Feis Info

What is a Feis?

Feis (pronounced fesh) is the Irish word we Irish dancers use to refer to our competitions.
Translated literally, it means festival. Feiseanna (plural for feis) used to consist of music, story
telling, singing and of course, dancing. Although most modern feiseanna consist only of Irish
dance competitions, some current feiseanna have music and other competitions held at them.

How a Feis works

Solo dancing
Dancers are usually divided into groups based on skill level, age and sometimes gender. There
are six levels of solo competition: Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Novice, Prizewinner, Prelims
and Open. The qualifications and dances used for each level are discussed in detail in section 4
and 5.

A dancer's score at a competition can be quite subjective and is to some extent based on a
judge's particular style preferences but, the general things every judge is looking for are the
same. And a dancer's mark will be based on the following:

Timing: The dancer's timing with the music and whether or not their hard shoe rhythms are
correct.

Carriage:
-Arms close to their body and straight.
- Back straight and not bending forward on jumps and kicks Shoulders back
-Head straight ahead at all times, eyes straight ahead, and chin held level or slightly up.

Steps: Difficulty level of steps. But, please note that this is irrelevant if the dancer executes the
steps poorly.

Execution:
-Feet crossed and knees crossed or close together
-Feet turned out
-High up on toes
-Knees fully straightened when lifting, jumping, pointing etc.
-Back leg lifting fully up to the bum for jumps, lift backs, skip forwards, etc.
-Toes fully pointed whenever off the ground
-Flexibility

Figure dancing

Competitions also involve group, figure, or "ceili" dancing. In figure dancing, we use the word
"hand" to refer to the number of dancers in the dance. Ex: a "three hand" would consist of
three dancers.

There are 30 ceili dances that are recognized by Commission and teachers are required to learn
each and every one to pass their exams. These dances consist mostly of 4 hands, 6 hands, and
8 hands but there are also some with 10, 12, and 16 hands. These dances are used in
competitions at both the local, national and world championship level, if the team qualifies.

Besides the ceili dances, dancers may also learn and compete in two hands and three hands
that have been choreographed by their teacher.

Once a school becomes large enough, dancers can compete in a "teacher's choreography" or a
"dance drama". These dances can also be performed at the national and world championship
level and are usually the biggest attractions.

Teachers choreographies consist of dancing only and can sometimes tell a story or, are most
often danced to a theme. Dance dramas always tell a story and often have sections of acting,
mime, and speech contained within them.

Costuming for a teachers choreography consist of either a class dress or a special "Riverdance"
style costume for the occasion.

Dance Dramas use elaborate costumes, makeup, props, backdrops and sometimes, lighting.

In both teachers' choreography and dance dramas, there is the option of having a poem or
short story read at the beginning to introduce the piece. Often, the dancers themselves are
encouraged to take part in creating, or to actually write the story or poem.

The music used for both types of choreography is usually non traditional and can include
techno or other influences.

Both teachers choreography and dance dramas are usually very large dances of 8-16 dancers
and are usually quite long (up to four minutes). The teams can consist of all girls, all boys or
mixed.

How to get Feis Hair

There are two options to achieve curls for competition: curl their hair or use a wig.

Option 1- How to curl hair

The most commonly used curlers are spike curlers, plastic rollers or sponge curlers. Most curlers
can be found at drug stores and the spike rollers can be purchased at competitions, online, or
can be purchased locally (Calgary, AB) at Steele Celtic dancewear.

If you are curling your hair, its best to put it in a hair net overnight instead of re-curling if you
are dancing for two or three days in a row.

To achieve curls that last:

1.) Wash hair and leave to air dry until damp. Or, use unwashed hair and dampen with a spray
bottle. It's good to have a spray bottle near-by in case hair gets too dry while curling.
Optional: For better hold: Apply a small amount of hair gel or mouse to each section before
wrapping. Be careful not to apply too much as it can cause hair not to dry in time.

2.) If you want to have the front hair pulled back in a small ponytail, put in the ponytail first.
Then curl from there. Putting hair into a ponytail after will ruin the curls.

What to wear:

Costumes:

School dresses
Each Irish dance school has a dress of certain colors and design that are unique to their school.
These dresses are used in Figure dances at competition and can also be worn for solo competitions
for First Feis, Beginner and Advanced Beginner. Dancers in these competitions can also wear a
skirt and blouse.

