Shamrock Soaps Giveaway Winners Announced!

Posted by:What The FeisonNovember 7, 2014 0 Comments

Congratulations to the winners of the Shamrock Soaps Giveaway! They are (names as listed in the original comments):

DancerMom
Bonnie
Michelle

Heather from Shamrock Soaps has your email and will be in touch on how to collect your prize.

Congratulations Winners!

Missed the contest? Be sure to check out Shamrock Soaps! They have a line of body products locally made in Wisconsin. With a line for Irish Dancers, and products for their support teams (aka us), I think you will find something you like, I did!. You can find the site at Shamrock Soaps and can purchase on line at Shamrock Soaps on Etsy. They are also on Facebook at Shamrock Soaps.

Cincinnati Feis 2014 Grades, A Second Opinion…

Posted by:Kelly RylandonNovember 4, 2014 2 Comments

Kelly took the time to capture her insight in a review, and even though we already had a Cinci Grades review, I feel all inputs could provide something valuable to our readers, so without further ado, The Cinci Feis, A Second Opinion.

Feis Info

The 31^st annual Cincinnati Feis was held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center on November 2nd, 2014. This feis was broken up on 2 floors with food, most vendors, camping, and champ comps on the first floor. The 2^nd floor hosted grade comps, grades results/ awards, tshirts, used dresses, and a really sweet little spot for selfies and photos.

Administration/Communication – 7

The feis committee did a good job with communication and pre-feis administration. They were good about announcing the opening and closing of registration on facebook, twitter, as well as their website (www. http://cincinnatifeis.com/). Communication was good regarding vendors, camping issues, parking, stage layout, etc. Communication where the schedule was concerned was awesome! After the initial stage assignments were released, the committee decided to merge some of the groups so the competitions would count for advancement and sent out several messages about this to let people know right away stage assignments were going to change (and why). This group also gets extra points from me for using QuickFeis. LOVE the printed judge comments. LOVE the live results on-line. LOVE that you get to see exactly where your dancer fell in the pack (instead of seeing either just a placement or “did not place”). Knowing whether your dancer would dance before or after lunch was also very much appreciated. Hopefully one of these days, though, QuickFeis wall results will include either the dancer’s name or school name instead of just numbers. It’s hard to check on the results of your friends when all you have access to are numbers, but that’s QuickFeis and beyond the control of the committee.

There was a lot of confusion regarding what was or was not allowed to be near the grade level stages regarding zucas, dress bags, etc. Facebook communication stated there was to be NO camping in the ballroom upstairs due to the venue fire code. However, there was a lot of discrepancy as to what could or could not be brought upstairs, whether items were allowed outside of the ballroom, if the issue was just what was allowed on the escalator, etc. Some facility workers were very strict, others were not…It was confusing and hopefully will be worked out by next year. It would also have been fantastic if social media had been used to inform competitors of when stages were resuming after lunch. Having all food and camping downstairs led to a lot of unnecessary stress and rumors that stages were starting ahead of schedule…simple announcements like “Stage 5 competition resuming in 10 minutes” via facebook and twitter would be a fantastic idea for next year.

Venue – 8

The venue itself was gorgeous. It was already all decked out for Christmas (which some hated, but my dancer and I loved it!). There was even a sweet little podium set up in front of the Christmas tree display on the 2^nd floor for photos. Nice touch! Anyway, upon entering the venue you were greeted by the vendors and registration was just inside the main doors. My dancer was scheduled to dance after lunch, so we arrived around 11. Registration was smooth and painless. We set-up camp in the designated area which, if the stages were downstairs, was actually a really nice place to set-up camp. The space was near bathrooms and away from all the noise and intensity of the competition; it was just a nice, quiet place to eat, think, chill with friends, regroup, etc. However, having all camping items downstairs was definitely inconvenient, especially for dancers who were injured while dancing (and due to the poor stage conditions, there were many of those. More on that later….).

There were plenty of bathrooms, an elevator, and an escalator. Results and awards were also very convenient to the stages on the 2^nd floor. It was quite nice.

Stages – 3

The condition of the stages, in my opinion, was unacceptable. While very generous in size, they were like ice (even in soft shoes) and quite bouncy. I could not count the number of slips and falls I witnessed on every. single. stage. This was a problem before and after lunch, and stages were only cleaned during the lunch break . That was it. With so many slips and falls, I feel it was irresponsible of the team running this feis to not ensure someone would mop the stages at least between judges. I observed a sweet mom taping her child’s hard shoes then demanding that one of her competitors also let her tape that dancer’s shoes so she wouldn’t fall. Another mom was seen tapping each and every hardshoe of dancers sitting in chairs and waiting to compete. I did love seeing all this motherly affection poured out on these dancers, but it also made me a bit angry that it was necessary. On stage 7, a dancer fell during her slip jig. The mother immediately spoke with the stage monitors (who seemed unaware and, sadly, unconcerned). She was told the stages were mopped during the lunch break and the dancers should know to wet their shoes. ?????? They did put down a damp cloth for the dancers to walk on before taking the stage after speaking with that mom, but it did not make a difference. I really hope they invest in new stages next year as this was a big damper on an otherwise fantastic feis.

