What Once Was Lost....

Looking for the silver coin

No one, no one at all, ever talked about what was involved when a girl or boy starts Irish dance lessons.  Those dancers look amazing as they skim along a wooden dance floor, as they kick high to the sky, and as they leap without effort. Some costumes/dresses are impossibly ugly, the colors are day glow colors.  

But no one tells about the money all that costs.  Dresses straight from Irish designers can cost up to $3000. Children have a habit of outgrowing these dresses.

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$1000 worth of Swarovski crystals
on an already expensive dress

Oh, the hard shoes. How can any pair of shoes cost so very much? Apparently, those hard shoes can cost a lot.  

In 2017, new shoes cost about $350. Used ones are slightly less. But what happens when one shoe is lost?  Disaster.

After a huge Irish Feis (fesh) dance competition held in a hotel near Disneyland, my daughter discovered that Clara, my gr-daughter had only one shoe.  They searched all over the hotel with staff help, to no success.

This is how a competition looks

As irony would have it, a few days later John and I attended a math conference in the next hotel over. Time was on my hands, so I went to the hotel and asked about the lost shoe.

Obviously, Lost and Found was the place to go. No luck. But then the hotel maid recalled one shoe and turned it in the next day after the Feis. 

That correct lost and found box contained the shoe. Huzzahs all around!

The lone lost shoe

What was lost was found. Was the search worth it? One shoe, was it important enough to find?  

No one warns us about the cost. But everything costs money, what matters is where it is spent. A new sofa and love seat or a life time of dance memories and skills? Just where do you invest your time, money, self?


The dresses are crazy out-of-line, no matter what. 

The Dancer Is a Child

Satellite view of Ireland

From the first slip jig of the day to the last reel at the end, one fact was abundantly clear:  every competitor in this Irish Dance Feis (Fesh) was still a kid. 

Oh, each one gave their best to stand tall and be mature. 

Their toe points were perfect.  The arms were straight.  Knees straight on the kicks.  1 2 3 4 5 6 7, Hop 2 3, Hop 2 3, Back you go 4 5 6 7, Hop 2 3 and Hop 2 3. 

Wigs are now required as dancers move up the ranks—curly crazy wigs that bounce to accentuate the dance.  The dance schools each have their own school color and design.  It can be blue with red pleats, the Celtic designs in bold embroidery, white with orange pleats, or any of many variations.  The shoes are either soft shoe or hard shoe.  The white socks are held in place up to the calf with sock glue.

This is a long way from the surge of Irish dance of Riverdance fame.  

For an article that compares the past to the present click here.  You will see the before and after photos of Irish dancing!

Many words could be written about how something simple and pure morphs into a huge business in the world of dance with rules and regulations, expense (one “worn only twice” solo dress was for sale: $1,200) and dedication.  They won’t be written here.

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After the dancers finish and the dance costumes carefully put away, the dancers are children.  The shoes are packed, and flip flops replace them.  Tee shirts and shorts don’t glitter, and the wigs are off with a pony tail in their place.   

They stand before the wall with the results numbers.  There is both joy and disappointment.  One little girl (in the beginners 1, under 8 yrs. competitions) searched for the scores for her dances.  There she was:  a 3^rd place, another 3^rd place, oh and a 2^nd place.  Oh, Mommy, there I am!  I got a 1^st place!! 

That little face lifted to her mother, those sparkling eyes, and a huge smile say that the dancers are still kids-- kids who want a hug and then go to get some ice cream, and maybe a movie.