Blas has a well developed ethos where access to the best of tuition from some of the most famous musicians, singers and dancers is combined with classes and lectures given by experts in the academic study of our traditions. This follows the overriding ethos of all Irish World Academy of Music and Dance endeavors, where performance and reflection are seen as equal of stature and mutually beneficial.
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School size:
The school is kept deliberately small in scale so that access to tutors remains intimate. Blas students receive a high level of attention from tutors and organisers. (back to top)
Programme design elements:
These aspects of the Blas ethos are translated into the programme design which incorporates the following:
- Expert tuition: Master classes taught by renowned performers, exponents and teachers of Irish traditional music, song and dance.
- Performance & Reflection: Blas is unique among summer schools in that it offers strong academic, as well as practical content.
- Intimacy: Numbers are limited for Blas to facilitate small class sizes with greater access to the expertise of tutors so early booking is advised!
- International accreditation: Blas, through the University of Limerick, is linked to the international credit system in education. Therefore study at Blas could count towards your education award back home. Blas is the only summer school in Irish traditional music and dance to offer this feature.
- Extra activities: Lectures, workshops, sessions and other evening events. During the two weeks of Blas, a number of concerts are put on for Blas students and the general public. In previous years Blas concerts have featured Flook, Martin Hayes, Altan, Solas and Ragus Dance Show. All concerts and events are free to Blas students. Tutors also give free lunchtime concerts during the two week of Blas to allow our students the chance to see their tutors perform as well as teach.
- Self-Tailoring: As a student, you can specialise in an individual instrument, song or dance class, or can sample from a number of instrument/song/dance classes to your requirement. (back to top)
Typical Blas students:
Blas attracts musicians, singers and dancers who are already familiar with the Irish traditions and who want to extend their technique, repertoire and knowledge therein. It also attracts many performers (and would-be performers) from other genres who find it beneficial to study with us as a form of induction and acculturation in the Irish traditions before diving in at the deep end of the main traditional scene of endless sessions, ceilithe, fleadhanna and festivals. Blas acts as an incubator, and forms a safe space in which to improve musicianship, song, or dance technique, and to learn more about the stylistic, social, and historic content of these traditions in a familiar educational campus setting. (back to top)
Benefits of Studying at the Irish World Academy :
By studying Irish traditional music and dance on an Irish university campus, students benefit not only from an 'on the ground experience' but also from the international network of university connections and accreditation systems. The University of Limerick has a highly developed library of prints, manuscripts and audio visual holdings in Irish music and dance. This includes a specialists library of 18th and 19th century out of print collections of Irish music, as well as extensive holdings in ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology.
Blas is run by the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, which began life as a postgraduate centre in the University of Limerick, dedicated to performance and reflection in the performing arts of music and dance.
Initially concerning itself with research and innovation in Irish and Irish-related music worldwide, the centre now offers a suite of nine one-year, full-time taught masters' degrees, a Grad. Dip in Education (Music), and two, four-year undergraduate degrees, the BA in Irish Music and Dance and then BA in Voice and Dance. It houses a community of faculty, performers, scholars, visiting musicians, dancers and academics who form the basis for Blas' unique academic credentials. Many Blas students have taken their time with us as in introduction to what the Irish World Academy has to offer and have later returned as full time BA, Grad.Dip or MA students. Study at Blas and you might come back for more! (back to top)
Instruments featured at the school:
Blas centres its teaching around the following instruments: flute, fiddle, button accordion, percussion, harmonic accompaniment, and the disciplines of dance and song. These instruments and disciplines are provided as standard. Tuition in other instruments can be provided depending on the level of interest. (back to top)
