My former teacher, who is also a judge (for those of you in the "biz", I mean she is a TCRG and an ADCRG), once told me that the ringlet curls look harks back to old Ireland, when girls would curl their hair in preparation for attending Sunday Mass, after which the dance competitions would take place. Older judges, who remembered those days, were apparently favorably disposed to girls/young women who had that "look", and so gave them higher scores.

Whether or not any of this is true or not is probably beside the point. The point is that teachers believe that judges will give higher scores to those with "the look", and so will require this of their students.

Don