Lynn Academy Spring Feis 2014 Review

Posted by:Boston Feis DadonMay 14, 2014 0 Comments

The 7th Annual Lynn Academy Spring Feis was held on Sunday May 4th 2014 at the Stamford High School in Stamford, CT.

Venue

This Feis was held at Stamford High School, which was a very large school. The first problem when we arrived was that the entry doors to the Feis were not clearly marked. We parked on the side of the school and went around to the front to find the main doors locked, and still no signage pointing to where we did need to enter. We continued to walk around the outside of the school and gathered a few more confused souls before we luckily found a random door open. Once in the school signage was no better. We happened to get lucky and found a helpful volunteer who walked us to where we needed to be.

The feis had 8 stages in 3 different places. My daughter danced in the large gym which housed stages 1-5. The school was so expansive that I didn’t even see where the other 3 stages were located. In the large gym there were 3 connected stages on one side, and the other 2 were connected on the other side of the gym.

My biggest concern with this Feis was the way that the comps were run. My daughter danced 4 dances, on 3 different stages. This was done to rotate through the judges I believe, instead of having the judges themselves move. My daughter started on stage 1, danced and then had to wait for 2 comps on stage 2 to run before she danced there. It was the same way between each dance. There was quite a bit of downtime in between each dance, which is hard with a young kid who is easily distracted. It took her about 1.5hrs to get through her 4 dances. By far the longest of the 15 or so feisanna she has competed in.

Despite it being a large school it appeared that most camping was done in the gym with the comps, there were people and bags EVERYWHERE, making it difficult to get around, especially after having to change stages between each dance. Also, there was not a single chair to be had. All spectators had to view the ground level stages standing up.

Judges

My daughter danced 4 times for 3 different judges due to the stage rotation that I mentioned above. One issue I had with the judges was that they arrived late, which in turn got the comps off to a late start. The judges did provide decent comments with their marks.

Musicians

In the gym that my daughter danced in there were 2 musicians for the 5 stages that were in there. One for the 3 combined stages, and a second for the other 2 combined stages. Because of the setup the music was bleeding from one area to another and it seemed to cause some regular issues with the dancers.

Food

The only food I saw was dipping dots, though having a mid morning start meant we didn’t go in search of food. However, the dancers each got a chocolate pop with their medals which the kids enjoyed.

Vendors

There were quite a few vendors here, more than most Feisanna that we have attended. There were multiple shoe vendors, hair accessories, wigs, Irish jewelry, Irish apparel etc.

Results & Awards

Results for most of the dances seemed to come out after an extended period, which I will attribute mostly to the great distance that the runners would need to travel from stages to the tabulation room. Honestly, about a 5 minute walk. The medals themselves were nice, with different colored ribbons to distinguish placement.

Feis Flow

The flow was not very good. As I said from the start it was a constant battle to figure out where you had to be, and the distance between the stages and the results and awards was quite far. The comps got started off late, and certainly didn’t catch up throughout the morning.

Scoring

With some changes I feel that this could be a much better feis. More(any) signage, no stage rotation, and results/awards closer to comps.

With all this in mind I give this Feis a 6.

Bluegrass Feis PC/OC Levels Review 2104

Posted by:What The FeisonMay 13, 2014 4 Comments

bgFeis The Bluegrass Feis was held at the Lexington Convention Center on Sunday, May 11th, 2014. This is the second time we have done this feis and you can see my previous review here.

As has become my habit of late, this review focuses on the PC/OC levels. If you have comments on the grades levels, please add them at the bottom of the review or contact me and I can add them for you.

Venue

Second time at this venue, and after having read last years review, apparently I am not as big a fan this year.

Stages & Seating

As it was last year the venue had 7 stages, with 1 – 6 actually being 3 big stages divided down the middle by tape, making two roughly 16 x 24 foot stages that were literally connected. This made for cramped standing for bigger comps and cramped dancing for everyone except the more beginner dancers.

Stages 1 – 6 were for grades, and stage 7 was for PC/OC. Stage 7 was about 24 x 32 but was not divided as the others were. Later in the day, stage 5/6 became just stage 6 and had some PC/OC comps on it. Stage 7 did have some maintenance issues shortly after we got there and dancing came to a halt while they fixed what I was told was a loose screw.

Seating wasn’t bad, but the people who were so courteous the prior day in Cincinnati decided to leave it in Cincinnati. You can see there were a few complaints (here and here) and seating due to these people was not adequate.

Camping & Access

Camping was very cramped, a lot worse than I remember last year. I wonder if the number of competitors was increased. Very tight camping area, little room to move and very crowded walkways made the whole thing seem claustrophobic. There were areas on the far end of the venue that could have been used better. I think I made the same observation last year.

Awards & Results Areas

Grade level awards were posted at one end of the venue on a large wall, with awards fairly close.

Champ level dancers had their podium stuck in between stages 7 and 5/6. No seating and lots of noise from the stages on both sides.

Parking

Free and plentiful, but could involve some walking.

Venue Score: 7.5

Judges

Judges seemed very attentive again today and rated TGC about the same as the previous day (1 judge was the same both days). So maybe it is TGCs skills evening out :) I also thought the judges did an excellent job of keeping things moving.

Judge Score: 10

Music

I really cant speak to the music for the entire venue, and to be honest, since we stayed on stage 7, I am not even sure if the merged stages (1 – 6) had there own musicians (6 different) or each merge shared 1 (3 different). Can somebody help me out with that one? The musician on 7 seemed fine and I heard no complaints.

