Let’s talk about judging and subjectivity. Now I have done my fair share of whining and complaining about feis results and judges’ opinions. However, if you stop to think about it, Irish dance is a performance art. Sure, there are certain basic techniques and performance qualities that every judge would like to see, but each dancer is different beyond the basics. And that is a GOOD thing. It allows the sport to evolve and grow and for dancers to surprise each other with their individual strengths and talents. If each competitive performance was a carbon copy of the one before, the dancers would look like robots and we would quickly become bored watching. So, the fact that this is a performance art leads to the very reasonable idea that each judge will have an individual preference of the kind of dancer they enjoy watching. This also allows many different dancers to win even if they are not technically perfect and will never be good at certain movements. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be for both the dancers and the parents. I actually believe that it can be pretty frustrating to the judges as well. But let’s decide on a glass half full approach and embrace the subjectivity. Because chances are that one day, you (or your dancer) will be their favorite.