Nos lowen
Nos lowen (former spelling noze looan) is a style of Cornish-Celtic dance, and associated music and events similar in style to the Breton fest noz but featuring only Cornish dances. nos lowen is Cornish for 'happy night'.[1]
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 night, known as the
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. Proponents include Tredanek, Dalla, Davey & Dyer, and Heb Mar.
The proper Cornish plural of nos lowen is nosow lowen, 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 as "nsl" online or in event listings. The earlier spelling noze looan was based on the
See also
- Cèilidh
- Culture of Cornwall
- Feis
- Fest noz
- Noson llawen, a Welsh equivalent
- Troyl
- Twmpath, another similar Welsh gathering
References
- Cumpas Ltd.
