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 rinceoirí to touch their partners’ hands only and avoid the “English fashion” of putting arms around waists.
“In short be natural, unaffected, easy – be Irish, and you’ll be all right.”
Sadly, Ellen Coyne’s diligent and damning exposé 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 “feis fixing” scandal rapidly spiralled into a litany of ugly rumours involving secret signals, sexual favours and prearranged results being slipped under hotel bedroom doors.
Modestly describing herself as the world’s least qualified Irish dancing correspondent, Coyne begins with a colourful history of this cross between “elite athleticism, traditional art and spectacular performance”. 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’Brien dubbed “cold [and] unromantic”. Riverdance made it sexy again, but also spawned a global network of professional schools determined to find the next Michael Flatley.
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Today, Coyne argues, Irish dancing is “far more about winning and losing than culture”. She includes some vivid reportage from high-stakes events where the air is thick with fake tan, cheap pizza and juvenile anxiety.
[ How ‘feis-fixing’ scandal rocked the insular world of Irish dancingOpens in new window ]
Above all, Dirty Dancing focuses on how the author’s scoop grew legs and sent An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha into a near-existential crisis. While the governing body abandoned disciplinary hearings in 2024, Coyne’s investigation of this “collective psychosis” has led to personal threats, pleas from terrified parents and several wild goose chases.
“In my sorry experience,” she laments after debunking one lurid allegation, “paranoia is often the most rational response to the dramatic twists and turns of Irish dancing.”
“You’ll be kind to us, won’t you?” Coyne was asked by an official at last year’s world championships. They need not have worried. Step by step, Dirty Dancing nimbly shows how this badge of national identity got dragged through the mud – but also why a cleaned-up version would be well worth saving.