Judges and Musician – 7

There was only 1 shared musician on stages 5 & 6, which was nice. I’m not a fan of the shared musician as it always seems to slow competitions and generally causes stage conflicts, but we were not on these stages so I don’t know how well this one worked. We had a fiddle on our stage and there was an accordion on the others, but there was little music bleeding and the dancers seemed to be able to hear just fine. My dancer saw only 1 judge for all of her light shoes which was kind of disappointing. She had different judges for both of her hard shoe dances. Judge rotation could’ve been a bit better.

Vendors – 8

There were some cool vendors at this feis. There was a vendor who made darling Irish dance wear for 18” dolls and a great vendor selling Celtic gifts and jewelry along with the standard shoes, wigs, feis shirts, and dance swag.

Food – N/A

We did not purchase anything beyond Starbucks at this feis, so I can’t speak to anything regarding food. My dancer and I did, however, REALLY appreciate having a Starbucks right there. J

Results – 9

The speed of result posting was close to the speed of light. Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but they were incredibly quick. My dancer’s TJ results were pretty slow (around 30 minutes), but that was an exception. Well done!

Feis Flow – 9

Again, I think the rate of the flow was something akin to the speed of sound. However, I majored in English, not science, so my estimation could be a little off. ;-) My dancer started dancing around 1. She danced 3 soft shoe dances and 2 hard shoe dances and was finished, with results, by 3:30. LOVED the efficiency, but I would’ve been willing to have the feis run a little slower due to frequent stage cleaning. I would’ve traded speed for safety in a New York minute.

The stage schedule was very nice as it was broken up by feis age and not by grade level. There were only a few merges between ages, so there seemed to be very few stage conflicts. Few stage conflicts always, always, always makes for a more enjoyable feis experience. Sticking to the plan to end the comps of dancers up to U11 before lunch and keeping U13 and older after lunch also made for an anxiety-free flow and I didn’t observe anyone miss a dance due to a stage conflict.

Overall Rating – 8

See you next year, Cincinnati Feis!

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Feis Culkin 2014 Grades Review

Posted by:Corabelle ColbertonNovember 3, 2014 1 Comment

Corabelle has done a few grades reviews for us and I am sad to report she will no longer be doing them, BECAUSE HER GC MOVED UP TO PC!!! CONGRATS CC’s GC! Looking forward to your PC reviews!

Feis Culkin was held on Sunday, November 2, 2014 beginning at 8:30 am. The feis is held at the Maryland Discovery Sports Center in Boyds, Maryland. Boyds is located about 30 miles northwest of DC. For those traveling and in need of a hotel, towns to stay in include Germantown, Gaithersburg and Fredericksburg. This year the feis fell the day after Daylight Savings Time ended and I think the dancers and parents were happy for an extra hour of sleep (or getting ready!) before a feis

Venue

The Discovery Center is a huge indoor sporting complex nestled in a park with at least 20 soccer fields. Due to soccer games going on, parking can be somewhat challenging but not to worry, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a space if you don’t mind a short walk. The venue itself is huge with plenty of room to accommodate 7 stages,one practice stage, approximately 8 vendor tables, and an awards area. Plus there is plenty of camping space (bring your chairs!). The restrooms were plentiful and close enough to the stages. There were signs indicating where additional restroom were. A large area for dresses is reserved and seems to be a popular feis to sell a dress at.

Score 10

Stages and Seating

Grades danced on stages 4-7. The stages were smaller is size but the folks at Culkin had dancers dancing 2 at a time so there was no issue of overcrowding on the stage. The stages were not slippery and offered a nice spring. There is SRO (standing room only) for spectators.

Score 9

Judges

Dancers in grades rotated throughout all 4 stages and so it was possible for them to be judged by each of the adjudicators. They seemed happy to be there and attentive.

Score 9

Musicians

Each stage had their own musician but due to the close proximity of the stages, the music sometimes could not be heard at the optimal decibel. Most dancers didn’t seem troubled by this but it was something they talked about.

Score 7

Food

Food was available in 2 areas of the venue. The first is the indoor concession stand. The lines were long as most stages broke for lunch around the same time.. The outdoor food stand, most likely meant for the soccer game at the adjacent field was bombarded with hungry feis goers and couldn’t keep up. People waited in line for a long time and once they ordered and paid for their food, they waited up to 20 minutes for it to be cooked. They could fix this issue by cooking the burgers, chicken and any other grilled food ahead of time and keeping them in a warming tray.

