AMA- I’m an Irish dancer!

[Onemoretime0123]

I’ve seen other people doing this sort of thread so thought I’d give it a go in case anyone was interested or had any questions about Irish dancing or dancing in general!😁

Are the wigs compulsory? I thought not for some reason.

I shall wait patiently now...

The accompanying music is beautiful, well worth going to a fleadh just to hear the music.Watching the girls glue their socks to their legs before going on stage was a bit of a shock.

Ah the sock glue! We had some which was applied with a rollerball.

Sorry I took so long to reply! Nobody answered at first and then I had to go into work last minute! I’ll work through all the replies now!

Honestly probably not. It’s a subjective sport and some judges don’t look favourably on competitors without the complete look (wig, tan, dress) but having said that there are many dancers who have natural hair or more simplistic dresses but I personally wouldn’t want to go without it incase it impacted how a judge viewed my overall performance

Didn’t realise, I just copied other AMA on here. Sorry!

For soft shoes there’s absolutely nothing extra other than the shoe material itself. It puts a lot of stress on the feet and ankles as we have to dance up on our toes without blocks like pointe shoes have

for heavy shoes there’s a fibreglass tip and heels, some show dancers wear metal tips but that’s banned from competitions

Bondi sands darkest shade, 3 coats 2 days before a competition (feis), another 3 coats the night before- that way it stays dark for the competition even after showering

It’s actually ridiculously expensive- a typical modern solo dress would easily set you back by £1500+. Wigs, shoes, hairpieces, socks, lessons, hotels, flights… it all adds up!

We do! They’re only really useful if you want to go into dance teaching though. There’s more of a focus on competitions with Irish dance

My ex-colleague's son got bronze at the junior worlds in Irish dancing 🕺

I was always fascinated by how anyone decides to get into competitive Irish dancing? It seems like such a niche activity.

Usually your joints get wrecked with all the training leading up to that!

bit of both!

I assumed OP couldn’t answer as she’s not supposed to use her arms…

i think traditionally girls would dance after going to mass and so would have their hair all curled, then as time went on and Irish dance became more competitive the curly hair tradition stuck. People used to sleep with curlers and rollers in and then someone invented the big curly wig which made everything so much easier! I think it’s just a tradition now when is seen as being part of the typical Irish dancer look

the make up and tan helps for big major competitions with harsh lighting and stops the dancer getting washed out by the lighting

i think social media has hyped it all up- everyone sees photos from competitions and feises and I think it’s made it all a bit competitive as everyone wants to have the biggest wig, the sparkliest dress, the most dramatic make up.

there are rules about make up and tan for certain age groups to try and reduce it for younger children as some parents were going OTT with the make up and tan!

Good one @ChazzaGirl

I don’t think there’s a specific reason, I think it’s just the style. Although I’ve heard that black tights often give the illusion that the dancers look completely uniform and the exact same so possibly this!

I’ve always loved it and I remember watching riverdance on YouTube when I was little and being completely fascinated by it! It fitted in with our family lol (Irish) so they put me in it and I started competing! I got to open championship and competed in all the big majors but never won the worlds unfortunately! Not many people do though, it’s a massive achievement for those that do! I’d have loved a career in Irish dancing but decided against it as I wanted to study so just continued to compete instead

Definitely not 😂

You’re right it’s very expensive! Apparently the curls make the dancer look bouncier which helps with jumping high and speeding about the stage so I think that’s the reason for the curls staying. I just answered another question about the history of the wigs and so on but if you have any other follow up questions about it let me know and I’ll try to answer it 😀

Oh that would be outting sorry 😂

a really big one in the UK 😀

irish and British😄

I wish- it would make dancing a lot easier!😂

Any idea why it evolved to not include the arms and rest of the body? I've always wondered why it looks like there is a rod up the back of the dancer?

Hey, I answered another question on this and I put a bit more detail in it so hope that helps! But basically it’s just evolved and become more pageant-like over time although I think social media has increased it all as everyone wants to have the biggest wig, sparkliest dress, best make up, darkest tan- it’s made it all a bit competitive!

How many people make a living from it through river dance type productions? Can you be a professional Irish dancer or do the people on the stage do it on the side or for a couple of months at a time?