Musician Score: 8.5

Food

Only saw a Italian Ice/gelato stand inside the venue, but a short walk in the same building brought you to a food court with a variety of options, all reasonably priced. There were also options close to the venue.

Food Score: 8.5

Vendors

Feis vendors were pretty much a repeat of who was in Cincinnati at Queen City. Here is the list, but alas, still no Irish M&Ms. :(

Vendor Score: 7.5

Results

Results for champs, as mentioned above was jammed in between two stages. No seats and music competing with the announcer from both sides. It took about an hour and 15 minutes from the end of TGCs comp to announcements, so slightly worse than QC.

Results Score: 7

Feis Flow

From start to finish, both PC dances and got awards in about 2 hours. That part was good. I also noticed that by 130ish, it seemed like things in the entire venue were starting to wrap up and at least one stage was being torn down.

Feis Flow: 9

Scoring

Two part scoring with a Feis Score consisting of Judging, Music, Results and Flow, and then the overall consisting of everything.

Feis Score: 8.625

And the WTF Rating is 8.3… Not the highest for the weekend, but it had its high points. Good job Bluegrass!

Were You There, What Did YOU Think?

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Queen City Feis PC/OC Levels Review 2014

Posted by:What The FeisonMay 13, 2014 5 Comments

queencity As I think about the Queen City Feis, I realize that it was the first feis we attended, ever, back in 2008. TGC walked away with 2 third place medals that day. I actually wrote a mini-feis review on my personal blog. Who knew what we were getting ourselves into… so without further ado.

The Queen City Feis was held at the Duke Energy Convention Center on Saturday, May 10th, 2014. This was our 6th trip to this feis (missing a year for a school change), and the first year we got to be on the other side of the wall (the champ side). You can see my previous reviews here.

This review focuses on the PC/OC levels but has some additional info that crosses the levels. Not to worry, one of our newest contributors, Mellie Wilkes, wrote a grades level review for your reading pleasure.

Venue

We have been to this venue a number of times and I like it a little more each time. This year was no exception.

Stages & Seating

There were 7 stages in the venue with 1 – 5 being grades level, 6 for PC and OC, and 7 for OC. The grades level stages were 20 x 24 and plywood, and the champ stages were closer to 32 x 32 and covered in a light gray coating (not sure what it was). There was good separation between the stages and lots of chairs at each one. I did not see any stage maintenance during the day in the way of sweeping and mopping, but stage crew seemed to be on the ball for any FO (foreign objects) and removed them promptly. It seemed there were less opportunities for ‘feis shaming‘ since there were plenty of chairs at each stage, and it was the most respectful crowd I have seen at the champ stages in this regard in quite awhile. I did hear some grumblings from the grades level side that people were less courteous.

Camping & Access

Camping areas were plentiful and well marked, and the feis team set up a 6 – 8 foot wide walkway throughout the stage areas. This was occasionally more constricted due to camping overflow and loiterers, but generally you could get through pretty easily.

Awards & Results Areas

Grade level awards were posted at one end of the venue on a large wall. No matter where you are though, grades level results are hard to get too with the number of people trying to see them. The awards table was right next to where the results were posted.

Champ level dancers had a section off in a secluded area featuring the standard 3 tier podium and lots of chairs for viewers. ‘A’ chair for a viewer is out of the ordinary, so ‘lots for viewers’ was a bonus. This area was far enough away from stages so the announcements did not compete with music from any of the stages.

Parking

Parking was plentiful with various lots costing from $10 – $15 dollars within a block of the building.

Venue Score: 9.5

Judges

The stage we were on actually had 4 judges, 1 in training as I understand. The judges were attentive to both dancers on stage each time, and the scores seemed more consistent than they have at other feiseanna. Not sure if this speaks to the opinions of the judges, or a consistency in TGCs skills. Either way, I liked the judging.

Judge Score: 9.5

Music

Having commented on musical confusion in other posts, I can say when you are in front of the stage or in the middle of the venue, this feis was no different. Lots of overlap from the various stages. I did make a point to walk the venue and try to hear the music from a dancer perspective (without actually getting on the stage) and realize that if you are ‘in front’ of the musician, it is a lot easier to hear.

Each stage had their own musicians and I heard no complaints.

Musician Score: 9.5

Food

This venue had ‘upscale’ convention center food like Cuban sandwiches, Metts, Chicken Tender sandwiches, and then your burgers, fries, pretzels, deli sandwiches, etc… The concession was pricey at $8.50 for a deli sandwich but it was good size and came with a small pasta salad and granola bar (weird combo). Drinks were also pricey.

You could also find smoothies, lemonade and sno-cones and a nice roasted nuts and chocolates table.

Food Score: 7.5

Vendors

You can see a complete list of vendors but the usual subjects were there, including George the shoe guy and Mare the ribbon lady. Otherwise, a few wig and hair things and some specialty tables, but sadly, no Irish M&Ms (Smarties). :(

Vendor Score: 7.5

Results

Results for champs, as mentioned above had a nice area off to one end of the venue with lots of chairs for viewers, so props for that, but it was just over an hour for results to be tabulated and announced. This was not much less than the feis last weekend that literally had twice as many dancers in the comp. Still, an hour is not terrible.

