STFU about Jig

Hi. My name is Josh. I’ve been dating an Irish dancer for almost four months now and have enjoyed every single day of it. I wasn’t very knowledgeable about the Irish dancing world until I started dating Sara. Back when I was a kid, I did fall in love with Riverdance. I watched it over and over again because I loved the music, and I especially loved the foot action. Now because of this relationship, I have learned so many new things. I have yet to attend a feis or Oireachtas but I am looking forward to my first feis October 15th and my first Oireachtas in December. I’m very excited and I can’t wait to see my girl up on stage throwing down her dance moves. Man do I love the legs on my Irish dancing girl!

When I visit her on weekends, she knocks me out cold, drags me to her basement, ties my hands and feet up to a chair, forces my eye lids open with duct tape as I watch Irish dancing video after Irish dancing video... I am then forced to watch her practice her reels, soft shoe, hard shoe, hornpipes, so on and so forth. I am only kidding though. Please don’t call the police, it was a joke, I’m just fine

This all lead to how and why I got to see Jig. Honestly, I came into this movie expecting it to be mildly entertaining, but didn’t really know what to expect. I decided to tough it out and watch the entire movie, and once the screen went black and the ending credits popped up, my finger nails were practically gone, because of the sheer suspense that is thrown at the audience. I already have a bad habit of biting my finger nails, but that ending destroyed my ability to stop.

I think the director did a great job in the “thriller” factor. My heart was racing and I literally was caring about the Irish dancers and wanting them to win. I doubted that I’d have any feelings towards the dancers in this documentary, but when I saw the little girl at the end begin to cry because of how happy she was and how proud she was of herself, I broke down and felt a little tingly sensation in my heart that told me to care. In my mind I was shouting frequently. For example: “Oh my god! Just hurry up and give the scores! I’m dying here! The suspense is killing me! Stop it! Just skip to their scores already! Aaaaahhh!” I wish I would have screamed that out in theaters, but Sara would have been extremely embarrassed.

The first aspect that really stood out to me in the movie (other than the comedic accents) was how much parents sacrificed for their kids to be able to dance and enjoy doing what they truly love to do. It’s incredible how supportive the parents were, even if their income couldn’t keep up with the expenses that came with the sport of Irish dancing. Who would have ever known how expensive wigs could be and especially how expensive the solo dresses are. Some parents gave up their careers and even relocated to allow their child to follow their dreams. In this movie, the parents played a huge role and receive a standing ovation from me.

One thing that I found kind of unfair about the Irish dancing world is the fact that the dancers train so hard, practice rigorously and never give up on the big dream of winning Worlds, yet they share the stage with two other dancers. I tell you what, if I practiced my butt off the whole year that hard for a couple minutes of dancing, the judges had better be focusing on me and only me. Yes I know, it would take so much longer if dancers went one by one, but come on, give them the spotlight. They earned it by getting this far, let them have the stage to themselves so everybody else can witness what they have been working so hard on.

Overall, Jig was very satisfying. I actually did enjoy it, and now I better understand the world of Irish dancing. I definitely appreciate more of what Sara goes through. I think it’s an incredible talent and I’m very proud of her and will always be supportive. She is amazing, along with her talent of Irish dancing.