Solo dresses
A solo costume/dress can be worn before Novice level but is not recommended.
Any solo dress purchased or ordered should be okayed by the teacher fist to ensure it is up to date
and suited to the dancer's look and level of dancing,

Shawls
Shawls, also called capes, come in many different styles. Traditionally, the shawl is made of soft,
flowing fabric and runs from the left shoulder and down to the right hip. Some shawls now are
stiffened with embroidery and attach straight down.
Whichever style you have, be sure it is securely attached with pins, snaps, and/or Velcro before you
head up onstage as it is usually the last thing a dancer will put on.

Commission costume rules to be aware of:
Costumes must have a full front and back. Cut aways are not acceptable.
Materials: Must be of equivalent weight as traditional costumes: gabardine, velvet, wool mix etc.
Skirt length: Cannot be more than three inches above the knee. So, be sure to stay on top of your
growing girl's height.
Neck line: must be collar bone or above.
Sleeves: Must start at the shoulder and end at the wrist.
Appropriate underwear must be worn. (AKA bloomers)

Shoes
If your shoes are older, you may want to replace the shoe laces to ensure they wont break at a
critical moment.
To make quick shoe changes easier, elastics can be treaded through soft shoes, hard shoes or both
instead of shoe laces. The elastic can be bought at fabric stores or at Zellers or a similar store.
Be sure to polish both pairs of shoes and repair any holes well before the feis so that they are shiny
and new looking.

Socks
Irish dancers wear white socks for competitions. The socks are called "bubble" or "poodle" socks.
They can be purchased at feiseanna or locally in Calgary at Steele Celtic Dancewear.
Socks should be fairly long (about 2-3 inches below knee cap or, about mid-calf)
Socks should never touch the knee cap as that is too long.
To keep socks up, use a glue stick or sock glue. Put glue over at least half of the lower leg, then pull
sock up snuggly and pat it into place.
There are socks available now that have rhinestones on them. They give the socks a subtle sparkle
onstage and are fine for solo dancing but dancers should have a plain pair for figures (group
dancing) unless the whole team decides to wear matching rhinestone socks.

Tiaras
Some solo dresses come with Tiaras. If yours does not, you can purchase one from the feis vendors
or, you can get creative and make your own. Some dancers prefer even more sparkle onstage and
will place a rhinestone tiara in front of their cloth ones.

Whatever you choose to wear, be sure to secure tiaras and headbands very well using plenty of pins
and again, have the dancer do the "shake test" to ensure it will not come lose on stage

Make-up
Make-up is not permitted for dancers under the age of 12.
If the dancer is over 12, here are some tips:

Irish dancing competitions are rarely held on brightly lit stages. Therefore, make-up used does not
have to be overly dramatic or very much darker then regular street make up.

Eyes
If the dancer will be on a large, brightly lit stage (as is the case at some major competitions) fake
eyelashes are helpful to make the eyes really stand out from a distance. Drawing a small "fake
eyelash" at the outer corner of each eye will also help the eyes from disappearing onstage. A bit of
white eyeliner on the inside corner of the eyes will help make the eyes look larger.

If your solo dress is sparkly, a bit of glitter on or around the eyes is nice. Try not to go overboard as
a sparkle in your eye at the wrong moment can be detrimental to your performance onstage.

Cheeks
If your cheeks are not naturally rosy, rouge will help stop the "washed out" look from bright stage
lights. Pick a colour that is only a shade or two darker than your natural skin colour. When applying,
use long sweeping strokes starting at the cheek bones and sweeping up to the hairline. Afterwards,
use your fingers to blend the edges to avoid getting a clown look.

Lips
When choosing a lipstick, pick one that is not too much darker than the natural lip colour. A nice
way to make the lips stand out but not look too overdone is to apply a dab of very light pink in the
center of the lips and blend in, finishing off with a coat of shimmery or sparkly lip gloss.

On younger dancers in particular, often a shiny lip gloss with a bit of tint is nicer than a deep colour.

Jewelry

Many girls like to wear sparkly earrings that match their solo costume. But, DO NOT wear dangling
earrings as they can snag and catch.

No jewelry or watches for figures. Small, silver or gold studs or hoop earrings are fine. Fancy
earrings in figures will only be permitted if all dancers in the figure are wearing the same earrings.
Again, if you are not an MJP dancer, please check with your teachers regarding this.

Information about Irish dances

Reel
This dance is in 4/4 time. From Beginner up to Prizewinner, dancers complete 32 bars (two steps)
In Prelim and Open championships, dancers must dance 48 bars (three steps).

Light Jig / Single jig
Both of these dances are in 6/8 time.
Dancers perform 32 bars (two steps).
These dancers are usually only danced up to Prizewinner level.