Results Score: 8.5

Feis Flow

We got to the venue early, we always do, but that is our fault. From start to finish, TGC did a special, both PC dances and got awards within 2 hours. Pretty darn good.

Feis Flow: 9

Scoring

Two part scoring with a Feis Score consisting of Judging, Music, Results and Flow, and then the overall consisting of everything.

Feis Score: 9.125 – That is VERY respectable :)

And the WTF Rating is 8.71… Nice Job Queen City!

What Say You?

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Lexington, KY Eats

Posted by:What The FeisonMay 12, 2014 0 Comments

Haven’t posted a feistaurant review in a while, but stumbled across some worthy entries this past wekeend.

Italian Nachos

Old Chicago

I have never (if memory serves) reviewed a chain restaurant, but we liked this place so much, TGC wants to move to Kentucky.

Be sure to click the pictures to see a larger version. No filters on the pics, the food looked that good and tasted even better.

Spaghetti Pie

Old Chicago is a western chain that is slowly making its way east, and if you are lucky, you have one near you. If you have not tried it, go, or at the very least put this one on your todo list for next years Bluegrass Feis.

On top of an outrageous menu, they have a nice selection of beers and the service was excellent!

We started with the Italian Nachos, a pasta (yes, I said pasta) chip covered with cheeses, sausage, pepperocini, and served with marinara, “Dio mio!… that is Italian for OMG. Fried and carbs, can it get any better?

Chicago Fire Calzone

TGC had a hard time selecting from the vast menu but decided carbo loading was the way to go. She went with the Spaghetti Pie, a wedge shaped piece of spaghetti noodles with Alfredo sauce set atop marinara.

I went with a calzone called Chicago Fire, a spicy blend of meats and veggied in a huge dough case, served with ranch. Anyone of you who knows me is going to find this hard to believe, but it was too much, and on top of the nachos, um, and beer, I couldn’t finish it.

And don’t let the ‘Italian’ list fool you, we went traditional, but they also have wings, salads, and specialty pizzas like THAI PIE with chicken and teriyaki. Oh, and did I mention they have a nice beer selection? ;)

Highly recommended.

Spaulding’s Bakery

Our own Mellie Wilkes recommended Spaulding’s to me when she heard we were headed to Lexington. Known for their donuts, she told me to get there early on Sunday if I wanted a chance to get some.

Well, considering the meal the night before (see above), and the fact we did not have to rush to the feis first thing Sunday, we took a pass on Spauldings. So why is it listed you ask?

As we drove to the feis, we took side streets through some of the older neighborhoods. In one area, I could see a line of people out the door, and considering the neighborhood, I literally thought it might be a soup kitchen. I was surprised to find it was Spauldings, and Mellie was right, there was a line out the door and around the building.

So sorry Mellie, maybe next time, but if you guys have the chance in the meantime, sounds like it is worth a visit.

Queen City Feis Grades Levels Review 2014

Posted by:Mellie WilkesonMay 12, 2014 0 Comments

queencity The Queen City Feis was held on May 10, 2014, in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Duke Energy Convention Center. This is the building which spells CINCINNATI in window lights. It is surrounded by several hotel and shopping options. The feis hotel was also connected to the convention center by SkyWalk. The SkyWalks also connect to the Tower Place Mall and secured parking garages. From First Feis to Prizewinner and Adult to Championship levels, this feis welcomes all ages and abilities. Several memorial specials are also a draw for championship dancers. This feis can certainly boast of their excellent crew, or herd, of feis volunteers. They were easy to spot in their day glow t-shirts, with GRUNT! on the back.

Please remember, this is a review from a Southern Region perspective. The Wilkes family does not usually feis in the Mid America Region. This was our third foray into a feis offered by this region. This is also our 3rd feis weekend in a row. Parts of this review are a bit more rambling than previous reviews. So, y’all just remember the perspective of the reviewer while reading.

EDITORS NOTE: This review is focused on Grades Levels. If you are interested in notes from the PC/OC levels, click here.

Venue: 8 out of 10

Convention center feis! As most readers already know, I am a fan of convention center feisanna. This venue is an excellent example of a well run, convention center feis. Walkways were fairly self patrolled. This Georgia Belle learned the true meaning of feis camping at this feis. I saw everything but a camp fire and a tent. Though I did look, there were no marshmallows or chocolate bars visible. I did see a few candy stashes, though. There was also ample seating for attendees and their guests. Several times, I saw unclaimed and empty seats in the viewing areas, while parents stood. The stages were low, so I am guessing they wanted to see the dancers feet. With low stages, standing, is a good way to ensure a view of dancer feet. If you know anything about dance in general, you know to watch the feet. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked. They were not well marked, which created some confusion and embarrassment. Camping areas were taped off and well marked. There were tables for munching at a couple of locations in the hall. There was also plenty of room for practicing, warming up, and stretching. The feis location was not well marked, upon entering the convention center. There were plenty of Duke Energy Center employees and security personnel to direct everyone.

Parking: 7 out of 10

The parking options were all very close to the convention center. $15 to park in a secure garage. $10 for an open, unsecure lot. There were a couple of both within a block of the convention center. The prices were higher than expected, especially compared to Atlanta parking prices. There were skywalks to the feis hotel and to secured parking garage.

