While in Spain last year, Jen Bri and I stumbled upon a performance of traditional Galician dance. Jen, having been part of the Portuguese Club’s Rancho Folclórico, was ecstatic at having found something so similar yet so distinct from the portuguese style of dance.

Galicia is the region of Spain directly north of Portugal (see below). As you might imagine, the language, customs and cultural identifiers are similar to that of Portugal.

But surprisingly there is a Celtic influence in Galicia. It is evident in some of the food, even in the name of the region, but most of all, in Galicia’s music. You can detect obvious similarities to Celtic music through the use of bagpipes and other instruments I can’t name, but simply sound Irish. (Admittedly, Celtic is not synonymous with Irish, I’m just making an observation here.)

Getting back to the folkloric dancing, the Celtic influence is also readily apparent in the footwork and the costumes of the dancers. The dancers lifted their feet and performed turns which distinguishes this dance easily from that of the Portuguese to their south. One set of male performers even wore wooden shoes! I’m not sure if that is a Celtic trait, but it certainly separates them from the Portuguese.

Bri and I enjoyed it as much as Jen, although I think for slightly different reasons. In any case, I’m posting the first of several videos here, after the jump. I apologize for the low quality, but I only had my digital camera with me when I decided I wanted to record the performance for posterity.

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