There are many people unfamiliar with Irish Dancing. For the community of dancers that live life participating in this sport, this means they get to answer questions about it that often seem ridiculous. This past week, the An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (the Commission for Irish Dancing) hosted the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. With the fierce competition coming to a close, I’d thought I’d compile a list of traditions, questions, habits, and hardships that every Irish Dancer knows to be true.
People often describe it as “clogging”.
No. Just no. I don’t clog, I don’t tap, I don’t do ballet, and I certainly don’t “Riverdance”. People often confuse the sport with one of these types of dance, but they couldn’t be more different. Recently, there was a video put on YouTube featuring a group of cloggers, tap dancers, and Irish dancers on one stage to differentiate the three. I’ve even heard some people say that I do that “Irish tap dancing”. If you’re referring to the shoes that make noise, those are called hard shoes. NOT tap shoes.
Everyone thinks they can do it.
When you bring up Irish dancing in conversation, its only natural for the person you’re talking to, to try to impersonate the art- especially if there's a sip or two of whiskey in their system. It usually involves them hopping around in a circle flailing their legs in all directions, and is even accompanied by throwing their arms up like the legendary Michael Flatley. It might give the average Irish dancer a chuckle but doesn’t take into consideration the hours of work it takes to make sure every turn and every placement of the foot is perfect.
You're just embarrassing yourself, my friend.
Just because you dance, you MUST be Irish.
This is far from the truth! Over my fourteen years of Irish dancing, I have made countless friends, some of which don’t have an ounce of Irish in their blood. Anybody can be an Irish dancer- the only thing that needs to be Irish is your mentality to work hard at what you do.
“Competitive Irish Dance is basically just a beauty pageant.”
Yes, Irish Dancers put a lot of money in to their costumes, shoes, make-up, and basically everything else that is needed to prepare for a day of competing, but it's all to improve your stage presence. What most people don’t see, is the countless hours of practice, gallons of sweat, and broken ankles it takes to prepare for this day- Irish dance is a lot more than the sparkles.
Handprints on your freshly-tanned legs are your kryptonite.
Tanning in Irish dance is a pretty controversial concept- Irish folk are known for being some of the palest people in the world, so why do our legs need to be colored orange for competition? The reason is because the contrast of dark legs against bright white socks makes your calves look more muscular and impressive. It basically just makes you look more fierce. However, when that tan is fresh, it can be nearly impossible to avoid leaving a bright handprint. Just pray the judges don’t notice!
Irish Dancing gives you the best kind of headache.
With all the beautifying that comes along with a competition or a show, your scalp becomes your wig’s stomping ground. With the hundreds of bobby-pins a dancer goes through, it's no wonder you get headaches. These headaches, though, are the sign of a hard day’s work, usually spent with your best friends, doing your favorite thing.
You dream of one day owning a Gavin but drool over others’ in the mean time.
Gavin Doherty is one of the most renowned Irish dance dress designers and teachers in the world. He is always the one to influence new trends, colors, and patterns across the Irish dance community and his dresses are worn by the most talented dancers. If you find yourself performing in one of his costumes, you know you’ve made it. If only I could scratch up a couple thousand bucks for one of these babies….
You keep up with all the best dancers and can recall what place they got at any major competition.
Like any athlete who has their role model, Irish dancers do too. Whether that idol is another girl from your studio, or one of the many people who have been crowned World Champion on more than one occasion, you put them on a pedestal and know everything about them- what place they got at the most recent major comp, who made their dress, what kind of wig they wear- everything. You feel the same happy they do when they win a competition, and will probably lose it if they hang up their hard shoes.
You can recite any scene from the movie "Jig".
You went to NYC when it came out, you bought it on DVD the day it was released, and you almost passed out when it got released on Netflix. Jig was the movie that got you through a lot of hard days at the studio, knowing that if Brogan McCay could dance on a broken foot- you could too. You’ve seen this movie so many times that when you try to explain it to your non-Irish-dancing friends, you accidentally start reciting it from beginning to end. Whoops.
Your studio Is your second home.
As I’m sure many other dancers can say, my studio welcomed me with open arms and didn’t take long before it became my second home. It’s where I finished most nights’ homework in the waiting room, scarfed down my dinners in the parking lot, broke my foot and snapped my ankle, and met the best friends of my entire life. When it began time for me to start to hang up my shoes, I found myself returning to this beloved place if I was having a bad day, to help teach the newest beginners, or just to get a big hug and pep talk from my teacher. No matter what mood I showed up to dance in, I (almost) always left with a smile on my face.
Irish dance will always be a major part of my life. Just because I’m not at the studio three times a week anymore doesn’t mean that I don’t miss it, and certainly doesn’t mean I don’t wish I still had an excuse to stab my head with more bobby pins and put on my wig. It’s the sport that taught me some of life’s most valuable lessons; what it means to be a part of a team, what it takes to work hard for something, and what the proper way to drink your Irish tea is (black. No cream. No sugar. Just black). I don’t regret a single day of my life as an Irish dancer and it will always have a place in my heart.