Slip Jig
This dance is in 9/8 which causes it to be difficult to count and also to be the longest soft shoe
dance since each measure contains more beats.
Beginners dance 32 bars (2 steps) to a aped of 128-130bpm (beats per minute)
Older dancers dance to a slower speed (Oireachtas speed) which allows them to complete more
difficult movements. Novice speed is 124 and Prelim / Open is 120.
Prelim and open championship dancers must dance 40 bars (two steps and a half)

Hornpipe
This is a hard shoe dance. It is in 4/4 time.
Again, beginners use a faster speed of 144 which is also referred to as "traditional speed".
Beginners dance 32 bars (2 steps)
Prelim and open championship dancers must dance 40 bars (two steps and a half) at the slower
"Oireachtas" speed of 113.

Treble Jig
A Hard shoe dance in 6/8 time. Danced at either traditional or Oireachtas speed.
Beginners dance 32 bars (2 steps)
Prelim and open championship dancers must dance 48 bars (three steps)

Set dances / Traditional Sets
There are 38 set dances in total. Some in 2/4, 4/4, 6/8 and one in 9/8 time. A set dance in 2/4 or
4/4 is considered to be in "hornpipe timing". A set dance in 6/8 is in Treble jig timing.

What is a set dance?
A set dance is danced to a specific tune with a set number of bars. The dances are named for the
tune they are danced to.

What is a Traditional Set?
Traditional sets have a specific tune, number of bars AND use choreographies that have been
passed down from generation. Of the 38 set dances used today in Commission competitions, only
7 of them are traditional sets.

The seven Traditional Set dances are: St. Patrick's day, The Blackbird, Job of Journeywork, Garden
of Daisies, King of the Fairies, Jockey to the Fair and Three Sea Captains.

And, just in case your weren't confused already, some of the Traditional Set tunes are also used as
set dances such as the King of The Fairies and the Job of Journeywork.

Some traditional sets have more versions floating around then others. For example, the St. Patrick's
day has only one version whereas the Garden of Daises and the King of the Ferries have many.

What is the difference between Set dances and Traditional Set dances?
The traditional dances are used from the Beginner to the Novice competitions while set dances are
used in the higher categories (Prizewinner, Prelims and Open).

The speed of Traditional Set dances is predetermined but the speed of a set dance is chosen by the
teacher depending on choreography, a dancer's skill level and timing of the tune. For example, The
Three Sea Captains (in 6/8 time) is usually danced from a speed of 69 to as fast as 72.

Advancing to the next level in competition
This is probably the most confusing part of Irish dancing. Here is a quick reference guide. A
detailed description can be found in the "Feis rules" section below.

Number of dancers required in the competition to move dancer(s) to the next level:
Less than 5: no placing advances
5 - 9 dancers: 1st place moves up
10 - 19 dancers: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place move up
20 - 29 dancers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th place move up
30 or more dancers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th place move up

Trophy competitions and Championship:
-A dancer who wins two first place trophies in Beginner/Advanced Beginner Trophy advances to
Novice/Prizewinner Trophy
- A dancer who advances to Novice or Prizewinner for the majority of their solo levels (hard shoes
in particular) automatically advances to the Novice/Prizewinner Trophy.
- A dancer who wins two first place trophies in Novice/Prizewinner Trophy advances to
Preliminary Championships.

Feis Rules*

*Compiled from North America Feis Commission (NAFC). For a complete listing of rules, please
visit the North American Feis Commission website.

1. In the case of all solo and team competitions in all grades, the age of a competitor on 1st January
of the year in which the competition is held will determine the right of entry. For the purposes of
this Rule a competitor whose birthday occurs on 1st January shall be deemed to be under the age
attained on that date.

3. A competitor may be disqualified for any of the following reasons:
a) Conduct unbecoming a lady or gentleman.
b) Failure to report on time to compete. (Penalty: disqualification from said event)
c) Falsification of age or other important facts - i.e., teaching, award winning, competing under
another competitor's name or number, etc.

Penalty for a) or c): Competitor will be disqualified from the Feis at which the occurrence happened
and from all NAFC - registered Feiseanna for a period of one year beginning at the date of the
occurrence.

5. Solo competitors in First Feis (if offered), Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Novice or Open
(Prizewinner) competitions:
a) Must compete in their own age group.
b) Must be prepared to perform two steps in each event.
c) Cannot change competition on the day of the Feis.

6. Steel taps or "bubble" heels on dancing shoes, display of awards, wearing of shorts or other
unconventional dress is prohibited. Authentic Gaelic dress is desired. First Feis (if offered),
Beginner and Advanced Beginner, aka Beginner I and II, must wear a class costume, or a skirt and
blouse. All other categories are excluded from this rule. Modest attire is encouraged when a
competitor is not dancing.

