AMA ! - Irish dancing ☘️

[TheBigWig]

Haha apologies this might possibly be the dullest AMA topic in the world but oh well thought I’d give it a go!

im a retired world championship level competitive irish dancer (won’t say exact placing as I don’t want to get outted but I was top 10 in the worlds and all irelands, didn’t win either unfortunately but top 10 a few times)

just wondered if anyone had any questions about Irish dancing or competitive dancing in general?☘️ I recently saw a few posts on MN from parents looking for advice with dance class questions and advice so figured this post might help someone😊

Apologies, just realised I missed your questions about the shoes!

so for girls we dance 2 types of dances - hard shoes (the tap style shoe with the tip and the heel) and then soft shoes (which are more similar to highland dancing shoes and the dancing is more like ballet style) you have to do both styles in a competition and there’s different rounds. The usual format would be first round heavies, second round soft shoes, then after that the scores are added up and the top % of dancers get to do another heavy dance called a set dance

boys dont do soft shoes with the ballet style shoe, their shoe has a tip on it xx

I love the skill, strength, and stamina exhibited by Irish dancers, and many of the costumes are beautiful, but I hate the whole wig/makeup/pageanty element - I think it cheapens the beauty and energy of the craft and tries to make children look like sexy leprechauns which is actually quite disturbing. How would you like to see it evolve?

But why did you/your teachers/parents continue to engage, if you knew competitions you were dancing in had been fixed? Wasn’t it deeply dispiriting as a competitor? Or, given that you were clearly very successful, are you saying you benefited from ‘fixing’?

Ohh good question, I’m not sure but I don’t think so

i think line dancing might be closer to American barn dancing or English morris dancing but that might be completely wrong!

yeah what you describe is what my older family had as their dancing experience and they much preferred it!

I loved it at the time but not looking back at it as an adult- it’s expensive, so much pressure to look a certain way, and I developed insecurities that I’ll have for life

at the time I LOVED the dresses and wigs and make up, and would have defended their importance with my last breath but as an adult looking back it’s just ridiculous. No child needs layers and layers of make up for a dance competition. The argument of bright stage lights washing you out if you’re pale or have no make up on is true to an extent, but our stage lights are no brighter than other dance forms who cope absolutely fine with half the amount of make up and pageantry we have

it’s also quite exclusive- if you don’t look a certain way you get marked down, a lot of pressure to spend a crazy amount and I think overall it’s just gone way too far now x

Yeah Sean nos looks brilliant! It’s a shame it’s not more popular and well known outside of Ireland x

Yeah boys compete! In the younger ages and in smaller feises they get combined with the girls but at bigger feises if there’s enough numbers they have their own competitions.

they are unreal athletes, seriously seriously talented

they usually wear a waistcoat/jacket type costume. It used to traditionally just be simple embroidery, then came more elaborate designs, and then came the Swarovskis and crystals. A lot of their costumes have just as many sparkles as the girls. Some guys like it and some don’t, there’s been a slight shift recently I’d say for guys to have costumes without the crystals and more simple designs x

Yeah I competed across Ireland, uk, North America / Canada and once in mainland europe (it’s not big there yet but it’s growing in popularity) x

I actually had no idea what Appalachian dancing was and had to google it! It looks cool though but I’ve just never come across it before x

Yeah it’s a shame tbh. When I was younger I LOVED it but looking back as an adult it’s ridiculous really. The focus has gone from the dancing which is crazy considering how talented and athletic a sport it is x

Yeah I don’t like it looking back at it.

at the time I loved it- I loved the make up, having a huge wig, sparkly crown and posting pictures on instagram posing with it all. But looking back it’s crazy how close to pageants it is. The sad reality is- looks do come into it (it’s a subjective sport and judges can look unfavourably on your dancing if you don’t have the ‘look’) which means there’s pressure for EVERYONE to go along with it to fit in, which just makes it worse. Yes you could make a stand and say no to all of it, but that’s tough when you’re a teenager who just wants to dance and fit in. And there’s definitely now an element of trying to be the most scandalous to stand out- eg wearing the BIGGEST crown, having the SPARKLIEST dress, having the DARKEST tan. Anything to get people talking about you. It’s all just for show and to stand out.

The dancing is unbelievably hard work and takes an unimaginable amount of training and strength, so personally to be reduced to having to dress like a sparkly doll is a bit insulting in my opinion and takes away from the crazy level of skill.

i think stage make up and tan and sparkly costumes have their place to an extent, but with Irish dancing it’s just completely out of control. 3k for a dress is ridiculous when you think about it objectively!

Have the costumes become more ‘out there’ over time? I have to admit I find the whole look incredibly ugly. My parents were Irish, so I vaguely remember seeing Irish dancers as a child. I’m pretty sure they weren’t wearing those hideous wigs.

