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Hi all! Former Irish dancer here, used to compete at this point nearly 2 decades ago; I quit before high school and am 34 now. I briefly started adult lessons when I lived in the DC area back in January 2020 but only got to go to a handful before the pandemic started and I’ve been thinking of going back!

As the title says I’m curious if anyone has recommendations for schools/lessons in the Philly area with classes for adults? I’ve found schools online but some say they offer adult classes but I don’t see them on their schedule and/or are not active enough on Instagram for me to ascertain a vibe lol. I’d be interested in competing eventually but am agnostic on organization (at least I think I am, a lot has changed since I danced it seems). I was looking for things in the city which might be hard so I would also be willing to brave the traffic and go outside the city if the best fit is there.

Any insight or recs would be very appreciated! Thanks!

My school recently transferred organisations and as a result we get to dance in the European mainland open platform feises as well as the organisations own feises in the UK & Ireland.

However I can’t find anywhere how WIDA makes up their age groups for feises. I know that in CLRG it’s based on your age on Jan 1st and in CRN it’s based on your age on Sept 1st (or at least when I danced there a long time ago). But for WIDA I can find no such information.

Any WIDA dancers who happen to know?

Thanks in advance 🙏🏼

2024 mid America Oireachtas is a joke. I’m not big in the Irish dance world ( my fiancé is) but for a beauty pageant disguised as a dance competition it’s a joke with the judging. People known for cheating get away with it blatantly it’s a joke. People fall in their set and qualify for the worlds? 😂😂 this needs to be squashed or this “sport” will be just as such. Not a sport just a glorified beauty pageant where no talent is needed to be a “world champion”.

also hoping to improve their turn out if anyone can recommend in class exercises!

Coming off of Oireachtas weekend I’ve been inspired to do a little personal research project to satisfy my own curiosity. I’ve been pouring over scoring and dance footage from feistv, and I just can’t believe some of the results aren't due to cheating or favoritism. Specifically I’m interested in looking at “signifiers” on costumes. I'm not sure how to ask this in a way that isn't slightly controversial, so it may get deleted which is fine, but I'm genuinely curious about regions other than my own. Without straight up mentioning specific school names, what are some blatant costume “signifiers” in your region that show that a solo dancer is from a certain school? Could be symbols, colors, unique wig style, etc. I can do some digging and figure out what the school is on my own, I just don’t want people attacking entire schools on this post. There are dancers from all schools in here and there are good and bad apples everywhere! I want to add I’m not a salty competitor. I don’t compete any more but do teach and want to get my TCRG in the near future, and I find the blatant cheating in CLRG and their reluctance to ban school signifiers on dresses very discouraging and frustrating.

Hi! I have a question regarding taping shoes for competition. So I’m doing the typical white taping around the shoes as is popular now. However, when I do this, the side buckle (the one that’s for closing the strap on the side, not the fancy accesory ones) ends up pressing onto my ankle and it hurts. Any tips to avoid this? Should I tape differently around the buckle? I’d still like to hide it with the tape

Been looking for a vest/waistcoat for a while now, I dance in An C USA IDA and there's no guys over here. Any websites or vendors I could go to?

Can anyone tell me the size of ghillie laces? I need to order some to get here quickly and that might require going an amazing route. I know they are usually at least 68 inches in length but how thick around are they?

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Honestly thought we’d need a new pair soon, however Oireachtas in a week and a few days ago kid tells me her shoes uppers leather have stretched out. Teacher confirms. Toe space needs filled out to be really tight. What can I use? Any hacks? I’m ordering Foam things for women’s shoes that are for pointy shoes. Should I get ballet shoe covers?

Hi brains trust, my twin girls have just received their first pairs of heavy jig shoes. Is there a way to quieten them for practice and also protect floors? Would dance socks do it or is there a better solution?

Thanks for your advice

I was looking at my LO's heavy shoes today & noticed a chip out of the front toe on one of them... (I'm going to point it out to the instructor tomorrow at practice to ask their advice.) But, I'm curious if this is normal or not. The next Feis is in 2 weeks, so there's little to no time to order a new pair & break it in.

https://preview.redd.it/jsain5r34z1e1.jpg?width=1963&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e0791e72467041d1de6f82830e55b352faf1f1d

Hi! I am looking for Irish Dance hard shoes for my daughter. Preferably used. Size 10.5 or 11. Anyone looking to offload a pair?

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Any advice for getting louder trebles, especially on the left foot? I have a bunch of drills, so I’m more hoping for mechanical advice on how to move/use my foot/ankle/leg to greatest effect.

