Irish dance All Ireland Dancing Championships coming soon to Dublin - PHOTOS

A look back at the 2011 North American competition results

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PHOTOS - All Irelands Irish Dance competition 2011 in Killarney - slideshow

The first major international Irish dancing competition of 2012 is the All-Ireland Dancing Championships (Oireachtas Rince na h’Eireann), organized by An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha.

Starting later this week, champion-level Irish dancers from around the world will travel with finely-crafted choreography and high hopes to Dublin, Ireland.  While the majority of the competitors are from Ireland and the United Kingdom, North American champions often make the journey to this prestigious event.  Unlike the World Irish Dancing Championships, there is no qualifying event in North America that determines who may compete at All-Irelands; rather, teachers choose students based on their individual performance records as champion Irish dancers.

Beginning Saturday, February 11th with the youngest girls and boys, there will be eight days of solo competition, four of which will also have teams vying for All-Ireland championship titles.  For the solos, each age group dances on just one day; boys and girls compete separately.  Dancers, in groups of two or three, depending on their age, dance either a hornpipe or treble jig (heavy shoe) and then a reel or slip jig (light shoe).  A panel of five certified adjudicators scores each dancer for each round and scores are combined and tabulated to determine the top fifty percent in each age group.  Those entrants are then invited to dance a third, or recall, round which is a contemporary set, danced alone.  Once scored, totals are refigured and tabulators determine each recalled dancer’s placement in the group.  In team events, groups based on an age range perform two ceili dances for a panel of adjudicators and placements are made based on combine scores and tabulation.  At the end of each day, results are announced at an award ceremony especially for that day’s competitions, trophies are presented and celebrations ensue.

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There are a total of 25 solo and 9 team competitions.  While regional and national competitions permit very young dancers to enter the ‘under 8’ or ‘under 9’ category, the youngest age group for the All-Irelands is ‘9 turning 10’.  At the 2011 All-Irelands, two North American children placed in the Top Five in this age group:  Farran Dougherty took third place and Patrick Grant placed fifth.  At the other end of the spectrum are the Senior Ladies and Senior Men, all dancers over the age of 21.  In 2011, the top three Senior Ladies were North Americans: Emily Penner, Maggie Darlington and Emily Babyn.  There were no North Americans in the Top Five Senior Men category.

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