Feis Flow: 9 out of 10

The feis was well announced over loud speakers. It started on time, with the the opening ceremonies. The majority of attendees did pay the proper respect to all national anthems. It warmed my heart, to hear my own little darlings sing the anthem of the United States of America. They were just behind me and I nearly cried. Patriotism should be taught when the children are young. It is a blessing to know that my little darlings have paid attention to that teaching. But, I digress…the stages did not all start at the same time. Some began immediately after the opening ceremonies. Others began later. The figure stages that began slowly, that I noticed, were due to either adjudicators not being quite ready or to musicians tuning their instruments and handling last minute sound checks. The volunteers were well connected with technology. Each stage had at least one volunteer wired with a headset and radio communication. So, stages were held when there were conflicts. Figure dancers did not miss the start of their solo dances on other stages. Such a stress relief! Well done, Queen City GRUNTS! You are excellent examples of well trained, hard working, well connected, and patient feis volunteers.

Vendors: 10 out of 10

Several vendors ran feis specials. One wig vendor was selling a full wig for $55. Another was selling sterling silver Celtic knotwork birthstone rings for $20. This feis had a wonderful variety of vendors available.

Two wig and hair bob stands
Two crafty doo dah and doll stands
Dress maker
Photography
Shoes
Custom Hair bands and hair bobs
Irish, Celtic, and Feis themed stand
Used dress rack

Judges: 5 out of 10

One little darling danced all three dances for the same judge. Another little darling danced twice for one judge and twice for another judge. My big darling who danced 7 grade competitions, only danced for 3 judges. On the grade stages, there was certainly a lack of judge rotation.

Music: 7 out of 10

Violins were on the grade stages for our little darlings. This caused music overflow from neighboring stages. The champion stages had accordions. Oh, beautiful accordion! Dear accordion, you were missed on the grades side of convention center. This feis, I only noticed one musician mishap on the grades stages. Very talented violinists on all of the stages our darlings danced.

Results: 4 out of 10

Results started out posting very quickly. Beginners were out within 10 minutes of their dances. With the start of advanced beginner and novice, the results started coming out slowly. Some results came out in 15-20 minutes after the competition, others took over 45 minutes to be posted. Some were lost in the shuffle completely, and did not post for 2 hours. One of the our little darlings had a competition whose results fell into that category, the feis results abyss. Do you think such a thing could be plotted on a stage assignment map? Here is the tabulation area. There is the awards stage. And right next to the podium, that spiral shape, that is the feis results abyss. Also, the awards were on the slight side, in my opinion and experience. From beginner to prizewinner, they received the same medals. Even championship dancers received medals for their treble reel. Only first place treble reel champion dancers received a small crystal boxed gift. I am accustomed to champ treble reel receiving trophies and sashes on a podium at the River Valley Feis. Or, receiving trophies and gifts at feisanna by The Drake School. It was surprising, to me, to see such slight awards for such a large feis. Champion results were an hour to 2.5 hours between competitions and announcement. The length of time between the championship dances and their results was a topic of conversation all over the feis. Not a positive or pleasant topic, from what we experienced.

Food: 6 out of 10

The venue food options were, personally, expensive. Not Disney expensive, mind you. But still, $3.50 for a pretzel. Only a pretzel. Another feis family spent $30 on chicken fingers and fries. No drinks or extras for that price. The sandwiches we wanted to order were sold out by the time our family reached the head of the line. Sandwich plates were $8.50, plus the cost of a drink. Ash was quite disappointed in the lack of coffee. But, there were options. This feis offered a wide variety of food vendors, provided you were willing to pay for the privilege.

Deli
Grill
Pizza
Specialty lemonade
Custom smoothies
Gourmet chocolate and treats

Overall: 7 out of 10

What did YOU think?

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Celtic Spirit Feis PC/OC Review 2014

Posted by:What The FeisonMay 7, 2014 0 Comments

The Celtic Spirit Feis was held on May 4th, 2014 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, WI.

Editor’s Note:

Back to back feiseanna were held at the Wisconsin Center this weekend so the summaries and scores for Venue, Food and Vendors here are the same for the Saturday feis. Scores are below. Full descriptions can be found here.

This review is for the PC/OC portion of the feis. If you have comments for the Grades portion of the feis, please contact me and I can share them in a separate post, thanks!

Venue Score: 7 | Food Score: 7 | Vendor Score: 9

Judges

I actually had an issue with the judges for day 2, or more specifically, one judge. This particular judge during the time I watched, seemed to focus on a particular dancer if they noticed something they did not like about the other dancer. It came across as a snap decision, ‘nope don’t like that dancer, not going to look for anything good about them.’ Just gave me a bad impression and therefore did not like the judging on Sunday as much as the judging the previous day. This was on Stage 1.

Judge Score: 7

Music

Actually, the setup of the musicians and the issues I encountered with that setup on Saturday, remained on Sunday, so the score is the same.

Musician Score: 7

Results

Awards were in the same large area as the day before so there was plenty of room, but the time from the end of the comp to the announcing of results was a little slower on Sunday at just over 2 hours.

Results Score: 8

Feis Flow

I can sum up the flow like this, by 1p.m. it looked like over 95% of the comps had finished, and there was dancing on very few stages. That feis moved along. Great job!

Feis Flow: 10

Scoring

Two part scoring with a Feis Score consisting of Judging, Music, Results and Flow, and then the overall consisting of everything.

Feis Score: 8 – Not quite as good as the day before due to poorer Judge and Results scores. A better Flow score helped.

And the WTF Rating is 7.86… not terrible, and definitely worth another chance..