My dance instructor gave me the thumbs up on getting hard shoes, but I'm really overwhelmed. I had been looking at Rutherford's but just saw a post about how they have a new manufacturer and they're not holding up like they used to. I have regular/wide width feet and read that Fay's are pretty narrow so I think those are out. My soft shoes are Pacelli and even though I ordered according to my foot measurement they were short. Now that I've stretched them out I like them so that brand is an option, but I'm worried that they won't be true to size. I was fitted for Rutherford's at a Feis over the weekend but they didn't have my size (5 UK) so hopefully that's what they would be in other brands too (I'm an adult, done growing). There's just so many options, and I also want to make sure that whatever I get looks nice too.. Any thoughts or opinions? I'd love to stay around $165-$175 max. Thank you for your patience with my questions! 😅

I’ve never known how to truly properly care for my daughter’s wigs after wearing (7 years so far as a dance mom!)… can someone give me tips on how to properly care for them? This is a brand new wig, worn for a Feis this weekend for the first time and this is how the underside looks. I bought Camellia Rose wig conditioner spray but all it says is to spray on the wig until absorbed…. Is there something else I should be doing to help get rid of this rats nest?

Thanks!!!

As a recovering journalist and current technical writer in the healthcare space, I love reading and writing in addition to dancing and running marathons. I've been to a few feises and Oireachtii (?) and have come upon some interesting, talented authors (Rod Vick and Brenna Briggs). It's neat to see YA novels that have the characters perform Irish Dance, a niche sport in and of itself. Do you have any author recs in addition to Rod and Brenna? I'd love to see more Netflix movies, etc. that focus on our sport.

I ran XC and track in HS--it has the same feel--it's a niche sport but whenever it makes the big screen or into print I'm always excited!

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Looking for someone to do my daughters hair and make up at the NEO

My six year old loves Irish Dance. My wife and I love it for her also, except for putting on the shoes. Has anyone ever used elastic laces for a newer dance until they can tie their own shoes?

I have a pair of Hullachan Pro H3s that are starting to feel not terrible on my feet which means soon enough they'll be too stretched out.

The H3s have the extra arch eyelet, and with my flat feet, the extra pull on the arch seems to help make my arch look better dancing.

But I've been considering buying a pair of Hugs for my next shoe since in theory they shouldn't feel as terrible on my toes with the but of stretch in the heel.

Does anyone here happen to dance in Hugs with flat feet? Any thoughts on how your arches look in them?

Also, for anyone who has worn Hugs & another Hullachan shoe, was your Hugs size the same or different than the other type of Hullachan?

Thanks!

hi! so for the past weeks i’ve been working on exams and admissions for my university application process and I didn’t go to practice like for two weeks. I feel guilty and afraid of not achieving my recall and qualify to Nationals this Oireachtas, but I’m more afraid of losing my technique, stamina or even hurting my ankle and falling.

I want to enjoy it and I know I still have a month to practice and prepare, but I feel guilty. Sometimes prioritizing other things is necessary but I want both.

I just wanted to share my thoughts because I don’t want to feel unprepared that day and not perform as well as I know I can. What would you recommend ? Thank you in advance <3

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Hey y'all! I bought my daughter brand new Rutherford hard shoes mid-September and just the other night, the tongue ripped out of one of them! Several other parents in our school have reported that the buckles have broken already on their less-than-two-month-old shoes as well. This is the first time I bought her brand new shoes -- I've always gotten her used shoes. I'm really not happy with having spent close to $200 and they're already starting to fall apart less than two months in. Is this the typical experience with Rutherfords now???

I’m competing in my first feis this weekend since getting back into dancing. I know that at the youth level placing in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in advanced beginner would advance you to the novice level. I’m competing in adult advanced beginner and there is only one other person competing at the same level, so by default I would either place 1st or 2nd. Would this require me to advance to novice for my next feis? I certainly don’t feel like I’m dancing at that level yet

Hello dancers! Oreichtas is this weekend and the more I practice (and stretch) the more my legs are randomly painfully cramping (especially my thighs). Is there anything I can do to help prevent these? I started taking magnesium and potassium just yesterday. I have a bit of PTSD because last year for this SAME competition, I was practicing the week of and popped my muscle on a landing and wasn't able to compete. I thought I was doing a good job babying my legs more but apparently the uptick in practicing is gonna do me in. And I like dancing full-out in front of teachers at least to get good criticism. Advice on how to help it?

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Hi everyone, I've recently rejoined Irish dancing as a 39 year old adult on the larger side (uk size 16 us size 12). Competing at my first feis in a few weeks and will be wearing a black outfit - black tights and either a black dress or skirt and top/leotard. Have had a look and am so confused, I think I prefer a skirt and top as it would be more fitted. Can't find proper dance wear in my size so have been checking Shein etc. Would love some reviews or recommendations. Thanks so much.