Bonnie,

The last feis my daughter went to the dancers only seemed to be up competing for a very short time. Maybe not 10 seconds but certainly a very short period. There's quite a lot of gamesmanship involved as well - some dancers tend to stay on the spot and some move around like crazy, presumably to attract attention.

I think the sad fact is that this thing called 'Irish Dancing' is something of a construct with no real relevance any more to Irish culture or Irish music. It's as much a competition between parents as between kids but once your child gets on the treadmill it's very hard to get off.

Right now my daughter does Irish, Tap, and Ballet as well as music. The downside is I'm permanently knackered and skint. The upside is that she's as fit as a butcher's dog and sings like a linnet.