Harvest Time Feis 2014 PC/OC Review/0 Comments/in , , /by

The Harvest Time Feis was held at Burlington High School in Burlington, Massachusetts on October 26, 2014.

Venue

Burlington High school- we got there a bit earlier this time around 11. Parking was a zoo, it is a huge lot and if you didn’t plan on a long walk and extra time this could be stressful. Again, I am not used to this size feis, which was bigger then Saturday, so maybe the natives would take it in stride.

The stages were spread out upstairs and down and finding a spot to put your things was a great challenge. I settled in a cleared out gym only to be told they were closing it and everyone had to leave in 10 min. Our backpack was then put behind a door near a trash can. It was very crowded but you could go outside, which people did. Felt a bit squished.

It was hot in the gym again but for Opens in the auditorium it was nicely air conditioned. Oh, the stages were rubber on a gym floor, this time splitting it into 6 stages in one room. It worked although there was only 1 check in spot in the back corner for all stages and that was confusing.

For the opens stage in the library the state was back to front with the audience behind the dancers.The only entrance was side stage.

Several falls in opens way too close to Oireachtas. Combined boys and girls. No idea what was happening in opens, and combined with ‘out of it volunteers’ or down right rude volunteers made it worse. I found the volunteers in prelim nice, but no one knew what was happening. One person only, went out of their way to get an answer for me to find out which show was dancing first. Everyone else, while nice to me, just said they didn’t know and walked off. That made it stressful for me and I would imagine worse for first time feisers.

I give it a 5

Judges

There were plenty of judges for all of the stages. I didn’t see a rotation after grade levels but I can’t be sure. They did figures in between, but because they were running so far behind they moved them into the gym that they previously closed. I still didn’t see a change of stations. I can’t rate this since I’m not sure again.

Music

Loved it again. Nice job it was clear and loud. Shared musicians for all but it worked.

I give it an 8

Food

I heard there was a cafeteria selling food but I had no idea where it was, and it was so crowded I didn’t go anywhere. There was a small table outside the gym selling candy for 1.00, but that’s it. Based on that I will rate it a 5, but I don’t know about food otherwise.

I give it an 5

Vendors

I can’t say that I saw a single vendor. Again, this was a big venue but I didn’t see any from my trip from the front of the school to the downstairs gym.

I give it a 0

Results

They were ok, no announcements again, so I had no idea when they were going to be held. No posting for recalls. We didn’t wait to long. The trophies were super cute, and I am all about theme! They had witches on the top, ghosts and pumpkins etc. Sashes were nice, with fringe, I think the opens had gems. Marks were given,

I give it an 8

Feis Flow

It was very choppy. My daughter’s comp ran 1.5 hours late. I was told it is usually a good running feis, so maybe it was an off year. They tried to move it along by moving the figures and glad they did, but ours ran late. Never fun. 2 dances start to finish was about 4 hours.

I give it a 6

Scoring – I give the feis an overall score of 7.

More room, better communication would help for sure. Like I mentioned previously, other locals told me this usually runs well, so we all have off years, maybe this was just a hiccup.

This was a nice experience overall. All the kids and parents were very sweet to myself and my daughter, esp since we have never competed there, so they were curious and that sprung into nice conversations and chats about the differences and similarities between regions. I liked the double feis, as I had to fly, so it made the pain of airfare a bit easier to swallow. I was impressed with the quality of the dancers in the New England region. So many lovely, sharp, and elegant dancers I can’t wait to go back next year.

Do You Feel the Same?

[poll id=”79″]

Neponset Valley Feis 2014 PC/OC Review/0 Comments/in , , /by

logo4The 10th Annual Neponset Valley Feis was held at Walpole High School, Walpole, Massachusetts on October 25th, 2014.

