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Date Posted: Sat, May 09 2026, 21:30:58"
Author: No name
Subject: Ok so let's discuss....

No names, no initials, no name calling. What is to be done about the current situation that competitive Irish dance finds itself in?

We have CLRG apparently having full knowledge of cheating taking place, they know names and places but will do nothing about it. The cheaters are still doing their thing, their dancers are still winning globes, and nothing is done.

I feel that our isolation has somewhat kept us away from the worst of it. The fact that most Australian dancers never compete overseas has left us, for the most part unaffected. Yes, there has been "funny business" in the past, I have been around over 25 years, so have knowledge back that far. When we started with ID, I think that dancing in Australia was judged pretty fairly. As the years went on, there were odd occasions where results seemed to tip in a hosting schools favour, causing a few grumbles, but for the most part we were all good.

Then came the overseas workshop teachers, and more dancers going to Nans and Worlds etc. This is when it all got way more competitive and the, shall we say, practices and workings of how things were done overseas began to infiltrate into the previously innocent goings on in Australian Irish dance circles.

The thoughts of "If you can't beat them, join them" crept into many corners of Irish dance throughout the world, so I guess it was only a matter of time before it made its way to our shores as well. Don't get me wrong, I still think we are worlds away from the current situation of secret texts and WhatsApp messages, and envelopes of money under hotel doors. But only just.

Several overseas workshop teachers have been publicly named as among those asking for favours. Well placed in the organisation that is CLRG, and even after being named and messages published for all to see, they are still there, the most famous of teachers/Adjudicators. So, when parents come to this and other message boards to vent their frustration with the ridiculous situation we find ourselves in, can they be blamed for wanting to out the (alleged) cheats?

We as parents, pay thousands of dollars every year for this sport we and our children love, surely the least we can expect is that the ones we hold in such high regard, our teachers and adjudicators, give us the respect of not treating us if we don't see what is going on. I have seen posts from parents on other Voy boards, just asking for the dancers to be judged fairly, only to be met with name calling and belittlement from someone who obviously didn't like being called out.

What is the point of not only spending all this money, but even more so, of the work put in by our dancers. We know that they put so much into it, and miss out on so many other things, to attend classes, workshops, fitness, feisanna etc etc, only to not be judged on their dancing, rather someone else is judged on who has done them a favour, who their teacher is and what they can do in return at the next feis. It's not the dancers fault of course, most would never know if a favour was done. It's those higher up who know what goes on, and do nothing about it. Why? Because they know that if they say something, they might as well close their school, no dancer of theirs would ever place again.

It's a vicious circle, we all see it, parents and teachers and those higher up who are not involved, but the ones that are doing it are so powerful in the hold they have over the whole organisation, we can all but sit and watch it happen and no one can do a thing about it. So instead of coming together to fight the wrongs that are affecting our sport and running it into the ground, we instead go after those just voicing their frustration at being powerless, watching it happen, watching the favours be done, watching the signs on costumes, watching dancers be taken out of the running by a random low mark. So instead of a witch hunt of parents crying out for fairness, how about joining together and fighting the corruption that will one day do you all out of business because we are not stupid and are frankly sick of handing over our hard earned dollars and goodness only knows how much time from our own, our dancers, and families lives.

And please don’t hit me with the standard “If you don’t like it, leave”, that’s not how it works, that’s not how things change for the better, no progress has ever been made in all human history, by standing by and saying “oh well, I can’t do anything so I will just leave and let it continue”. The question we all should be asking is “Why?” Why is it being allowed to go on? Why won’t those who run the organisation do something? Are their pockets so lined with gold, they can only continue because of greed and blow the little people, just laugh at them behind their backs and continue to take their money, because they know we love our kids and want them to do their best and give them the best life we can afford. So as long as we continue to pay them for their cheating, they will happily take it and continue filling their bank accounts and taking us for suckers.

I don’t know what the answer is because obviously if something was going to be done about it, it would have been done by now. So, will the powers that be address it? We know they read the message boards and post about it on Facebook. Keeping quiet is what results in people lashing out and leaving the sport all together.

Don’t even get me started on the joining of schools across the world, building super schools, taking on more adjudicators to skirt the Worlds judging rules. Why does CLRG allow this to happen? There will soon only be 2 or 3 super schools in the world, having squashed out all of the little guys. Here’s a laugh, we will have the Woolies, Coles and Bunnings schools and maybe a couple of little corner store schools just for those who don’t want to compete. Everyone on the podium at Worlds will be from only 3 schools as there will be no one else to compete with, they will just circulate 1st place between the three schools and the school owners will be laughing all the way to the bank. RIP ID.

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