Clan na nGael Summer Feis

The 3^rd annual Clan na nGael SummerFeis was held at the Shamrock Club in Columbus, OH on July 12^th, 2014.

First things first: this feis is outdoors. In Ohio. In July. This is not secret/privileged information. 😉 If the possibility of rain or humidity during a dance competition seems unappealing, this might not be the feis for you. However, if you are lover of all-things-summer, combined with all-things-Irish-dancing, this feis can be a fantastic experience.

Administration–9

This was the most organized feis committee we have encountered thus far. Communication via facebook was fantastic. The committee was upfront on both their website (http://www.clannnangael.org/summer-feis-2013/) and their facebook page about a $5 parking fee. In an age when some of us mostly carry plastic, I really appreciated knowing in advance that I would need paper money for parking. I’m not a fan of the surprise parking fee that leads me to wander around an unfamiliar city searching for an ATM. This feis filled very quickly and the committee was right on top of things, releasing stage assignments WEEKS before the feis. That deserves a shout out! Volunteers at the feis were friendly and very patient with those who were….weary (to be polite) from the humidity that day. The songs for the Treble Reel competition were also announced well in advance of the feis and divided up by age. Kudos to the committee for superior communication!

The posted costume rule was “No wigs or solo dresses” and there was a note about not allowing school letters or logos anywhere on costumes. They posted examples on their facebook page of acceptable casual costumes. However, their website features a Ceili team in school dresses and large wigs. ????? It seemed the costume “rules” were really just suggestions as I observed a grade level dancer in a wig and a school dress with her school letters boldly embroidered on the front of it. I was curious, so I looked up her number where scores were posted and she took home a lot of medals. So, if your teacher is hardcore about costumes and forbids you to compete in a feis requiring casual costume, come anyway. Ignoring this “rule” won’t hurt your scoring. Kind of odd to call so much attention to this rule but not enforce it, but it is what it is….but for those who followed the costume suggestions, this was feis was a breath of fresh air! No heavy, itchy dresses. No hot wigs. Just kids, who looked like kids, dancing freely and with a lot of joy.

Venue–7

This feis had a great outdoor space. There were several practice stages set up around the Shamrock Club (including some directly behind the performance tent). Camping was plentiful and there was very little opportunity for “feis shaming”, which was good as seating was at a minimum. There was a playground for restless siblings and lots of open space for running around.

The stages were VERY slick. This was in part due to the fact that the seating area was set up on top of very pretty, but very dusty, white stones. This made dancing shoes extremely slick and there were many slips and falls. In what I assume was an effort to keep the feis moving, the stages were not cleaned (that I observed) except at the beginning of the lunch break. I heard a mom, very nicely, approach some volunteers about this issue, but nothing was done. Hopefully next year they will put a tarp over the stones before setting up chairs. That would have made for a safer competition.

The venue offered an outdoor bar with televised viewing of the champion competitions, which were held indoors. The indoor space was VERY cramped. There were nice bathrooms in there and a nice little air-conditioned bar serving food, beverages, and offering more televised viewing of the champ competitions. But the key word here is “little.”

Judges and Musician–4

The low score reflects the quantity of judges and musicians, not the quality. This is one area where this feis needs some major improvements. I loved that this feis truly felt like an outdoor summer festival. However, this feis needs to move MUCH faster to accommodate the judges and dancers. There were exactly 2 stages, 2 judges, and 1 musician serving all grade level dancers. Shared musicianship always leads to a slow competition, no matter how amazing the stage monitors are. When one stage is unoccupied due another stage having a large, last group to finish up the reels of the feis, it slows things WAY down. I’m not “in the know” enough to understand why the shared musician is even a thing, but it’s obviously not uncommon.

Judge rotation was done by moving the dancers back and forth between the stages, but that simply meant for 6 dances my dancer saw only 2 judges. Not good. The judges were also very weary and did not even look refreshed when returning from lunch (which was a graciously short break). They often had their heads in their hands during the competition and who could blame them? They were dressed in professional attire on a very warm July day at a feis that ran much longer than necessary for such a small cap. Even those of us who love summer heat were feeling a little weary by lunch time. This feis seriously needs to add more stages, judges, and musicians just to accommodate its current cap.

