, Songs of Cork and New Tunesfor Old. Last year, Appletree Press publishedhis autobiographical novel, Hometo Derry.MELOS, (poems by Tomas bCanainn) is published in paperback byCLOG at 5 Ard Barra, Glanrnire, Cork ;£3.95 72 pp., ISBN 1 87069300 O.. For further information on this publicationor the author, please ring 021-821003.DAvewlLL1AmSCDAKeR O~ ~lNeulLLeANN plpeS.~ ~LUTeSTHE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE, WEST KEAL , SPILSBYLlNCS PE234sD TEL. (0790)5280644