Jig

The Jig (Irish: port) is a form of lively folk dance in compound meter, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It developed in 16th-century England, and was quickly adopted on the Continent where it eventually became the final movement of the mature Baroque dance suite (the French gigue; Italian and Spanish giga). Today it is most associated with Irish dance music, Scottish country dance and the Métis people in Canada. Jigs were originally in duple compound meter, (e.g., 12
8 time), but have been adapted to a variety of time signatures, by which they are often classified into groups, including light jigs, slip jigs, single jigs, double jigs, and treble jigs.

Origins

The term jig was probably derived from the French giguer, meaning 'to jump' or the Italian giga. It was known as a dance in 16th-century England, often in 12
8 time, and the term was used for a post-play entertainment featuring dance in early modern England, but which 'probably employed a great variety of dances, solo (suitable for jigs), paired, round, country or courtly': in Playford's Dancing Master (1651) 'the dance game in ‘Kemps Jegg’ is a typical scenario from a dramatic jig and it is likely that the combination of dance metre for steps and non-metrical passages for pantomime indicates how a solo or ensemble jig might have been danced by stage players.' Later the dance began to be associated with music particularly in 6
8 time, and with slip jigs 9
8 time.

Jig (jewellery)

A jig used in making jewelry, a specific type of jig, is a plate or open frame for holding work and helping to shape jewelry components made out of wire or small sheets of metal. A jig in the jewelry making application is used to help establish a pattern for use in shaping the wire or sheets of metal. In the jewelry application, the shaping of the metal is done by hand or with simple hand tools like a hammer.

History

The use of wire in making jewelry is something that can be seen in jewelry from the Sumerian Dynasty of Ur about 2560 BC.  The British Museum has examples of jewelry obtained from the Royal Cemetery of Ur (Iraq) that include wire spirals.  Examples of wire and sheet metal jewelry can also be found in jewelry from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome. While we have no examples of jigs or patterns being used to make that jewelry, one can surmise that sometime after the Sumerians, but likely before the Romans that patterns made out of carved wood were used to shape jewelry components. re the same technique we use in our knitting today.

Jig (disambiguation)

A jig is a type of folk dance, usually in compound meter.

Jig may also refer to:

in theatre

in computing

in dancing

in language:

in manufacturing: