An Dro is a traditional Breton dance where people link their lúidíní (pinkies) with one another and follow each other in a long line. The person at the top of the line leads everyone in a pattern which can include spirals or doubling back on themselves, making beautiful shapes on the dance floor. This ancient Celtic ’rock the boat’ is really hypnotic!
Thanks to my amazing musical partner Brewen, I’ve been exposed to this beautiful dance and music over the years. I was moodling about on the harp at Christmas time when this An Dro popped into my head.
There’s a few notes in here from a traditional tune – Andro de la Saint Patrick – but my tune goes a different direction … a bit like each An Dro leader makes their own pattern on the dance floor.
On Lá Fhéile Stiofáin / St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland, we have a tradition where we ‘hunt the wren’ – ‘An Dreoilín’ as Gaeilge. Seeing as this tune arrived just after Christmas, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to include a cute pun in the name! 🙂