This review is for Champ level comps. ( note: My daughter was in the prelim comp. and a friend who was traveling with me took notes on the Opens stages so those are included too)

Venue

This feis took place at Walpole high school. Parking was decent for the number of people attending. I can’t say whether grades were more crowded, my daughter danced at 3:15 so we got there post lunch. The prelim stages were 3 and were just one big rubber floor placed over the gym and separated by tape. On the wall were the numbers of the comps and they were taken down as each comp moved along. I didn’t hear any announcements to the next comp but the room was big so I may have missed it. bleacher seating no room for camping. We had a good amt of room to walk around, found a corner just outside the gym. could walk in and out of the building for air. the gym was super hot but outside was cool. it was uncomfortable for the dancers. The autorium was where opens were held and it was very hot also. They didn’t combine boys and girls in Opens.

I would give it a 7

Judges

I can’t really say that the judges moved around too much but I don’t know. She only danced 2 dances but I dont remember the judges changes seats before her comp. I won’t rate judge rotation since I can’t give it a fair shake

Music

Same musicians for all the stages but it worked well and they were wonderful. No mistakes no delays and no wandering off never to be found again.

I give it a 10

Food

Nice options. They sold food in the cafeteria with plenty of tables set up. Prices were good ranging from 1-3 dollars. They had pizza, nice turkey, ham. etc sandwiches, orange juice, water, soda, fruit and homemade cupcakes, chips, coffee( yay!).

I give it a 10.

Vendors

In the hallway just as you came in so a bit squishy but nice. I didn’t buy anything but it seems like nice things regular stuffs.

I give it an 8

Results

Not announced and went at super human speed ( Murphy’s Law exception- except for my daughters comp when we waited and waited. ha! always the way) They didn’t post recalls and didn’t make announcments as to when they will happen. This resulted in a friends daughter running up to the podium in shorts and a t shirt ( still nice to be there though) and another missing her daughter on the podium. This was way to fast in my book. Literally, people danced and came off stage and took their things to the cafeteria to get results. I think a breather would be nice and a better way to announce results. That is tricky in a feis I know.

I give it a 5

Feis Flow

Was a bit choppy, ran on time in open but late in prelim. again, we came late in the day but time between dances went fast then slow but nothing that stands out as poor. I give it a 7

Overall I give the feis an 8.

Both my friend and I agree the volunteers for the school were lovely and helpful. Parents and kids alike were warm and welcoming to out of towners! The halloween treble reel was cute and fun (I would have liked it at the end since kids wore costumes and it made a bit of a delay but still fun. I would go back and I recommend the feis. It was bigger then any feis I am used to but natives seemed to be used to that.

What Did You Think?

[poll id=”78″]

Cape Cod Feis Review 2014

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The Cape Cod Feis hosted by the Forbes School, Haley School, Hansen Keohane School, Heavey Quinn Academy, and Nevin Academy was held on Saturday May 10th and Sunday May 11th at the Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis, Ma.

Venue

This Feis was held at a conference center which had ample free parking. The comps were held over 2 days, with my daughter dancing on Saturday. There were 7 stages spread amongst 4 different rooms. My daughter danced in the largest room which was home to 4 stages, with 2 sets of 2 stages each. Stages were of good size, only negative was that they were not clearly divided. There were PLENTY of seats for spectators, and camping in the seats was not a problem for this reason. There were multiple locations with free water for the dancers and spectators which was a nice touch.

Judges

My daughter danced 4 times for 2 different judges. Typically she seems to dance all 3 soft shoe dances for the same judge, and her hard shoe for a different one. But here she danced 2 dances each for 2 different judges, so better than most feisanna. The judges also provided helpful comments with the marks we received.

Musicians

In the room that my daughter danced in there was an accordion player and a pianist. They were both set up in middle of the 4 stages, and were only playing for those 4 stages so there was no bleeding from other musicians. This was about the best set up we have seen since we began feising..

Food

There was a good selection of food for both lunch and dinner, i.e. bagels, muffins, fruit and yogurt for breakfast, and sandwiches, soups, hot dogs , and chips for lunch. Though the prices seemed quite high to me, $3 for a can of soda, $2 for a piece of fruit or small bag of chips, and close to $10 for some of the sandwiches.

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, made to order t-shirts, dress bags etc..

