No wig, no jig: a reel issue for Irish dancers
Not only is this an equal opportunities issue, it addresses a much larger issue which is the exploitation of young girls and the demise of our cultural heritage.
Irish dancers as young as four years of age are being asked to wear make-up, false tan and sock glue lest their socks should crease while dancing.
Furthermore, it is reported that dancers in the US are wearing back braces in order to enhance their posture and are pinning the sleeves of their dresses to the side of their skirts to keep their arms straight.
Such messages of inadequacy are consistently being sent to our young girls. This surely begs the question... where is all this leading to?
In addition, troupes of dancers are often made to look like a flock of turkeys.
A further issue is cost, with a dress averaging around stg£800 to £1,000 (€1,147 to €1,433) wigs upwards of £100 (€143), as well as hard and soft shoes which together total around £150 (€215).
Depending on which brand of cosmetics or false tan, the cost will vary. Nowadays costumes are embellished with geometric patterns which are not representative of the traditional ‘princess cut’ Irish peasant dresses worn 200 years ago.
These peasants were taught dancing during the 18th century by what were known as dance masters, wandering teachers who travelled from village to village in a district.
As a result of the international success of Riverdance and, more recently, Lord of the Dance, the world is filled with boys and girls keen to dance like Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.
Unfortunately, however, Irish dance has become elitist.
The Irish Dancing Commission, commenting on the case of my two daughters being banned from the Ulster championship, said they neither condone nor condemn the use of wigs in Irish dancing and state that the final decision rests with the individual dancing school.
This neutral response from the regulating body in Dublin is hardly acceptable in light of the fact that only a few months ago the commission distributed a circular soliciting the views of dancing teachers on the wearing of wigs.
It is possible that no general conclusions have yet been drawn, but while my two children remain disqualified from dancing, I eagerly await the outcome.
Marie Mallon,
Fallalea House,
Assumpta Park,
Dungannon,
Co Tyrone.
