A Chara, - I congratulate Fiona Gartland on her article "Putting the worst foot forward" (Weekend Review, March 25th). I have a nine-year-old daughter who is passionate about Irish dancing, but now competes at a level in feiseanna in which she is in a tiny minority by not wearing a wig (or make-up, false tan etc). She has vowed never to wear a wig, but the pressure to conform is enormous.
I accept that teachers want their dancers to look well groomed and suitably dressed, but I cannot believe that the wearing of synthetic wigs is the only way to achieve this end. Would the sight of some dancers in long, short, medium, straight or curly hair really be a disaster?
There is an inherent contradiction in dancers going to great expense to acquire an eye-catching costume to single themselves out from the other competitors, while at the same time wearing wigs to make themselves appear likes clones of all others on the dance floor. Very few serious competitors would refuse to wear a wig, because they genuinely feel that they may be penalised for not "looking the part". I have yet, however, to meet a non-dancer who would regard synthetic curls as central to the beauty and artistry of Irish dance. - Is mise le meas,
RÓISÍN KAVANAGH, Celbridge, Co Kildare.