What Say You?

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Wisconsin Spring Feis PC/OC Review 2014

Posted by:What The FeisonMay 7, 2014 2 Comments

logocolor The Wisconsin Spring Feis was held on May 3rd, 2014 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, WI.

Editor’s Note:

Back to back feiseanna were held at the Wisconsin Center this weekend so the summaries and scores for Venue, Food and Vendors will be the same for both days and only listed in this review.

This review is for the PC/OC portion of the feis. Sorry, it got to hard to monitor stages and results for grades and pay attention to what was going on with TGC and her schedule. If you have comments for the Grades portion of the feis, please contact me and I can share them in a separate post, thanks!

Venue

This is the first (and second) feis I have attended at this venue and I am on the fence about the venue itself. It is huge and has lots of potential, but I do not think the space was adequately used.

There were 10 stages with stages 1 – 3 set up for PC & OC and 4 – 10 for grades. The huge hall was divided in half by a partition with the PC/OC stages butt up against it. Grade level stages 4 – 8 were in the same half of the hall, separated from the PC/OC stages by a large camping area, and an attempt at walkways between the stages and the camping area. Stages 9 and 10 were in the other half of the hall kind of off in the corners.

The other half of the hall had the results for grades set up on the partition that divided the hall, basically in back of stages 1 – 3. It also held the vendors (about 8 of them), a small smoothie cart and some tables for dining. It also held the awards area for PC/OC which was a nice size and accomodated that purpose better than any other feis I have seen while TGC has been at this level.

The PC/OC stages were very large, about 28 x 32 and covered with the non-slip material which made for a nice dance area. TGC danced on two different stages during the two days and had no problems, and I saw no slips or falls on either of them. TGC did say that stage 3 had either a loose board or high spot she noticed when she was practicing before the feis started, but that was the only complaint I heard.

Afraid that even though I watched a dance or two by friends on the grades stages, I did not notice to much about them.

Camping in the ‘designated area’ was not adequate for the number of people there Saturday. There was plenty of area in the other half of the hall but it appeared that rather than take a 60 second walk, piling on top of each other was preferred.

Camping in the viewer chairs, was as always, an issue. People ‘tried’ not to do that and piled there stuff behind the last row of chairs which impeded pedestrian flow. Add to that the people standing behind that gear, and the people standing behind them, trying to see the dancers, because they could not sit down for all the gear piled onto the chairs, and the walkway that was supposed to be about 10 feet wide quickly dwindled down to about 5 feet. Add in overflow camping from the other side of the path, well, you get where I am going with this.

The concessions were at either end of the hall and there was only one bathroom I saw in the hall, but more were located in the hallway outside, so not to bad.

I heard parking was $15 but to be honest, since we were in a hotel attached to the venue, we used hotel parking when we got there Friday night and did not get in the car till it was time to go home on Sunday.

If I had run the feis, I would have moved all the vendors up to the front of the hall between the main doors and the stages, there was probably 40 feet of free space that would probably would have fit them all. Then, I would use the other half of the hall to space out the stages more and add more camping, but that is just me ;)

Venue Score: 7 (but it has the potential to be 9 or 10. NOTE: Sunday seemed less crowded and more pleasant then Saturday)

Judges

PC/OC always has 3 judges. They were attentive on our stage and took only one break that I saw. I realized with this back to back, that although there is always similarities in PC/OC judging, having 3 judges does not automatically mean a high score. Saturday was good, Sunday, less so.

Judge Score: 9.5

Music

Each stage had their own musician and according to TGC, the music was fine on the stage, but in the viewing seats it was really hard to distinguish between which stage was playing what. I also saw one dancer jump the gun which I believe was due to having a hard time hearing the music.

Musician Score: 7

Food

We only caught the lunch menu and it was much what you would expect for a ‘convention center’ venue. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, pizza. We had two cheeseburgers, and one fries and it was $17, which seemed high, but the burgers were good and pretty big. There were lots of options if you wanted to venture outside the venue, but not many fast food establishments.

Food Score: 7

Vendors

The shoe guy, NOT GEORGE, who also sold t’s and sweatshirts, some nice knit wear, Irish nic nacs, jewelry, the wig ladies, Guinness wear, a ribbon fob booth but not Made by Mare, the photographer and the feis tshirt booth. Plus, we were able to find Irish M&Ms (Smarties) and I found Lucozade, which I first had in my Grandmothers store in Ireland when I was a kid (queue the reminiscing music). All in all, a nice vendor turnout.

Vendor Score: 9

Results

I am still getting used to how these PC/OC results work and I don’t know if I have determined the average yet, but I didn’t think these were hateful. It was about 90 minutes from the end of TGCs comp and the results and she was in a huge comp.

Awards were given in a large area off in an isolated part of the hall, so there was plenty of room to gather and the noise from the viewers was not a distraction to the other competitors.

Results Score: 9

Feis Flow

Gotta say that the flow of the feis was pretty good for the number of competitors. TGCs comp was done with both dances in about an hour and the comp was the biggest comp for a standard feis I have seen.

Casual observation of other stages and it seems like the flow on those was smooth and steady as well.

Feis Flow: 9

Scoring

Two part scoring with a Feis Score consisting of Judging, Music, Results and Flow, and then the overall consisting of everything.

Feis Score: 8.625 – Music brought this down a bit but the Results and Flow were pretty good considering the sheer numbers there.

