The Irish Dancing Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) was born in March, 1964 when Mae Butler, Fedelmia Davis, Kevin McKenna, Peter Smith, Cyril McNiff and Anna O’Sullivan met at the Irish Institute in New York City. They came together with the goal of assuring teacher and adjudicator competency, as well as standardizing the ever growing number of feisanna throughout North America.

The surviving founders of the IDTANA: Anna O'Sullivan, Peter Smith, and Fidelmia Davis are still active members and were recently voted lifetime positions on the IDTANA Executive Board.

Since that small humble beginning, and through the efforts of many dedicated Irish Dance Teachers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, the IDTANA has grown now to nearly 650 members - with over 100 members in Canada, 550 members in the United States, and one member in Mexico. The IDTANA consists of seven regional branches: Mid Atlantic, Mid America, Western US, Eastern Canada, Western Canada, New England and Southern US.

The IDTANA operates in tandem with An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha in Dublin, Ireland. All members of the IDTANA must be registered and certified as a TMRF, TCRG or ADCRG by An Coimisiun. Additionally, North America currently has 23 voting members of An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha, which includes the 7 Regional Directors along with two elected members of each Region, the IDTANA Executive Board, and the elected North American Vice Presidents of An Coimisiun.

The emphasis of the IDTANA is to promote Irish Dance throughout North America. Through continued cooperation with the North American Feis Commission, each region regulates Feiseanna in their area with a standardized syllabus of competitions and rules.

Annually, the IDTANA sponsors the North American Irish Dance Championships during the first week of July. The "Nationals", as they have become known as, is recognized as North America's secondary qualifying event for the annual World Championships held each year around Easter and sponsored by An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha. The primary qualifying event for dancers to qualify for the World Championships is their Regional Oireachtasi held in November and December each year.

2011 IDTANA SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION AND APPLICATION

The Irish Dance Teacher's Association of North American is proud of the accomplishments of all dancers not only competitively and artistically, but also academically. To recognize the accomplishments of dancers who excel in the classroom and in the dance studio, the IDTANA is proud to offer academic scholarships:

(a) for high school seniors graduating in Spring, 2011 and planning to attend a four-year undergraduate college or university, and

(b) for students enrolled in a four-year undergraduate college program who will still be enrolled as an undergraduate in a four-year undergraduate college or university during the 11-12 school year.

Winners will be announced in mid-June with scholarships to be presented at the 2011 North American Championships in Nashville, TN, in July 2011.

The deadline to submit initial applications (PDF) or (WORD) is December 22, 2010.