Classes are held on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays. Our Instructor will work with your dancer to determine the best class for you. We have classes at all levels from Beginner, through Open Champion including Advanced Beginner, Novice, Prizewinner, and Prelim.
An explanation of Grade Levels:
Solo dance competitors in the Grade levels will perform 2 steps of each event entered. There are five competition dances at Grade level, each a separate event: reel, light jig, slip jig, treble jig and hornpipe. Some feiseanna offer other special competitions such as
treble reel or set dance, however, those events do not “count” toward competition level progression.
Grade level competitions require one adjudicator per event. Prizes are awarded in proportion to the number of entries and to the degree of proficiency shown.
BEGINNER
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. Because the “feis year” (Jan-Dec) is different than the “school year” (Sept-June), dancers who began lessons in September may keep Beginner status until December of their second year of lessons.
ADVANCED BEGINNER
An Advanced Beginner is a competitor who does not qualify as a Beginner (defined above), nor any subsequent levels. An Advanced Beginner who wins 1st, 2nd or 3rd place will advance to the Novice category in that particular dance the next calendar year.
NOVICE
A Novice is a competitor who has moved beyond the Beginner skills and is ready to perform more difficult steps in competition. For hard shoe dances (treble jig and hornpipe), Novice competitors are offered a choice of music tempo: “slow” or “fast”, also known as traditional speed. (Beginner and Advanced Beginner hard shoe tempo is always traditional speed.) A Novice who wins a 1st place will advance to the Prizewinner category in that particular dance.
PRIZEWINNER
A Prizewinner is an advanced level competitor who does not qualify as a Beginner, Advanced Beginner or as a Novice. A dancer remains at Prizewinner Grade until qualified for Preliminary Championship according to official NAFC rules and his/her
dance teacher’s guidelines.
CHAMPIONSHIP LEVEL COMPETITION
Championship competitors will perform a minimum of two rounds of competition: one soft shoe round and one hard shoe round. Instead of the 2 steps performed for each dance at Grade levels, Championship competitors will perform either 3 reel steps or 2.5 slip jig steps for the soft shoe round (boys/men must perform reel for this round); and either 3 treble jig steps or 2.5 hornpipe steps, and/or a set dance for the hard shoe round.
Entrants in any Championship event may not enter in any other regular grade solo events, but may enter in Figure Dances and/or special competitions for which they are eligible per the syllabus (e.g. traditional set, treble reel, non-traditional set dance).
Championship events require at least three adjudicators. Scoring for championship events is based on the Irish Point system. Prizes are awarded in proportion to the number of entries and to the degree of proficiency shown.
PRELIMINARY CHAMPIONSHIP
In accordance with NAFC rules, this event is open to a competitor who has placed 1st in both a soft shoe and hard shoe competition at the Prizewinner level. (Light jig is not performed in Championships, so the “four” dances are reel, slip jig, treble jig and hornpipe.)
Competitors are typically required to perform a soft shoe dance (reel or slip jig) and a hard shoe dance (treble jig or hornpipe). A feis can also opt to require a set dance as a third dance, or instead of the treble jig/hornpipe.
A dancer who wins two 1st place Preliminary Championship awards in one calendar year will move to Open Championship the following year (as of January). If the second 1st place win does not occur within the same feis year as the first win, as soon as the second win is achieved the dancer must move up to Open Championship level immediately.
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
This is the highest level of competition. In accordance with NAFC rules, a dancer must compete in Preliminary Championship in order to qualify for Open Championship, and must qualify via the method currently in place (i.e. two 1st place wins).
Competitors are required to perform a soft shoe dance (reel or slip jig) and a set dance. A feis can also opt to require a third dance (choice of treble jig or hornpipe).
Competitors who win 1st place in the Open Championship category cannot return to a Preliminary or Prizewinner Grade competition. However, if after competing for two full feis years at the Open Championship level a dancer has not placed 1st, 2nd, or
3rd, he/she may opt to return to Preliminary status, at teacher’s discretion.