And the WTF Rating is 8.36… not to bad and this is a feis we would definitely consider going back to.

What Say You?

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Peach State Feis Review 2014

Posted by:Mellie WilkesonMay 5, 2014 0 Comments

psf The Peach State Feis was held May 2-3, 2014, in Atlanta, Georgia. The feis was held at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North. This is the same location as last year. The feis is run by Peach State Feis Inc. Truly, this is a feis of the Drake School. Their Southern Region feisanna, typically, are run under the supervision of the talented and famous Karl Drake. New this year, is the inclusion of a Feis Fiesta, held after the Friday evening competitions. This feis has no competitor cap. It also includes many competitions for all ages and abilities. From the Gaelic language, Celtic Art, and music competitions to their treble reels and traditional set competitions, this is a feis that promises to hold something for everyone.

Venue: 4 out of 10

This is a hotel feis. By definition, hotel feisanna are spread out over several, tightly packed rooms, reached by traversing crowded, noisy hallways, and end with overworked volunteers in a poorly lit awards room or area. The Peach State Feis is no exception. It also could be called the Southern Sardine Feis. You will feel as though you had been inside a sardine can, by the end of the feis. The hotel is still undergoing construction. There were no bathrooms on the feis level floor at all. Everyone had to walk upstairs to use the restroom. At registration Friday evening, the halls smelled like a summer camp cabin. Fortunately, the smells of dance bags, hair spray, sweat, and Mexican food soon over powered it. The volunteers really did all they could to answer questions, guide parents, and corral dancers. The grade level halls were noisy and crowded. The stage was about 2 inches off of the floor. There was room to walk. Barely. The feis awards room was at the end of the main hallway. All the vendors were accessible on the main hallway. The champs room was much quieter. It was also very well lit, with a raised stage. It should be noted that was no room to practice or stretch.

Vendors: 8 out of 10

Two of the vendors scheduled for the feis did not arrive. Otherwise, it would have been a 10 out of 10. The Drake School feisanna usually have a wide variety of excellent vendors. This year, they included:

Specialized t shirts
Portable Speakers
Shoe and poodle sock vendor
Ireland/Celtic/Feis themed items
Celtic Fine Jewelry
Free Physical Therapy and Injury Evaluations
Wig and Hair Bobs
Crystal photographs

Food: 6 out of 10

Hotel concessions were available. Bagels with cream cheese were $2. The food was fine for a hotel feis. There was also a restaurant and Starbucks down the hall. The Starbucks prices were a bit higher than home. $3.50 for a large iced, flavored coffee or a large regular cup of coffee. If coffee is easily available, the Ash Wilkes is quite pleased. Thus, the reason for the high food rating. He enjoyed his coffee and stayed pleasant the entire feis.

Music: 8 out of 10

Accordions! How thankful I was to hear those blessed accordions at all the stages. Even with the din of the halls, you could hear the music. The speakers were well above the heads of all the dancers. The first few rounds of Advanced Beg, the musician started the music a bit roughly. As the number progressed, the beginning of the dances became a smoother transition. Having the counter on stage saved several people from timing errors, in my observation. With there being accordions at the feis, there was occasionally some musical carry over between the rooms. Since the feis was a crowded, noisy one, this was only noticed rarely, and more often in the afternoon.

Parking: 5 out of 10

With there being no competitor cap, there is no telling how many people will be attending the feis. No telling how many cars. Also, since the event is held at a hotel, these same people will be looking for cars in a parking lot with other hotel guests. I am sure you can see where this is going. Parking was made more of a challenge with the hotel construction detours.

My personal recommendation is to arrive between 3 and 4:30pm on Friday night. Be prepared to keep your car in your parking spot until your family is finished at this feis. Easier said than done, I understand. It is something to consider for next year.

Judges: 6 out of 10

Judges were kept at the same table for the morning grades. The dancers were rotated. There were 3 stages in the grades room. 1 stage in the champ room. Depending on the number of grade level dances, the dancer may have danced for 3 different judges, or, they may have danced for 1 judge 3 times and the other judges only 1 time. My personal preference is for a different judge for each dance competed. This feis was more of a statistical probability game with judging. It all depended on the number of dances, the rotation of the stage, and where each fell in the operation of the schedule. The same rotation and judges were in place for the afternoon grade competition for Novice. They were changed completely for the Prizewinner competitions. One judge left before the end of Prizewinner competitions. This complicated the remainder of the competitions for those 3 stages, leaving 2 judges for the room. (See also Feis Flow)

Results: 7 out of 10

Results were posted roughly 15-30 minutes after the completion of the dance. A wide estimation range, I know. Some dances were posted quickly. Some dances did not post results for quite awhile. It should be understood that the extreme crowding of the halls and hallways effected the runners ability to relay the scores to the tabulation room. The medals were a change from last year. This year, they were palm sized, embossed and enameled peaches, with the feis name and logo. There were gold, silver, and bronze. All other placements were copper colored and embossed, without the enamel. Trophies were awarded for all traditional set placements, in addition to Prizewinner and Up. Champions received various crystal gifts, trophies, sashes, and perpetual trophies, depending on their competition level, age, and placement.

Feis Flow: 7 out of 10

Some changes were made from last years schedule. The Friday evening figure, language, music, and vocal competitions were held on the large ballroom stages. They were followed by the Feis Fiesta party. The evening competitions began almost 30 minutes late, which of course pushed the figures late. The charity treble reel, at the Feis Fiesta, was postponed until the figures completed. Of course, many of us now that the Drake School knows how to throw a great party. The Feis Fiesta was a huge success, with money raised for the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. Piñatas ended the party.

