Coleman School of Irish Dancing Feis 13th & 14th September

Venue Castlecourt Hotel, Westport, Mayo

New Venue this year - Stage will be provided

Saturday 13th September
Morning: All Grades
Afternoon:  Championships up to U9s
7pm:  Championships U17 & O18

Sunday 14th September
Championships U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15 & U16

Full Details to Follow

All Scotland Championships In Irish Dancing 2015

Wednesday 4th to Sunday 8th February 2015 

  Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 2, Sauchiehall Street Glasgow, G2 3NY 

 
The Championship Committee in association with the Scottish Regional Council are delighted to announce that the 2015 All Scotland Championships will again take place in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the same venue as last year. 

This will also be the secondary qualifying event for Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne 2015 for all dancers resident in Great Britain and Continental Europe. 

They are again offering Preliminary Championships which will run in conjunction with the Open Championships (Under 10 Championships upwards).  All Championships will also have 2 solo results (U6 has 3 Solo results).
Please read carefully the rules of eligibility for Preliminary Championships www.clrg.ie

Recalls will be the same percentage as Worlds, however we may extend to 50% if time and entries allow.

Championships this year will be judged by rotating panels, each panel consisting of one judge from GB, Ireland and “Rest of the World”. Dancers will therefore be judged by 9 adjudicators from the pool of 12.  
 
Moltóirí: Aisling Hillick-Grogan, ADCRG, Connacht, Ireland
Conor Hayes, ADCRG, Victoria Region, Australia
Eileen Plater, ADCRG, North West Region, England
Glenn Simpson, ADCRG, Eastern Canadian Region, Canada
Grainne Feely, ADCRG, Leinster, Ireland
Helen O'Loughlin, ADCRG, Southern Region, England
Maura Davidson, ADCRG, Ulster, Ireland
Michael J Smith, ADCRG, New England Region, USA
Pat Brady-Mullins, ADCRG, Munster, Ireland
Patrick O'Hare, ADCRG, Mid Atlantic Region USA
Sally Flood-Aitken, ADCRG, Scottish Region, Scotland
Stephen Masterson, ADCRG, Midlands Region, England 

Ceoltóirí: Brian O’Sullivan, Scotland – Gary Gurrie, Ireland Gerry Conlon, Scotland - Martin Daly, Scotland  Paul O’Donnell, Ireland - Seamus O’Sullivan, Scotland

Entry Deadline
Official entry form and fees must reach the Feis Secretary by Sunday, 30th November 2014  Cheques (Sterling) payable to “ All Scotland Championships ” Late entries with DOUBLE FEES will be accepted up until  7th December 2014  No Entries will be accepted after this date.  AGE TO BE TAKEN AS AT 1st JANUARY 2015

Strengthen Ankles for Irish Dancing

 Latex resistance bands are used by dancers at all levels to target specific areas of the body that need strengthening. They can be used for rehabilitation exercising after injury and for ongoing strengthening of the ankles.   They are also very good for the preparation of en pointe work.
 
When you have an ankle injury......
1. Strengthening exercises should normally be performed once you can bear weight comfortably and your range of motion is nearly back to normal.
 
2. One of the simplest exercises to start with are the isometric exercises that you can do by pushing your ankle against an object that will not move.
 
For example....
Placing your foot against a fixed object such as a couch and pushing against it with the side of your foot. This can be done for each side of the foot.
 
3. Moving on to isotonic exercises which use your ankles range of motion along with some form of resistance.  Using resistance bands are a simple and easy way to complete isotonic exercises.  The band is considered low cost, it's light and easy to carry with you and store.
 
For ankles, a band of 2m in length will be suitable for most exercises and bands can easily be doubled to increase the resistance as required. 
 
4. Doing a simple strength training programme will help to build up the muscles around the lower leg and will provide some protection against injury. The stronger your muscles are the less likely you are to sprain or twist the ankle.

Some simple ankles exercises using a resistance band.......
5. Some simple ankle exercises using a resistance band which can be done up to 10 times each every day.
 
5.1  Tie the resistance band together to make circle, placing it under a stable piece of furniture, chair, bed or table leg.  Put the other end over your toes making sure the band is taut.  Move your toes towards you, hold and release.   Repeat with the other foot.
 
5.2  Tie the band together to make circle placing it under a stable piece of furniture, chair, bed or table leg.  Sit with your right side to the furniture put the band over your toes and sit far enough away to make sure the band is taut.  Move your foot to the left side as far as you can, hold and release your foot back to the centre.   Repeat with the other foot.
(Make sure its only your ankle that is moving and that your knee remains static and facing upwards)
 
5.3  Change sides, so that your left side is facing the furniture and repeat
 
Consult your doctor before beginning any exercise programme. The above text is for information purposes only.

All Ireland Dancing Championships 2014

Will be held on:
Saturday 25th to Thursday 30th October 2014

Venue:
Citywest Hotel, Conference and Event Centre, Saggart, South County Dublin
Call + 353 1 401 0500 to book

This is an 'OPEN' event to all An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelach (CLRG) dancers

JUDGING AT THE ALL SCOTLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015

All championships will have a different panel for each round
Each panel will comprise of 1 person from GB, Ireland and rest of World

The split will be: 4 GB, 4 Ireland, 4 Rest of Worlds.
Aisling Hillick-Grogan, Connacht, Ireland
Conor Hayes, Victoria, Australia
Eileen Plater, North West Region, GB
Glenn Simpson, Eastern Region, Canada
Grainne Feely, Leinster, Ireland
Helen O'Loughlin, Southern Region GB
Maura Davidson, Ulster, Ireland
Michael Smith, New England Region, USA
Pat Brady-Mullins, Munster, Ireland
Patrick O'Hare, Mid Atlantic Region, USA
Sally Flood-Aitken, Scottish Region, GB
Stephen Masterson, Midlands Region, GB
 .

Love Life Live Irish Dancing......

Visit http://www.voy.com/219460/ and catch up with views and news on all the latest in Irish Dancing.  You may not agree with some of the opinions on this message board and you may get very annoyed but it is current and fun.

Its a place where you can tell people what YOU think but only if you are prepared for the replies which are usually very frank.  There are many 'heated debates' which you can just view or get involved in.

Its also a place where you can get very useful information about how to break in shoes, get tan off dresses, how to send dresses in the post.... Just about anything and lots of people are ready to help.

You can get results of Irish Dance competitions from around the world as well as the local Irish Feisanna.

Have a look yourself......

Improving Turn-out and Posture for Irish Dancing

As we all know in Irish dancing certain things are important like to always turn the feet out.

♦  this can be done by positioning the feet so your toes are pointing out from you at 10 and 2 o'clock.

Posture is also very important

♦  to achieve this you must pull your shoulders back and down, make your neck long by stretching your head upwards as if on a piece of string and keep your chin parallel to the floor

To keep your arms ‘stuck’ to your side

♦  squeeze the inner-upper parts of your arms so they stay directly by your side, you should also make fists with your hands

Keep your legs straight and toes pointed

♦  your knees must be locked so they can never bend

♦  Point, point and point your toes – as soon as it starts hurting as you point, point just a little bit harder

A good leg strengthening exercise is to cross your legs over each other so that if you were to look in a mirror you could only see one knee, make sure you stay as high up on your toes as you can

Another tip for good turnout is to walk around during the day either on your toes or with them pointed out at 10 and 2 o'clock.  This will help enormously when you are dancing in actual competition.  

Keep going, like anything the more you practice the better you will get, don’t give up – hard work will pay off in the end.