It’s a tough one

I loved to dance and loved Irish dancing and unfortunately there’s cheating in every sport. When I was younger I didn’t always realise it went on- sure, I knew sometimes there were strange results, but my parents had the attitude of don’t be a sore loser and accuse people of cheating etc. I’m sure they knew there was unfairness but didn’t want to encourage me to be a bad loser

it was demotivating when results were clearly fixed but i just used to remind myself that it’s a subjective sport and what I might think is shit, another judge might like. Although there were definitely results that were objectively dodgy. Not every feis was fixed, most were fine

I wasn’t part of any cheating scandal. My parents wouldn’t have allowed it at all and my teachers weren’t like that. There’s only a few schools who are up to their neck in cheating but tbh everyone knows who they are

there’s low level stuff (eg the judges best friends kid who has never won in her life suddenly beats all the world champions and it’s just coincidence) but you can’t do anything about low level stuff like that. It’s shit but it’s just the way it is unfortunately. Taking a stand against it would mean not dancing which as a kid would have broken my heart because I loved it. It’s so good as an adult though to see the cheating being uncovered now and people being held accountable for it

I did Irish dancing in the 70s and it all seems so fake now with the wigs and the short flashy dresses. I’m actually embarrassed about the way it’s developed, sorry OP.
We had natural hair and simpler dresses embroidered with celtic patterns. It seems to be more American in style now? Flashier, with rhinestones etc?
How on earth did this happen?
Any chance of a move away from this?
It’s off-putting for many Irish people now I think, the style of it as well as the associated costs.

The plural of feis is feiseanna. I and my three sisters all did Irish dancing outside of school but we didn’t wear makeup, wigs or fake tans or even the gorgeous competition dresses. My youngest sister was always brought along to the classes and she actually took her first steps at 11 months old at one of the classes! I think she wanted to dance like her big sisters😁. This was back in the 70’s though so very different times!!

How expensive are the wigs nowadays?

How is the boy/girl ratio? I have a 10 year old boy who loves ballet and tap, and is eying up Irish Dancing. Would a ballet/tap background be useful?

Joke time - sorry about this!

Did you know that just recently, when they were going through some ancient archives in the basement of a museum in Dublin, they discovered some very old literature and papers to do with Irish dancing. One of them was a book called:
"Irish Dancing Book 2 - What To Do With Your Arms".
😂

Oh god🙈 I’m an ex Irish dancer and people have been sending me this for decades!!

Well I did say sorry first!! 😁

My dd was (still is) a ballet dancer, and did dabble in Irish dance for a few months. I'd say in answer to @herewegoagainonwednesday that yes, tap would be fairly useful - ballet, no. You need flexible achilles tendons and stretchy calf muscles for ballet (plies etc). The two techniques are very different, and don't complement one another.

I can't find an image of it but there's a cartoon, Far Side, I think, set in an Irish dancing institution. Someone is pulling an old book out of a drawer and it's entitled 'Arms'.

Hi!

Congrats on your achievements.

I was just wondering this morning if either of these are a barrier to entry (by barrier, I mean would my 5yo be perceived as weird and /or not enjoy the experience):

1. She has no obvious Irish heritage. My husband has an irish granny who died before my daughter was born. She has never visited Ireland.
2. She is athletic and graceful but heavy. Will she be able to lift off the ground, do the moves as easily as her peers?

We love gaelic music at home and I adore watching irish dancing. Just wonder whether she would genuinely be welcome and progress?

Nearest class would be in Essex if that makes a difference.

I’m sure the OP will come back to respond too but I’m a qualified Irish dance teacher so thought I’d offer up my opinion.

You absolutely don’t have to have Irish heritage. It’s really not necessary. There are families who have danced for generations but there are also people from all different types of cultures and backgrounds.

The build you describe wouldn’t be an issue either. There are aspects and styles which favour a more powerful dancer (I was one of those!!).
There’s a very well established school in Essex called Maguire O’Shea.

I'm Irish and danced for a long time in the 80s and 90s. I think it's really sad that these teachers have taken a gorgeous style of dancing with a long tradition and turned it into a ridiculous looking pageant show. I think it's a real disservice to Irish culture. The wigs and dresses now look like the residents of the capitol in Hunger games. I suppose my question is do you think this will change soon and is there any backlash from the dancers? Also I wonder why it's now called a 'sport' when ballet with the same rigorous training isn't. It wasn't called a sport in the 90s.

My DC attends Irish Dancing & enjoys it. DC has been dancing for 3 years & does well in the lower level but not placing in the higher level yet. Recently started competing in Open & Championship & not placing.

Anyway my question is....the dance teacher is constantly, sort the feet, cross feet, heels in ect. What kind of exercises can we be doing to improve DC turnout technique? Not sure if thats what you meant when asking about irish dancing.