Perfecting Your Posture for Irish Dancing: 3 Essential Tips

Having a strong and confident posture while dancing is key to impressing judges at Feises. In competitive Irish dancing, posture is not just a fundamental element; it's a way to show the judges your confident composure, self-belief, and poise. 

As the technical and athletic demands of Irish dancing have increased, maintaining perfect posture has become more challenging. But don't worry, it's definitely something you can improve! 

Here are three tips to help you enhance your posture before your next major championship.

1. Strengthen More Than Just Your Legs

Irish dancers often focus on lower body strength, which is crucial. However, your upper body needs attention too! To maintain strong posture, you must strengthen the muscles that support your upper body. At the MWM Club, we offer classes that target these muscles and are regularly updated (in July 2024 we are going to have a month of Strength classes focused on posture and keeping your arms in). In the meantime, try incorporating these movements into your routine: Wall Slides, Skydivers, and Tricep Presses. 

2. Incorporate Mobility Work

Strength isn't enough on its own; mobility is equally important. If your shoulders lack the mobility to stay pulled/rotated back, maintaining good posture while dancing will be difficult. Fortunately, mobility exercises can be done daily without requiring much space at home. Spend ten minutes each day on upper body mobility with these exercises: Shoulder Rotations, Seated Chest Stretch, and Kneeling Thoracic Twist. 

3. Engage Your Brain

You might have worked on your strength and mobility, but here's a crucial step many dancers miss: engaging your brain. Improvement won't happen unless you're mindful of your posture whilst you are dancing at class, competing at a feis or practising at home. Your arms won't magically hold themselves in place just because you've trained them; they need your mental focus too.

By combining your physical training with your mindset and regular practise, you'll see significant improvements in your posture. This, in turn, will enhance your dancing and make you appear more confident and self-assured on stage.

If you need to work on your posture, we have over 80 posture classes to help you improve your posture before your next feis. Happy working!!