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😊

This has made me smile. I’m almost 50 and danced as a child and probably stopped around the year 2000 when I was at uni and not near my classes. Back then we had no wigs. My hair is so straight I’d have bendy curlers put in on a Friday for a Sunday Feis. My sister had rags in her hair. We even dances without the curls on occasions. Our dresses were knee length and were too small at the length they seem to start these days. My mum sat in class and at home embroidering the Celtic patterns on my class dress (all matching) and we had those doily looking neck and arm pieces. When I eventually got my solo dress there was a bit of a thing about going over to Ireland to have it made. We couldn’t afford that so we bought the first one second hand, lovely velvet. My sister still has it. I then went on to design my own and had a local dressmaker put it together. I went for the colours that are opposite on the colour wheel for impact and did have a few stones. My knickers matched the lining. When I was older I was allowed to trade my poodle socks in for black tights. We didn’t wear make up at all never mind fake tan. And I’m a typical dark hair pale skin type!

I only danced in local comps as my parents didn’t want to travel to nationals or words etc. we couldn’t afford it. Although I am a traditional musician too and we didn’t over to Ireland a few times for competitions for that. Less expensive though!!

I still have all my medals and trophies from my younger years. I recently joined an adult class now I’m about to turn 50. Need the exercise and missed it. By gosh it was hard work the first time I went back. Couldn’t walk for a week. Different teacher so new steps to learn. Still have some muscle memory for the odd traditional set like St Patrick’s day.

My kids tried it when they were little but then Covid hit and they never went back. They don’t have the same love of traditional music that I have grown up with. Their dad is in a rock band. However since I rejoined as an adult they have both decided to give it a try again. They already do musical theatre and I think it’s a good additional style to have if they want to try and keep it up. My youngest already had an expensive hobby (horse riding) so I’m hoping she might just dance for fun rather than for the whole competition and costume side of things.

I loved Irish dancing as a child but have often wondered why there's no adult classes. Not for competitions but purely for fitness.

There's classes for every other type of dsnve & sport.

Any idea why that is?

Irish dancing was real target in the Sixties for the English to make fun of. A bit of a joke really tbh

Comments Such as they look dead from the neck down abounded.

But is was hugely competetive and very popular in England with the Irah Community.

Of course, Riverdance revolutionised this perception for the better. And showed just how talented these dancers are

However, this wig thing is really naff and reminds me of something from a cheap pantomine.

Not a great look

Thank you for your kind and helpful reply. That is encouraging 😊

There are quite a few popping up now. Some of the bigger school are now offering adult classes- both competitive and non competitive. I’ve seen a huge increase in these recently.

You’re very welcome ☺️

Will there ever be an Irish dancer good enough to add the arms in, or is that like the quintuple loop in ice skating; beyond any human’s ability?

It’s not about being good enough. It’s just not part of the structure of solo Irish dancing. You lose marks for poor carriage and arm movements.

There is a freestyle competition at the worlds where you can use arms and the group dances have intricate arm movements.

My friend used to call it Dancing for Phone Boxes" - cracks me up. I have tried to find a video of someone doing it in a phone box but to no avail - I think it would be hilarious!

Has there ever been any recent movement within the sport to go back to the more natural look. Surely the governing body could take that on.

Like others I remember the girls in the 70s &’80s doing it without looking like drag / pageant queens. I have one school friend whose daughter competes to high level. Breaks my heart seeing her in the get up.

Agree. My daughter did Irish dancing aged 10 -17. We don't have any Irish heritage but she already did clog dancing so wanted to try out a different type of step dancing. She didn't do any external competitions but the annual comp was something of a nightmare that noone woold miss 😀Focus was more on performance than competition. There were all sorts of girls & boys of varying talent, aged 3 - 18. She had a great time. She went to Ireland two or three times & Belgium once.

Yes, I was making a joke.

It didn’t read like that - sorry 🤷‍♀️

E.Q?