7. Competitor's number must be worn and visible to adjudicators when performing in all
competitions, except in Championships; use of plastic number covers is discouraged.

9. Complaints must be in writing stating names and other factual information and signed by the
complainant. A ten-dollar fee must be enclosed and presented to the Feis Chairman within one
hour of the occurrence. The fee will be returned if the complaint is upheld.

18. The status of the dancer does not change unless there are five or more dancers in a
competition.

19. A Feis Committee may combine two consecutive age categories into the higher of the two
categories within that grade when less than five (5) competitors are entered.

Beginner Grade: A beginner is a competitor who has not yet taken a full year of Irish Dance
lessons, thereby giving beginners a full year with such status. A Beginner must move into the
Advanced Beginner category the next year.

Advanced Beginner Grade: An advanced beginner who wins 1st, 2nd or 3rd place will advance to
the Novice category in that particular dance. Competition dances are reel, light jig, slip jig, traditional
treble jig and traditional hornpipe, as a minimum requirement.

Novice Grade: A novice who wins a 1st place will advance to the Open (Prizewinner) category in
that particular dance.

Open Grade (Prizewinner): A competitor who does not qualify as a beginner, advanced beginner or
as a novice.

Adult Beginner: An adult beginner is a competitor who never took Irish dancing lessons as a
juvenile and is over 18 years of age.

15. Preliminary Championships are open to those who, at any NAFC recognized Feis:
a) Have won 1st place in both an open/prizewinner light and heavy shoe competition, and

b) Have never won 1st, 2nd or 3rd in Open Championship. A dancer who wins two first place
awards in one calendar year will move on to Open Championship the following year, or as soon as
the second win is achieved, in any age category, in the following years. Only in the case of
back-to-back Feiseanna (successive days), in which case the first win in the first Feis will not change
the dancer's status for the second Feis. A dancer is required to perform a light shoe dance (reel or
slip jig for ladies and reel only for men), and a hard shoe dance. A Feis can opt to offer either a) a
set dance or b) a jig/hornpipe.

13. a) Dancers must qualify for open championship via the method now in place for preliminary
championship, i.e. two 1st place wins.

17. First place winners in the Open Championship category cannot return to a Preliminary or Open
(Prizewinner) competition. Placing in a Regional or National Oireachtas does not change the status
of a competitor. If, after dancing for two years in Open, a dancer has not won, he/she may return
to preliminary championship status.

20. Musicians and adjudicators cannot be approached during a competition by anyone except the
Feis Committee. No one can approach them while a competitor is performing.

25. First Feis (if offered), Beginner, Advanced Beginner and Adult dancers are required to dance at
traditional speeds. Novice and Open/Prizewinner dancers may choose between traditional and
Oireachtas speeds.

26. Any form of unauthorized photography which has the capability to capture a dancer's image
while in motion, using electronic or manual means, i.e. mobile phone, standard camera, video
camera, or commercial film, with or without enhancement is expressively forbidden in competition.

27. No block, en Pointe, toe walking movements, stationary or moving is allowed to be performed
for all ages up to and including the under 12 age group. However, after September 1 of each year an
exception is made for those dancers who are 11 dancing in the under 12 age group.

28. Make up is prohibited on a dancer in the first three grades up to and including the under 12 age
group.

29. Any competitor found to be using artificial carriage aids and subsequently refuses to remove
same, will be subject to disqualification from that particular competition. Medically prescribed aids
(proof of which may be required) will be exempt from this rule.

Day of the feis tips:
If the feis you are attending has a web site, download and print the program before the feis and
highlight your dances so that you can see what time and what stage you are dancing on. When you
arrive at the feis, find your teacher, and get your number.

Be sure to get good nights sleep two nights before the feis.

Eat healthy food with lots of energy the night before and the day of. Eg: Pasta

The day before, do at LEAST one full run of each and every dance you will be performing the next
day. Be sure you get at least one GOOD run of each before finishing your practice.

Be sure to warm up (at least 10-15 minutes) AND stretch before you compete as nerves can make
it harder to warm up and can make your muscles stiff which can lead to injury.

Bring a water bottle and stay hydrated.

If you can find me (or rather, your teacher) ask me (them) to watch you run through one of your
dances. It can help make you feel more confident. But, make sure you have plenty of time to make
it to your competition on time!

Preparing for the worst

No one likes to think of the following happening to them but, the truth is, that these things can
happen to any competitor. The important thing is to be prepared, keep your head up and if at all
possible, remember to KEEP ON DANCING!