The following morning, the grades schedule progressed very smoothly. The feis started on time. Lunch break occurred on schedule, at 12:10pm. The stages resumed, for grades, close to 45 minutes later. The rooms were both quieter and less crowded in the afternoon. Towards the end of the day, a judge leaving early affected the schedule. The final prizewinner and treble reel schedules went from three to two stages. The bathrooms being upstairs created delays, during what are usually short breaks for the judges.

Overall Feis Rating: 6 out of 10

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Little Rock Feis Review 2014

Posted by:Mellie WilkesonApril 27, 2014 4 Comments

The Little Rock Feis was held on April 26, 2014. It was held in the Little Rock Statehouse Convention Center. Of course, you have already guessed that it was held in Little Rock, Arkansas. Judy McCafferty is the leading lady of both Arkansas feisanna. The other is held in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in November. This is the second time we have attended the Little Rock Feis

Venue: 8 out of 10

Being a fan of convention center feisanna, this location began my appreciation for such events. There was plenty of seating at the large stage, smaller stage, and awards stage. Camping was constantly monitored, politely, for neatness and traffic flow. The large, carpeted registration area and foyer, outside the feis hall, provided ample practice space for both hard and soft shoes. There were plenty of restrooms, which were kept neat and stocked the entire day. The stages were set up in the same pattern as last year. One change, which some appreciated, was to have the champion levels compete first, on the main stage. Concurrently, on the smaller performance stage, Prizewinner (Open) and Adult competitions were held. The stages were raised, with stair railings, back railings, and covered with a dance floor traction material. The material did become rippled, on all the performance stages. This made a few areas of the stages more difficult for dancing than others. The awards stage being in the same hall was a mixed blessing. The McCafferty School puts forward an excellent awards stage. A large podium takes center stage. It is flanked by tall, professional banners for the feis and school. The stage is large enough to accommodate all the placing dancers for champion awards presentations. Certain competitions were interrupted by the announcements. Or the awards were interrupted by the competitions. A few dancers missed their award presentations entirely, due to those difficulties. Towards the end of the day, they agreed to a compromise of low level microphone awards presentations and a louder volume for the stage speakers.

Parking was a block, or more away from the venue. The closest parking deck was $5 for the day. The fortunate few secured close metered spaces, which are free on the weekends. The rest either parked at their hotel and walked, or parked further away…and walked.

Vendors: 5 out of 10

There were 5 vendors at the feis, not including the volunteer selling school feis shirts. The most fascinating of these vendors displayed hand crafted musical instruments. One of my little darlings requested a Welsh pattern instrument, crafted in the 11th century style. Since the little darling has not yet mastered, or shown much interest, in the tin whistle we purchased sometime back, the request was declined. Our family does enjoy shopping for interesting Irish dance, Celtic, and Feis themed items. This was not the feis for such shopping.

Other vendors included one of each of the following:

Photography
Dressmaker
Wigs and Hair Bobs
Poodle Socks and Dancing shoes

Food: N/A

Convention center vending was available in the feis hall. Outside food and drinks were also permitted. We chose to bring in our own food and drink. So, my opinion of the feis food options is not included in this review.

Music: 6 out of 10

For me, the best musician to see at a feis is an accordionist. Truly, I did not appreciate an accordionist until we began to feis. The only time we saw an accordion was for a few of the figures and the family figure competition. The rest of the time, both performance stages were accompanied by extremely talented violinists. Even well mic’d, they were a challenge to hear on the stage, at the best of times. An echoing convention hall can distort the light notes of the violin. When the volume was raised on the performance stage speakers, it certainly improved for both dancers and spectators. At the beginning of the feis, if you were not within 2 rows of the stage, you could not hear the music being played at all. It made watching the hard shoe competitions a different experience. Especially since all the spectators could hear were the beats from the dancers.

Judges: 7 out of 10

Our little darlings danced solo steps for 2 different judges. One of the judges was for 2 of their soft shoe dances. They also danced for a different judge for their figure competition. Considering the size of the competition and the feis hall, I do believe the judges were rotated adequately. Some of the other competitors did not have the same judge rotation. The larger stage appeared to have an easier time of rotating judges between it’s 3 stages. The smaller stage, to one side of the hall, was a bit slower in the judge rotation. My little darlings danced all of their solo steps on the smaller stage. Their figures were danced on the larger stage. We watched several other dance friends on the larger stage throughout the day.

Results: 6 out of 10

For the most part, results for grade level dances were posted within 10 to 15 minutes of the competition’s completion. The treble reels and champion dancer awards presentations were another matter. Many dancers competed at 8:15am and were still waiting for their awards to be called an hour, or more later. Some treble reel awards did not take place until 2 hours after the competition had completed. This did delay several families ability to head to the Little Rock Zoo, or home, longer than expected. Of course, from the Novice level and up, if you entered in a treble reel special, you also earned a chance to climb the podium for your awards presentation. Little Rock and River Valley are among the few feisanna who do award Novice and Adult dancers on a podium for their treble reel specials. It is certainly a draw for competitiors for this feis. After all, what Irish dancer doesn’t want to be at the top of the podium?

