Go Feis - The Irish Dance Blog
by Kathleen O’Reilly-WildRSS 
Recent Posts
- Songs for the 1st – 2nd September Irish Dancing Competitions - VIDEOS
- Songs for the 25th – 26th August Irish Dancing Competitions – VIDEOS
- Songs for the 18th – 19th August Irish Dancing Competitions – VIDEOS
- Songs for the 11th – 12th August Irish Dancing Competitions – VIDEOS
- Championship training for Irish dancers - tips from teachers on Oireachtas Part 1
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by CAITLIN BUCK,
Exhausted or concerned about being buried in homework once the school year kicks in? Sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to practice--especially in HS or college when homework is merrily delivered in a dump truck. Below are a few ways that have given me a little inspirational push in the practicing department.
Surround yourself with words of motivation. Quotes, lyrics from songs, pictures of what you aspire your dancing to look like...motivation is about feeling What has helped you with balancing practice and school? Let us know in the comments below!
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by ERIN CONCANNON,
Being a girl these days, we all feel pressure to look a certain way. Whether it is the way we dress or act, we are always under the spotlight. That rule especially goes for Irish dancers. We must look 100 percent glamorous all the time at competitions…even when we are beyond nervous.
The only true people who know how you feel about constantly being judged are your dance friends. Here are a few tips on learning to cope with the “friendly” competition.
1) 2) 3) 4) At the end of the day, remember that competitions come and go. But friendships last a lifetime…especially in the dancing world!
Weddings are always happy occasions but when you invite your Irish dancing friends, all your guests enjoy a special treat! Lisa Anderson started Irish dancing with the Bennett School of Irish Dance in Denver, Colorado at 15 years old and fell in love instantly. She quickly rose through the competitive ranks to Preliminary Champion, but an injury forced her to stop.
by BRIAN PARRY, Feis America Magazine contributor
Easy ways to get those steps down…besides doing what your teacher tells you.
When I was 11, and just getting into the Novice/Prizewinner level, I was convinced I would never get the slow hornpipe down. Between the syncopated timing and the complex footwork, it seemed like nothing was going right in that step. Now, the hornpipe is both my favorite dance and the one I am strongest in. Why? Mainly because I worked hard at getting it all down. Here are some methods that might help you, too, when struggling with a step.
The U17 Open Championship placers
Two of the Bracken champions with one of their fans!
Three Bracken Preliminary Champs hoist their trophies aloft
The 2nd Annual McMenamin Academy Feis on August 14, 2011 was held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Irish dance families who also registered for the Milwaukee Feis on August 13th were in for a weekend of back-to-back feising fun! After opening ceremonies and anthems, competitions got started right away with figures and first feis competitions.
The Irish Dancers of Savannah hosted the 6th Historic Savannah Feis on August 6, 2012, at the Savannah Civic Center. With eight stages and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians on hand to assist feis-goers, the hostess city of the South, Savannah, could not have offered a better or more-organized Irish dancing competition for Southern Region Irish dancers and their families!
Preliminary and Open Champion Results as tabulated and posted on-line by eFeis are limited to Irish dance school names and competitor numbers. Top Ten Schools in each competition are listed here, but we invite you to comment with the names of the dancers who placed.
by BRIAN PARRY, contributor
It is an unfortunate fact: When one is not dancing or stressing out, a feis can become mind-crushingly boring. This is especially true if you are not one for watching other dancers. As both a dancer and, at times, a spectator, these are some successful things I’ve used to help keep boredom at bay.
If you find yourself chafing at inactivity, then excuse yourself into the hallway, put on your iPod or MP3 player and run through your steps a few more times. Just remember to have someone watching the clock in the room to alert you when your competition is coming up. And remember not to over practice or risk running out of energy during those important moments on stage.
The Sunday competitor from the Bracken School with Alexis Hodel, TCRG
by HELENE OSSIPOV,
Each year, the Celtic Gold Irish Dance Academy of Garden Grove, California honors founder Doireann's father, Maitiu O'Maoileidigh, with a fantastic summer feis. O'Maoileidigh started one of the top Irish dancing schools in Ireland, Inis Ealga, more than fifty years ago. O'Maoileidigh and Marie Duffy (renowned choreographer for Lord of the Dance) traveled to the U.S., Canada and Australia in the style of the old Dance Masters, where Irish dance instruction has grown by leaps and bounds and reels and jigs to its placed today as one of the most athletic and elegant dance forms of all time.
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