Falling
If you do fall onstage, the rule is: Get up and keep dancing! Try and find your place in the music by
continuing to say the step in your head even as you push yourself up from the ground. Obviously it
takes practice to get good at this but, try your best.

If you do stand up to find yourself completely lost, do one two threes or, make it up until the
beginning of the next step. DO NOT just give up and walk away as you will be disqualified. If you
get up and dance, you may or may not be docked any marks, depending on the judge.

If you are hurt very badly onstage either from a fall or a slip and cannot dance, then do your best to
move out of the way of the other dancer as they are not allowed to stop dancing unless the judge
rings the bell.

But, not to worry, usually, if the judge sees that one dancer is badly injured, or if the judge sees a
bad fall that ISNT faked, they will ring the bell and stop the competition.

Missing a dance
If you arrive side stage and your competition is already running, do NOT freak out. Calmly talk to
the volunteers side-stage and they will most likely put you onstage after the other competitors or,
they will send you on up late. Never just head up onstage on your own as you may enter on the
wrong side and/or distract the dancers currently onstage.

If you have missed your dance entirely, try to shrug it off and dance the rest of your dances to the
best of your ability. Remember, the people working the feis are volunteers and are not there to be
treated badly. Also, there will always be another feis where you can make sure you are on time.

Falling items
The most embarrassing occurrence of this is probably losing a wig onstage. Other things that can
come lose are: Tiaras, shoelaces, shoes, shawls, hairpins and, sometimes even a heel or a tip off of
your hardshoe!

Obviously, some of these things are preventable and dancers should be very picky about double
checking how securely everything is tied up and pined on before they head for the sage. Other
things (such as a broken shoe or a projectile hairpin) are things that no one can predict.

In any case, your best bet is to try to forget about the object and keep dancing without tripping
over it. If the object is dangling or obstructing your view, try to grab it with one quick motion and
hold it by your side until you finish dancing.

If your shoe breaks in such a way that you cannot dance, there really is nothing you can do except
hobble through your dance and hope that the judge notices and (might) ring the bell. But, be very
careful you do not injure yourself in the process.

Making a mistake in your steps
It happens to everyone: You are totally prepared, your hair is perfect, you're smiling, you've just
counted yourself in and you lift your leg to start the first perfect move and realize that your brain is
empty!

The best way to beat this is to mentally rehearse each dance before going up onstage and then,
while you are waiting in line counting yourself in, go through the first few movements of your step
in your head so that you are ready when the time comes.

But, if you do blank out at any time onstage, the best thing to do is to keep going. Keep smiling
and keep making up steps until the next set of eight starts. It is very rare that a judge will let you
re-dance if you forget your steps unless you are either very young, or in beginner.

If you start doing the wrong dance
This usually only happens in the beginning stages so, usually if it happens and the dancer notices
that they are doing the wrong dance, the judge will often ring the bell. The other option is to try to
switch to the correct dance as soon as possible or, you can try to make the dance fit as best you can
to that tune. The second option works very well for light jig and single jig but, not so well for slip jig
or reel.

Bumps and bruises
Since everyone onstage are from different schools and doing different choreographies, the chances
of bumping into another dancer are quite high.

So, always try to be aware of where the other dancer is and do your best to avoid them. If you do
bump, kick or get kicked by the other dancer, continue on dancing the best you can. If the other
dancer falls, KEEP DANCING until the judge rings the bell or you will be disqualified. Unless you
can really hear that the other dancer is in serious pain. In that case, you should probably just stop
dancing.

Judges will take off points for aggressive behavior or for purposely refusing to move out of the way
to avoid a bump when the other dancer can't see you. So, please, always be aware when onstage
and use good stage manors.

Feis check list
-Dress (solo and or school dress)
- or skirt and blouse (make sure both are clean)
- Bloomers
- Headband/ Tiara/Hair scrunchie
- Poodle socks/ Tights
- Sock glue or Glue stick
- Both pairs of shoes: Ghillies (soft shoes) and Heavy shoes
- Spare shoe laces or elastics
- Shoe shine and or Black marker
- Black duct tape (for bottom of hard shoes if the stage is slippery)
- Wig
- A Bag For Your Curlers or a Wig box
- A Hairnet
- Make-up (if you're old enough)
- Competitor number holder
- Yarn / String or Ribbon for number
- Extra rhinestones
- First aid kit
- A pen and highlighter to mark the dances you are in
- Safety pins
- Bobby Pins
- Hair Spray
- Water Bottle
- Snacks
- Something to do in between dances
- Practice shorts or pants for warm-up