Vendors–6

There were some cool vendors at this feis and I, personally, loved the summery tshirt logo for this feis. (yep. “summery.” Remember, folks, you heard that word here first. J )There were some general Irish swag vendors and one who reminded me very much of a vendor you’d see at a County Fair offering random Irish and US swag (tshirts, sunglasses, etc.) on multiple tables under a tent. We were in need of hard shoes and were really disappointed there was not a shoe vendor available. In all fairness, there wasn’t a shoe vendor listed on the website, but we hoped that was an oversight. There were also no wigs or dance gear vendors, which was a big disappointment and hopefully next year the vendors will be geared more towards the dancers than the spectators.

Food—10

Could not have been better in this category! There was a good variety of food, from healthy, homemade selections sold by Daughters of Erin, to a local BBQ joint, to a burger/hotdog stand (with very family-budget prices), and also food at the bar areas. A beverage stand was set up under the performance tent, which was great for hot, thirsty dancers. Prices were very reasonable, as well ($1 for bottled water, etc.). I wish more venues would use vendors who don’t charge stadium prices.

Results–7

The speed of result posting was erratic. Some scores were posted within 10 minutes of the competition. Others took much longer. The feis was very good about getting things posted on feisworx and scores were often posted online before than they were on the results wall.

Feis Flow (see Judges and Musicians) –N/A

Much of this I addressed under “Judges and Musicians.” Comps were spread out according to age and grade level. Youngest to oldest, first feis through prizewinner. Trebel Reels were done during the judges’ lunch break, which was a nice use of time; even so, this feis moved much too slowly for such a small cap.

Overall Rating: 8

If you want to give this feis a try, be sure to bring chairs, lots of water, and a cooling towel for your dancer (available in sporting goods stores). See you next year, Summer Feis!

What Say You?

[poll id=”70″]

The Clan na nGael Summer Feis was held on July 14th, 2012 at the Shamrock Club in Columbus, OH and this was the first one. Here is what this casual observer had to say…

OK, lets just start with the weather. The feis organizers really had no control over that, but it impacted the feis nonetheless. Rain up till early afternoon and then the sun came out and it got hot and muggy. I can only imagine that the heat wore at the girls…oh, did I mention this was an OUTDOOR FEIS? Who plans an outdoor feis in July? Sorry guys, I can’t see how that was a good idea, but that being said…

Venue – I liked the idea of having a feis at an Irish Club, but the inside space (reserved for senior dancers) was very cramped. The outdoor space had two stages that were set literally back to back, and the stages were very small. There was really no room for chairs for dancers and parents, so the chairs around the stage were saved for the dancers, which forced the parents to the outer edges of the tent spilling out into the rain, or the sun, as the case may be. There was plenty of room for an additional stage tent that would have alleviated a number of these problems. Camping space was plentiful, but I refer you back to the rain, sun, comment and there was just not enough shaded/cool areas.

Judges – caveat – I did not see how the judging was run inside. On the two outdoor stages, there were 2 judges seated at each, and they appeared to take turns judging. Combine that with the fact that the girls moved back and forth between stages, there appeared to be good judge rotation. Two thumbs up.

Stage rotation sounds like it might have been a pain, but the proximity of the stages, and a well organized dance schedule, made that run very smoothly.

Music – There were two musicians but only one played at a time providing music for both stages. There were very few times when a stage was waiting for the other to finish, and the wait (the ones I saw) were minor.

Food – There was a hot dog vendor open at lunch time, and that was it. Claddagh, the Irish Pub people, had a booth, but it closed at about 11 and reopened later in the afternoon. Tim Hortons had a van there till about lunchtime and there was an ice cream vendor, but the “lunch menu” was very limited. The dogs were good though and the prices reasonable. Oh, and since this was an Irish Club, you KNOW there was beer there, BUT, the outdoor bar beer taps were broken… that is just wrong, no Guinness on tap outside. They did have bottled beer(domestics) and the taps were working inside.

Vendors – the rain put a literal damper on these guys. There was a good shirt vendor in the morning through the early afternoon, when a few others opened, and then most of the normal Irish SWAG was represented. There were feis t’s for the event but they were very plain.

It was odd however that there were no shoe or wig vendors (which I did not realize till I started writing this review).

Results – very well done. I would say the results were out in 15 minutes or less on average. Great job there.

And the WTF Rating – Thinking back on the feis, I think it was well run as far as the judging, music, schedule and results were concerned. The small stages and having to deal with it being an outdoor feis (I mean it is still July in Ohio) may have made this the only time we attend this particular feis. WTF rating for this inaugural feis is a 6.5. I think there is huge potential for it if the issues with spaces/stages are handled better.