Fontaines D.C.'s new music video for their single "Here's The Thing" - which premiered on August 6 - perhaps unexpectedly opens with scenes of an Irish dance competition.
At the competition, the Irish dancers who are decked out in glitzy costumes and wigs taunt and tease the music video's protagonist Jennifer, a fellow competitor who is donning a more traditional Irish dance costume and simpler hairstyle.
As a former Irish dancer myself, I am happy to report that during my many years of competition, I bore witness to no such behavior. While Irish dance is hardly immune to bullying, the blatancy of it depicted amongst competitors in the music video feels over the top.
As I continued to watch the music video, I was concerned that Irish dance was - as it so often is - being used as some sort of a flat punchline.
However, after reading the band's comments on the video, I'm led to believe that the decision to include Irish dancers wasn't necessarily meant as a criticism of Irish dance, instead, Irish dance was used as a frame for feminity in the teenage years.
The band's bassist Conor Deegan told Dazed that Irish dance is "a dedication to something that’s very, very strange."
(No arguments here.)
He continued: “If you put Irish dancers in front of some people who have never been exposed to it, they would say ‘what the hell is this?’"
(Again, no arguments here.)
"It’s nice to be able to, in some way, give a platform to that corner of Irish, female youth.”
It's a refreshingly nuanced take on Irish dance by someone who - as far as I understand it - is not embedded in the world of Irish dance.
Directed by Luna Carmoon, the music video has a distinct horror / fantasy element, with references to classics like "Carrie," "The Craft," and "Phenomena."
Indeed, the bully Irish dancers soon get their comeuppance when protagonist Jennifer's new friends - "otherworldly beings," according to Dazed - work some sort of magic to make them fall while on stage, leaving Jennifer as the last one standing, er, dancing.
As the music video progresses, the Irish dance falls by the wayside. Near the end, a brand new Jennifer - decked out in a sort of gothic black ensemble - takes the stage as the bully Irish dancers - now with black eyes and neck casts - look on from the audience.
All in all, while the bullying element feels hyperbolic, I'm pleasantly surprised by the use of Irish dance in the new music video. (Doesn't hurt that the song is a banger, too.) Well done to the creators.
(And a hat tip to ID Globe who identified the Irish dancers in the music video as Grace Collender, Frankie Box, Francesca Salop, Teagan Lyons, Molly Challis, Abbie Davies, Erin MacMillan, Molly Cater, and Freya McCaughley.)
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