Nos lowen

Nos lowen(former spellingnoze looan) is a style ofCornish-Celticdance,and associated music and events similar in style to theBretonfest nozbut featuring only Cornish dances.nos lowenisCornishfor 'happy night'.

Nos lowenis 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 thetroyl,presented the Cornish dances in the style of a Scottish or Irishcèilidh.Thenos lowenapproach on the other hand was inspired by the Bretonfest nozformat, which itself had emerged in the 1960s. Bothnos lowenandfest nozwere new ways of celebrating what were often quite ancient dances from their respective regions.Nos lowenwas initially spearheaded by the Cornish group Sowena, and traditional dancers. It places greater emphasis on simpler dances, which are also often the oldest ones, such assnake dancesandfurry dances,in order to increase participation and remove the need for a caller. Thenos lowenmovement continues to enjoy much success in Cornwall as does thetroylapproach.

Whilenos lowenis 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 ofnos lowenisnosow lowen,but people often simply say "nos lowens" when speaking English, in the same way people might pluralise "ceilidhs" in English.Nos lowenis sometimes abbreviated as "nsl" online or in event listings. The earlier spellingnoze looanwas based on theLate Cornish orthography;with the introduction of theStandard Written Cornish,the spellingnos lowenis now used.

See also

• Cèilidh
• Culture of Cornwall
• Feis
• Fest noz
• Noson llawen,a Welsh equivalent
• Troyl
• Twmpath,another similarWelshgathering