Minnesota Irish Fair, the dancers

[rtbaum]

Conditions were not exactly ideal; overcast skies, in a party tent, with changing colored lights for illumination, macro lens was only lens fast enough at iso 3200







Oh yeah.....................Did I mention the dancers jumping like jackrabbits??!!!!

[Donald]

The one thing I don't get about competitive Irish Dancing (and is has, I think, just built up around the competitive circuit), is all the stupid hair thing, as seen in the last image. Compare it to the girl in the second image and she looks much more natural.

[Geoff F]

Yes, I agree with Donald about the traditional look to the second photo.

[CMP]

As a competitive Irish dancer for the past ten years, I feel I should explain about the hair thing. It's only to add bounce and look pretty, there's not a special reason for it. I prefer the more traditional route but most of what goes on now is just to make the dancers stand out to certain judges. Some judges judge purely on a dancer's ability/steps, others judge more on their dress etc.

Sorry to high-jack...The shots are rather good!

[rtbaum]

Thanks for the comments, did not know I was going to start an artistic hair debate; I just thought it would be nice to show norwegians doing celtic dance

[ggt]

I agree, the hair on the Irish Wolfhound looks much better --natural and unadorned.