It took two hours, but I am finally ready. My wig and makeup are on, my big sparkly dress is in its bag and I get in the car. However, as soon as I get out of the car I get at least 10 raised eyebrows and 3 pictures taken of me when they think I’m not paying attention. I understand Irish dance isn’t the most normal or popular sport (understatement of the year, right?), but it also isn’t that strange; being an Irish dancer myself, I would know.
If I had to guess, you are comparing Irish dance to a bunch of other sports trying to find any connection. Yes, Irish dancers don’t put cleats on before we dance, and soccer players don’t put on a wig. Irish dancers wear makeup, and swimmers wear goggles. Irish dancers drill, leaps and kicks, while basketball players practice free throws.
In my life, I have played soccer, volleyball, danced tap and jazz and Irish danced. I have done my fair share of sports, and I have come to a few conclusions: One, I’m not very coordinated, and two, Irish dance isn’t so different from everything else.
Just like in soccer, I go to practice multiple times a week. I log around 10 hours a week at the dance studio. During a regular practice, I dance one of my four dances, and then drill whatever needs to be reworked (leaps, bikes, back quivers). Then, I repeat this four more times. In between running the dances, I do stations (wall sits, plank, calf raises, etc.). Eventually, we need new steps for our dances. On those nights, I spend the majority of the time learning the new movements, kind of like learning a new play in other sports.
In soccer, you play 90-minute games almost every weekend. In dance, we have competitions instead of games. Since we have a competition once a month, instead of them being an hour and a half, they are seven. During these competitions, each dancer competes around four solo dances. A judge chooses your place based on the difficulty of the steps, your crossing, turn out, point, jumps and stage presence. They then place the top 4 dancers out of around 20.
In both Irish dance and soccer, you can’t exactly be slow on your feet. In soccer, you have to run; in dance, you jump. They have their undeniable similarities conceptually.
My sport isn’t that different than yours, so if you want to ask me about it, go for it. There is a 90% chance I will ask you about whatever sport you play (mostly because I’m not very good at sports and I’m curious). However, I do not want to drop everything and dance a jig for you, just like you don’t want to show me your fantastic form when you score a goal.