Dirty Dancing: The Inside Story of the Irish Dancing Cheating Scandal <\/p>\n
Author: Ellen Coyne<\/p>\n
ISBN-13: 978-1804582893 <\/p>\n
Publisher: Gill Books <\/p>\n
Guideline Price: \u20ac19.99<\/p>\n
Between the jigs and the reels, Irish dancing has traditionally enjoyed tapping its feet on the moral high ground. A 1902 guide by a Gaelic League member urged rinceoir\u00ed to touch their partners\u2019 hands only and avoid the \u201cEnglish fashion\u201d of putting arms around waists. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn short be natural, unaffected, easy \u2013 be Irish, and you\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadly, Ellen Coyne\u2019s diligent and damning expos\u00e9 suggests Irish dancing has well and truly lost its innocence. In 2022, the then Irish Independent journalist (now a political correspondent for this newspaper) was emailed by a whistleblower who claimed a dozen teachers were using underhand methods at competitions to secure high scores for their students. The \u201cfeis fixing\u201d scandal rapidly spiralled into a litany of ugly rumours involving secret signals, sexual favours and prearranged results being slipped under hotel bedroom doors.<\/p>\n
Modestly describing herself as the world\u2019s least qualified Irish dancing correspondent, Coyne begins with a colourful history of this cross between \u201celite athleticism, traditional art and spectacular performance\u201d. Originating around the 17th century when people took cottage doors off hinges to create stages, Irish dancing was later codified into a rigid display that Flann O\u2019Brien dubbed \u201ccold [and] unromantic\u201d. Riverdance made it sexy again, but also spawned a global network of professional schools determined to find the next Michael Flatley.<\/p>\n
Today, Coyne argues, Irish dancing is \u201cfar more about winning and losing than culture\u201d. She includes some vivid reportage from high-stakes events where the air is thick with fake tan, cheap pizza and juvenile anxiety. <\/p>\n