It's been a long time since I saw any competition Irish dancing but I recall being disconcerted that the dancing's end seemed to have no connection with the tune structure; I never bothered to explore "why?" But, with my daughters' mother having some Irish ancestry I was a little concerned that, one day, I'd have to make some effort to accommodate Irish dance competitions in my schedule.
Reading the thread, I feel blessed that daughter #1 got stuck into ballet (and its little foibles are bad enough) and daughter #2 "wanted" (at her own initiative) to explore Scottish Highland dancing with a mate. She's red hot at it, which means I have to cope with its foibles; thankfully, again they're not as bad (so far) as the ones described here. And I suspect it has helped her with her recorder playing; that's pretty red hot too.