Results & Awards

The room we danced in was literally across the hall from the results/awards rooms so most results were available quite quickly, some even before all dances in a particular age/level was done with all dances.

Feis Flow

Feis flow was very good with all things being in one small area, but managing not to feel cramped at the same time. The only issue I had would be with the comps running about an hour behind, but that is certainly not out of the ordinary.

Scoring

This is probably one of my favorite feisanna so far. Nice venue, well run, great results for my dancer : )

With all this in mind I give this Feis an 8.

Hansen Keohane School Feis Review 2014

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The 2014 Hansen Keohane School Feis was held Sunday April 13th at the Dedham High School and Dedham Middle School in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Venue

This Feis was held at 2 adjacent schools with the majority of the competitions, and all additional Feis happenings being held at the High School, with a select few Championship level competitions being held in the middle school. There seemed to be ample parking both in the school lots and on the surrounding streets. The high school was large and multi-leveled and getting from one place to another seemed to take quite some time. The competitions were held in 2 gyms in the high school, and then in one gym in the middle school. There were 4 stages in the gym that my daughter danced in, they were all connected in 1 long row, with now obvious markings showing where 1 stage ended, and the next began. Combine this with some of the smallest stages I have ever seen and the result is dancers dancing off the front of their stage, or sideways onto the stage beside their’s. If your competition was held in the Middle school gym, you first had to visit the High School to get your number, go down the street to get to your competition, and then go back over to the High School to get your results and awards, or partake of any of the other Feis happenings. Camping was ample in the halls of the school, as I said above the whole school seemed to be used.

Judges

My daughter danced four times and had the same judge for all 3 soft shoe dances, and a different judge for her hard shoe dance. This seems to be standard operating procedure for most feisanna that we attend.

Musicians

In the gym that my daughter danced in there was 1 musician for the 4 stages that were in there. Though during the time we were there only 2-3 of the stages were being used and in was for a single competition broken down into smaller evenly sized groups so this did not pose a problem at all. I do have a gripe with the musician as he did seem to occasionally play the wrong notes which seemed to throw the dancers off here and there. I do want to mention that at one point he stopped playing during the first few notes leading into a new dance to ask the people in the audience to quiet down as a show of respect to the dancers. I think that this was great, as we know it can get a bit loud in there.

Food

We had an after lunch start so we didn’t eat there.

Vendors

There looked to be a decent mix of vendors if you found yourself in need of something at this Feis, and they were off to the side and out of the way making them easy to shop. There was a shoe shop that offered the basics and had some fun stickers, water bottles etc, and a table with hair bows and hair bands and the like.

Results & Awards

Results seemed to be coming out randomly, and the area that they were located in was too small. The results were hand written and haphazardly placed under the level headings in a completely random order. My daughter’s competition was broken into 3 groups with 1 group’s result coming out pretty quickly, not my daughter’s of course, and the 2 remaining groups coming out quite some time later. I would say speed was about average, but organization was well below average.

One issue I have here is that unless you came in first you did not get a ribbon with your medal. Not a big deal, but we all know how the kids love to throw those medals on and wear them the rest of the day. Can’t do that without a ribbon.

Feis Flow

The flow was pretty decent all in all. The competitions seemed to be running on time more or less, and the time for results was average.

Scoring

The Feis itself was pretty average, no too bad, nor a clear stand out in my mind. However, I had a very poor experience regarding my daughter’s registration for this event. It took the school about 5 weeks to cash my check, leaving me wondering if they had received my registration at all. During this time I emailed 2 different addresses multiple time each, as well as called 2 different numbers leaving multiple messages. Not once was my email or voice-mail returned. A friend had a similar experience, and wasn’t sure their daughter was dancing until getting the competitor card that morning at the Feis, as they were not mailed to our dance school as was stated they would do in the syllabus.

With all this in mind I give this Feis a 5.

What Say You?

[poll=”27″]

Quincy Feis Review 2014

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Special Thanks to Boston Feis Dad for sending in this review. Hopefully it is the first of many!