@TheBigWigim looking for an Irish dancing school for my 5 year old. We’re Cork blowins , any recommendations? Thanks

@TheBigWig i know this is a few months old, shame I didn’t see it at the time. If you’re still here, I’m wondering if you had a daughter would you try get her into Irish dancing or do you think it’s better to pursue other types of dancing or extra curriculars? I have a two year old so she’s too young but I’d love to get her into some things when she’s older as my parents were rubbish with this and never did anything outside school, as a result I was poorly socialised as a kid and lacked interests. I was thinking Irish dancing as she can start at 4 but I’d worry about the costs if she was ever good enough to compete especially internationally. How did your parents afford it? Did you make lots of life long friends? Was it toxic or bitchy at all?
another thing i’d be weary about is I wouldn’t want my daughter going into dance for a career, well I guess I couldn’t stop her but I’d expect her to put school first and get a degree etc in something non creative so she can have good prospects as dance isn’t exactly a career you can have forever. What do you think of that? Did you go into something else in adulthood? How did all your dancers peers turn out?

Respectfully, do you not think you’re jumping the gun a bit, given that you’re talking about a toddler who can’t even start classes for years, and you’re already asking about the expenses if she competes internationally and how to prevent her going into a career in dance?

Obviously not the OP but I think you’d find my journey interesting.
I started Irish dancing aged 4. I loved it immediately and danced competitively until I was 19 ( it was less common for adults to compete back then - there are more adult comps and classes now). I also danced as part of a show team from early teens until my mid 20’s.
I took the TCRG exams at 25 which made me a qualified teacher and I ran a small dance school as a hobby for 13 years.
However, I always felt that dance was quite precarious as a career so made sure I still studied and got qualifications. I’ve got multiple degrees including a PhD. I think dancing gave me a work ethic and discipline which has 100% helped me when studying and progressing my career.
Most of my dancing friends have professional careers.
I think a hobby of any kind is great for kids and it’s absolutely fine if it just stays a hobby and doesn't become a career.

However, your daughter is 2 and might not even want to dance! Who knows, football might be her thing?! I’ve unexpectedly become a football mum when I always thought I’d be a dance mum!

Yes probably but I tend to overthink, overplan and don’t like making decisions without evidence or research, I also put this level of thought into her nursery, school choices etc.

Oh that is interesting, do you think it’s good to put children into Irish dance? What were the negatives/ positives?

I am happy for my daughter to try out a few things and let her lead but i may suggest some activities at some point such as Irish dancing but something puts me off it as much as i admire it. How is football as an activity? Does it offer similar opportunities as Irish dance as in socialisation, building resilience etc.?

I remember a joke in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun that referred to Michael Flatley "strip-mining a culture". I laughed. I'm not Irish, but I like folk music, so I'm interesting to know what you think of Flatley?

Irish dancing shaped me as a person but I don't think that's unique to Irish dancing. I think it came from being passionate and recognising it was something I was good at. For me, Irish dancing was mainly an individual sport so I think something like football is better at building skills around team work. However, there is a team aspect to ID but it's not something my school did.
But ultimately it comes down to what your child enjoys.

Positives - connection to my family culture and heritage, fitness, work ethic, social, and it's a beautiful art form (imo). It also gave me something interesting to talk about at interviews when i was younger.

Negatives - Cost (but that's not exclusive to ID), injuries - but again that's individual to me.

He has done an awful lot for Irish Dancing - he made it mainstream and created a career option that wasn't there previously.

On a personal level I found him a bit cringy but you can't deny that Riverdance and LOTD are incredible and have done wonders for the reputation of Irish dancing.
He's actually involved in the world of traditional Irish dancing and there is even a competition named after him at the world championships. The person who worked with him on the choreography and recruitment of dancers is one of the most well known figures in the irish dancing world. There is often this perception that the traditional ID world is at odds with Michael Flatley when they're actually heavily intertwined and mutually supportive.

I’m not that poster, or in the Irish dancing world, but am Irish. I think he’s a massive embarrassment. He performed at Trump’s inauguration, and, based on friends who know him and own one of his terrible ‘foot paintings’ — (look them up, he dances on canvases with paint on his feet), a sleazebag with the self-knowledge of an Irish-American Alan Partridge.

Almost all children will do some hobby or extra-curricular activity, and almost all of them will do it for fun for a few years, then try something else or give up entirely. Many kids learn some sort of instrument, not with the aim of them ending up in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra or playing the drums at Glastonbury, but just because it is something enjoyable to do. You don't sign your kid up for ice skating lessons expecting it to be on-the-job training for Olympic stardom in 20 year's time.

Dance is just an activity where they can enjoy themselves with other kids all doing the same thing, and learn some sort of basic physical skill at the same time.

Don't overthink it.