Reminders:
- Irish dance competitions follow the calendar year (Jan-Dec), not the school year. Therefore, a dancer’s “feis age” changes as of January. For example, if a dancer was U8 in 2020, that dancer is U9 in 2021. There is a helpful chart in the Student Handbook for current year age groups based on birth year.
- Dancers who competed in Beginner Grade in 2020 must compete in Advanced Beginner Grade as of January 2021 (unless they just started taking Beginner Class lessons in September 2020).
- Dancers who won a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in Advanced Beginner Grade in 2020 must move that dance to Novice Grade as of January 2021.
- If you have any questions, please ask!
NOTE: Teelin School of Irish Dance operates as part of an international organization called An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (the Irish Dancing Commission), abbreviated as CLRG. Until recently, all feiseanna (competitions) in North America were organized under the North American Feis Commission (NAFC). However, CLRG has dissolved its partnership with NAFC, effective October 31, 2020. Moving forward, each region in North America will govern competitions in its own region, under the umbrella of the Irish Dancers Association of North America (IDTANA) in conjunction with CLRG.
**Important – Some of the feis registration websites will also list “Open Platform” competitions. Teelin dancers are not permitted to compete in Open Platform events; only in CLRG approved events. Additionally, some competitions are listed as “invitational” and are only open to certain schools or certain regions. Teelin School dancers are part of CLRG’s Southern US Region.
Please read any registration information carefully, and send questions as needed to info@teelin.com.
How do I find competitions?
There is a new website for sanctioned competitions in North America: love2feis.com – also follow Love2Feis on Facebook
On the calendar below we’ve listed some of the “not too far away” competitions that often interest Teelin families (in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, & New Jersey, or a few just over the border into New York). If you see a “local” feis missing from this calendar, please contact webmaster@teelin.com because it was probably an accidental oversight. There are MANY more competitions than those listed in our “not too far away” calendar. Oftentimes Teelin dancers will compete farther from home, particularly if combining a family vacation with a competition. Dancers are encouraged to research their options and then discuss their competition plans with Maureen. Happy feising, Teelin!