The 2014 Quincy Feis sponsored by the Forbes School of Irish Dance was held Sunday March 30th at the North Quincy High School in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Venue

This Feis was originally scheduled to be held at the Quincy High School but had to be moved to the North Quincy High school due to a double-booking. This information was posted on the school website, and also mentioned in the email from Feisweb that provided the dancer card. One main concern with this venue was a serious lack of parking. The school is located in a city just outside of Boston where the major means of transportation are bus or train. The school lot was very small, with many people being forced to park illegally at surrounding businesses, or on side streets that were posted with time limits of 1-2 hours. We all know that 1-2 hours at a Feis is simply not realistic. People had to leave their cars where they could, and had to hope not to be ticketed or towed.

Once inside we found that the Feis was running at least an hour late, and by the time my daughter danced it was closer to an hour-and-a-half late. The school was large but only a small part of it was being used and it felt very cramped. There were 8 stages, one for opens in an auditorium, and the other 7 in the gym. 6 stages were all in one area with 3 connected in a row back to back with another 3 stages. The stages were small and cramped, and more than a few times dancers found themselves on the wrong stage, leading to 4, and sometimes as many as 5 dancers on one small stage at a time. The 7th stage was in an adjacent area separated by a large plastic curtain. Seating was in the form of bleachers on one side of 3 stages, and standing room only on the others. The groups of dancers were large and were split at the time that they danced so some people would be forced to move once they had found a spot to watch their dancer as they were moved to a different stage.

Camping was here, there, and everywhere. From under the results, to all around the stages, and in the cafeteria. This left little room to try and view the results, let the volunteers stage the kids before dancing, or find a spot to practice a few steps.

Judges

My daughter danced four times and had the same judge for all 3 soft shoe dances, and a different judge for her hard shoe dance. There did not seem to be much in the way of a rotation for the judges. They also seemed to be getting a bit irritated by the confusion that came when a new group would take the stage and they would need to split the group due to it’s large number.

Musicians

As I said above, there was an area with 6 interconnected stages. These stages were all served by a SINGLE musician. This definitely led to the feis running behind schedule as all 6 stages could only move as fast as the slowest stage. Once you start factoring in different speeds for hard shoe dances, and the various options for the traditional set, you have a lot of dancers waiting around for their turn to dance. Another issue with the music is that the musician from the 7th stage could be heard at the other 6 stages and vice-versa due to insufficient separation. I also heard that one of the musicians early in the day was quite poor, and that the music was not being played at the proper speed.

Food

We had an after lunch start so we didn’t eat there. From the looks of it though the majority of people who were eating had soda and pizza, not much else looked to be offered.

Vendors

There were not many vendors at this Feis, and those who were there were very difficult to get to as they were sharing space in the cafeteria with people eating, changing and camping. I suppose if I NEEDED something I would have tried to make my way over, but the cramped space discouraged casual browsing.

Results & Awards

Results seemed to be coming out very slowly, which was unexpected as my daughter was part of the first group that danced after the lunch break. I assumed that they had caught up on all pre-lunch competitions during the break and while the after lunch comps were being danced. Then there was an issue with my dancer’s results. Due to confusion with splitting groups the judge had put the wrong competition number for her group. As the large group of frustrated parents, and tired dancers continued to wait word trickled through the crowd of the mistake made it’s way around and we found that our results had been on the wall for quite some time, just no one from Feisweb or the school had bothered to mention it. I can’t even imagine what happened when the competition that used the number that had been wrongly attributed to my daughter’s comps came through later in the afternoon.

Feis Flow

As I’m sure you have gleaned from the above sections, the flow was pretty bad at this feis. From a lack of parking, to cramped quarters, ever changing stages, and lots of standing around waiting for other stages to get done for the music to change.

Scoring

I am not going to score this feis as I do not think it would be entirely fair due to the forced venue change because of a double booking of the original venue. I did not attend the previous year’s feis, as my daughter wasn’t feising yet, but I hope that next year’s will be better organized.

 So What Did You Think?

[poll id=”24″]