The Hardest Thing to Teach

New and developing dancers are advised to watch elite dancers to witness what a great performance looks like. They are told to observe their technique and note differences between the champions’ movements and their own. How do they dance like that?

For the developing dancer, much time is devoted to mastering technique: learning to rotate from the hip, keep straight lines, treble with rhythm and clarity, and so on. Execution at this point relies heavily on practice time, anatomical variation, and individual talent.

Some dancers just get it faster. Others take longer for their body to accommodate Irish dance vocabulary and for their brain to grasp the choreography.

While it may seem as though a slower progressing dancer may always be behind peers, the evidence (and plenty of anecdotes) demonstrate that some just blossom later. There comes a moment where it just clicks.

Perhaps it is that their bodies begin building more muscle and have the capacity for more work, or years of learning timing finally results in precision. Whatever is the reason, a dancer can go from never getting a recall at a local feis to being a world qualifier.

The moment is unpredictable but every TC has a story of the dancer who suddenly took off.

When Two Dancers Are Matched For Technique

Even championship-level dancers are urged to watch the top-scoring dancers. This can be useful for the dancer who is frustrated by the enormity of effort they invest in their dancing but fail to push into a qualifying position.

Their kicks are high. Their timing is flawless. Their stamina is strong. They can dance! So why don’t the adjudicators notice them?

Because at a certain level, everyone can dance. Technique becomes the entry ticket; not the distinction.

This stumps many dancers who reach open championships and have competed at several majors. They are good enough to dance on a big stage, but something is holding them back.

What often separates one champion from another is rarely turnout or extension; it’s their quality of movement: style, musicality, expression, presence.

These are the characteristics that make a dancer not just technically correct, but compelling. Unfortunately, this is the hardest part to teach.

You can assign workouts to improve lift or cross, but what is the exercise for charisma? How do you condition artistry? How do you make a dancer exciting to watch?

One of the hallmarks of a world champion is how they balance power with effortlessness. They are not just sharp. They are not just graceful. They have a dynamism that blends agility with poise. Their lift is light, not heavy with effort. Their trebles aren’t just quick, they have texture and intention. There is a conversation happening between them and the music. They aren’t simply dancing; they are interpreting, responding, shaping.

Certainly there is a genetic component. Some dancers are born physically and musically gifted. Others grow into it unexpectedly, the same way technique clicks later for many. They have a breakthrough where they find themselves moving differently. Like fire dancing, they are powerful and exciting.

Quality of Movement

We label dancers as “soft shoe dancers” or “strong in hard shoe,” or more subtly as reel dancers, rhythm-driven and explosive, or slip jig dancers, balletic and lyrical. These aren’t technical categories, they’re qualities.

Studying other dancers can show how quality is created: their use of space, how they shape movement instead of simply executing it, how they use rhythm like punctuation, how they control the ankles instead of throwing the knee, how their upper body is energized while remaining silent.

These things are not necessarily “moves” but choices, some unconscious and others rehearsed. These are the layers of performance that technique alone does not produce. Technique builds the body; quality reveals the dancer.

The way your body moves is unique, but it is also influenced by how forcefully your muscles contract and how much length they have. Although you cannot control your bone structure or limb proportions, you can influence the expression of your movement with how strong, elastic, and powerful your muscles are.

Quality begins with awareness: noticing how the best dancers handle transitions, land jumps, initiate movement, and use balance (much more prevalent in modern Irish dancing). To improve their aesthetic, a dancer must train their eye for artistry and their ear for phrasing as much as they train their body for technique.

Training for Style

Film yourself and compare your rhythm to a podium champion’s. Slow the videos down to watch where they relax, tighten, squeeze, lift, and generally how they move.

When you practice, imagine yourself as the dancer you most admire. Try to move just one piece of a step in the way you think it feels for them to dance it.

If you are a slip jig dancer, lean into the bouncing, dainty quality. If you know you are a powerful dancer, put on your favorite motivating reel and let the music take you. If you are a hard shoe dancer, instead of just hammering out the rhythm, have fun with it. Listen to what you are creating instead of overthinking each section, even if you make more mistakes. Play with your dancing!

Consider what is behind the quality you appreciate. Once you understand what it is you want to be able to do, the training plan can be designed. (Note: Sometimes it’s hard to pin down, so ask another dancer or TC what they see when they watch the same dancer.)

Through dancing, cross-training, and heightened body awareness, you can change how your dancing feels and therefore how it looks.

There may not be one universal workout that unlocks artistry, but there is a path. It begins with understanding what kind of dancer you are naturally inclined to be, and what kind of dancer you want to become.

Potential Action Plan

1. Use imagery instead of commands.

“Move like a fairy dancing through the woods” for a softer slip jig.

“Break the stage” for more audible, clear hard shoe dances.

2. Train strength and elasticity together.

Set aside strength and power days where you focus on plyometrics that take you through your entire range of motion. Work on reducing ground contact time and generating force.

Do weighted jumps and drills that mimic or exaggerate Irish dancing movements.

Layer your practice of jumps: 3 sets: 1st set focuses on jump height, 2nd set focuses on jump height and soft landing, 3rd set focuses on jump height, soft landing, and turnout.

3. Visualization

Imagine what it feels like to dance the way you want to. Feel your body twitch as you visualize yourself moving and being sharp.

4. Train your rhythm.

Download a rhythm app that teaches timing (ie. tapping to a metronome) or record yourself clapping to music and play it back to see how naturally the music comes to you.

Use music you enjoy to practice with. You want to feel motivated by the tune. Have you ever been on stage and your favorite theme is being played and you feel like you dance better because of it?

Do phrasing drills: Try to identify where the music lifts, settles, accelerates, accents. Once you understand the music, the dancing will make more sense and you will begin to know how to control the body to stay on time.

5. Get a coach.

A good coach will know what to add to your training that will transform your dancing. They will be honest about what should change and what you can change to make a difference.

Because once technique is mastered, greatness is no longer about what you do, it’s about how you move through it.