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Irish Dance: Fraud by the teachers?
Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/ Getty Images
Shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance made Irish folk dancing internationally famous.
But now the scene gets into a scandal about fraud and competition agreements, in which a former judge is now supposed to do educational work.
The Irish Independent reports that the umbrella organization for Irish dance, known as An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), is struggling with the biggest cheating scandal in its history.
Dance teachers and schools are said to have agreed that certain dancers achieve good results at international tournaments, the so-called Feiseanna.
According to the newspaper, screenshots of text messages are said to have been handed over to the CLRG.
These showed that at least twelve dance teachers asked for or offered to agree on results.
According to the report, the "Irish Independent" has references to six other teachers involved.
allegations from parents
In one case, a teacher and a judge exchanged "sexual favors" in order for a dancer to get a better score.
One of the teachers allegedly involved is said to have been accused earlier of interfering with the awarding of points in competitions.
According to the report, parents and teachers who wished to remain anonymous accuse Irish dance of mafia structures and a kind of omertà, a duty of confidentiality.
A US-based dance teacher said she was afraid to ask a favor from one of the allegedly corrupt jury members, according to the newspaper: "Because if you do that, you owe them a lifetime obligation.
It's like 'The Godfather'."
The umbrella organization should have had the information since July.
The CLRG announced last Tuesday that there were indications of serious violations of the code of conduct.
"Such unethical behavior cannot and will not be tolerated by this organization," it said.
An independent former judge has now been commissioned to investigate the allegations, according to CLRG: "The process will undoubtedly be difficult and tedious, but this grossly unethical behavior must be banned from our competitions, dance schools and associations".
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