Feis Flow: 4 out of 10

The feis offers several special competitions. Some, such as music and vocal competitions, are offered the night before. Others take place the day of the feis. In general, Judy McCafferty runs her feisanna in a quick and orderly manner. This was not a general feis day. Unfortunately, the figures, blind man treble reel specials, and stage schedules created unusual problems for the feis flow. Lunch break was cancelled, rescheduled, and scheduled yet again. Then, figure competitions and special competitions were moved from one stage to another. More than one competitor found themselves struggling to change their dancing shoes for competitions that ran out of order, on different stages than scheduled. Other figure competitions were started on one stage. Then, stopped, only to be restarted on a completely different stage. Even more confusing for competitors, the stage volunteers would promise to hold the competition, only to begin the competition without several competitors on stage. Many families found the confusion unexpected and challenging. Thankfully, Judy McCafferty handled all of the challenges with her usual grace, patience, and authority. The feis even ran ahead of schedule, ending just after 4pm, when it was scheduled to last until 6pm.

Overall Score: 7 out of 10.

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Golden State Feis Review 2014

Posted by:Twisted CloversonApril 21, 2014 0 Comments

The 2014 Golden State Feis was held on March 29th and 30th at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, Ca. This was our third time attending.

Venue

This feis is held under the St. Mary’s Cathedal in the “basement” area as we call it. It is not really a basement, more like the ground floor. We have always liked this feis and one of the reasons is because of the venue. Beginners through Prizewinners are located in the very large room in the center of the building while Prelims, Champs and Adult competitions take place in another smaller but still fairly large room across the hall. Check-in, results and the art competition are located in another large room off the hall as well. The wide hallway wraps around the entire large room in the center with beautiful marble floors and although there are no hardshoes allowed, it offers plenty of practice room between dances. The stages are nice and big with marley flooring over plywood. We have never had any problems finding seats as there is always plenty of room. “Camping” is not a big issue at this feis as there are enough chairs for everyone and saving seats doesn’t pose a problem. I have noticed that there is much more “camping” on the floor versus seats in the Championship room due to the smaller size of the room. One thing that has been a bit of an annoyance the last few times has been the hanging of solo dresses for sale on all the doors in and out of the large room in the middle. People will hang the dresses on the top of the door as well as the push bar to open the door. And even though these doors stay open during the feis I have seen people knock the dresses down going in and out and I myself have done this one or twice trying to sidestep a hurried dancer rushing by. I think these dresses would fare much better on a provided dress rack. I know, myself, don’t really relish the idea of knocking down $1200 worth of dress on the floor and wondering how much bling I may have knocked off. As for parking, well, everyone that has ever been to San Francisco knows that parking and that city do not go together. Parking, however, is not usually too much of a problem if you time it right. Parking is free in the cathedral parking lot and if you get there early enough you can find a spot very close. We have also arrived at times where the ages were switching and were able to find a spot no problem. If you are lucky, some parking spots are even covered, which we weren’t quite lucky enough to find this last time when, of course, it was pouring rain. Nothing like walking through the rain in a velvet school dress with tights, full makeup and a wig.

Judges

As is the usual in our area, we have one judge per stage with three to four stages dancing at once in the Beginner-Prizewinner categories. A few of the judges at this feis, however, seemed to be looking down at their notes more than watching the dancers. A couple of the judges really looked like they weren’t interested in being there and at the end of one age group just seemed like they had given up as they decided to have a conversation with each other instead of watching their dancers. Kind of disappointing since these dancers practice so hard for their few minutes of stage time.

Music

Pretty much the same guys at this venue for this feis and the other at this location and we love them. Very consistent, great musicians with a good sense of humor. Very professional.

Food

This feis offers one option in food. At the end of the back hallway a table is set up with coffee, water, soda, donuts, bagels, sandwiches and fruit. Beware, prices are high! We usually bring our own food to this one because after you park for free in the parking lot, the last thing you want to do lose your spot to go cavorting around San Francisco looking for food, having to pay for parking, dodging traffic and navigating around in the hour you get for lunch. There is nothing super close by and it’s just not worth it unless you really know the city.

Vendors

There are usually 5 to 6 vendors at this feis as well as the feis logo clothing booth. It’s been pretty consistent to have the wig booth, and the shoe booth. There is also an Irish jewelry and trinket booth that sells high quality sliver and gold Irish jewelry. One of the popular booths with the kids is the music/knick-knack/Imported candy booth. Plenty of snacks from the U.K. if your willing to pay the price. Also there is usually a vendor that has a little bit of all of the above and a few dresses and dress bags as well. Not a ton of choices, but a nice little smattering for the numbers this feis usually brings.

Results

Results are always timely and well displayed at this feis. I love that results pretty much have their own room so no huge crowds to plough through to sneak a look. The people running the results are very nice and helpful too. Lately, adults have been getting their scores for free as an incentive to keep dancing which is awesome so it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Feis Flow

This feis was very on time and flowed very nicely. The only thing that was mentioned was the changing of the dances from how they were listed on the schedule to being back to back. A few girls missed their dances due to this because they were not used to dances being back to back. Also, it took almost 2 hours for a special to be announced when the dancers in this dance were done dancing for the day and ready to go home. This happened in the middle of the day and I think it was a lack of communication on the part of the people in charge and the announcers.
Overall this feis is a very nice little feis that we have always enjoyed. It has been pretty consistent and we will definitely be going again next year. I give this feis 8.0

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