Prices were average and the portions were hearty. The burgers tasted delicious but the long wait left many people unhappy. According to the outdoor menu board, additional offerings included mac and cheese, collard greens, hush puppies, Jambalaya, fried catfish and quesadilla. Inside carrots and fruit were sold along with sno-cones. No coolers or outside food was allowed and purchased food could only be eaten in designated areas away from the floor.

Score 4 – More efficient service and better preparedness next year and the score easily jumps to an 8.

Vendors

Nice variety and plenty of room for them to set up.Vendors were: Fayes, Feis Fayre, Head for the World, Ishop Irish, Fireball designs, Celtic Treasures and newcomer Glam Stand (hair and makeup).

Score 9 – Before Oireachtas it would be nice to see Rutherford shoes there.

Camping

As mentioned earlier there were plenty of camping spots. The day was sunny but cold and windy. If nice outside, there are areas to sit as well.

Score 8

Feis Flow

The feis began at 8:30 with figures. With Oireachtas coming up, there were a lot of teams competing which pushed the start time for solos later than “usual”. While it made for a long day for some, I don’t think there are many changes that could be made and so that won’t affect my scoring. Though stages had their own musicians the flow was efficient with grades stages rarely being held up. The comps were projected onto the wall and this made knowing where you needed to be very easy. This (efficient) system is appreciated by parents and dancers.

Score 9

Results and Awards

The results were computed by Feisweb and as usual the waiting time for results was very short! Placements were given to the competitors in the top 45-50% of their group. Medals were awarded for Beginner/Ad Beginner and Novice while PW received trophies for first-third place. Quality of the medals and trophies is good. Hersey bars were given (along with trophies) for charity treble reel winners.

Score 10

Social Media

Twitter handle @Feis Culkin 2014, Instagram @feisculkin and a Facebook page demonstrates their proficiency of utilizing social media. Pictures and scores were posted all day long. Prior to the event, the feis committee used social media to keep everyone up to speed with the release of stage schedule, comp splits, etc.

Score 10

The Feis capped by 2pm on the day it opened which tells you it is well attended and popular. We have attended this feis before and will continue to. It’s a good prep for those preparing for Oireachtas and it’s a well run feis. Yes, the day was long for some but that can be overlooked by so many positive areas. I hope that the food issue improves next year but that is the only area I can be critical of.

A final thank you to the volunteers who work hard and devote countless hours of their time to put on an event of this size and quality.

Overall Score 9

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Cincinnati Feis 2014 Grades Review

Posted by:JeannetteonNovember 3, 2014 3 Comments

Cincinnati-Feis-LogoFull The 31st Annual Cincinnati Feis was held on November 2, 2014 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, KY. This is the 1st time we have attended this feis, and overall, we had a pleasant experience. This review is mainly aimed at the Grades experience at this feis. As this feis divided grades by age (with younger dancers in the morning session & older dancers in the afternoon), we attended only the morning grades session, so this review covers only that piece of things.

Venue

The feis was held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. The venue is connected to the Cincinnati Riverwalk Marriott, and the feis secured a relatively reasonable rate for attendees.

Parking was available in the Marriott’s garage, as well as in an open lot across the street. Since we drove in from about 5 hours away, we stayed overnight & parked in the Marriott’s garage. I felt that the $10 we paid for parking from 5:00 PM Saturday until 1:30 PM Sunday was quite reasonable, but other options may have been less expensive.

Registration was right inside the entryway. There was a bit of a line to check in, but the volunteers kept things moving & my dancer was checked in fairly quickly and easily.

We did not spend much time checking out the vendors, but as list of vendors can be seen at http://cincinnatifeis.com/general/vendors/.

Restrooms were convenient, clean & well stocked. I never had to wait in line in the ladies room, which was nice.

Grades stages were located on the 2nd floor of the building, while PC/OC stages were on the 1st floor. The one negative was that Zucas were not allowed on the escalator that took people from the 1st floor to the 2nd, and this being a convention center, it was more than just 1 regular flight of stairs between floors, so I definitely got my exercise that morning!

There was no camping on the second floor (at least not that I saw), but there was sufficient room for everyone’s gear at the stages. There were chairs at all the stages & people generally seemed polite & respectful of space – I didn’t see a lot of gear left on chairs that people could have been sitting on.

There was some space for practicing, but not a whole lot of it. The younger dancers were able to make sufficient room to run through dancers, but the older dancers attending in the afternoon might have had more trouble.

Overall Venue Score: 8/10.

Stages

After this feis, I felt that stages really needed their own category in my reviews, as in some cases, they can make or break a feis.

The feis had 7 stages this year – 4 for grades & 3 for PC/OC. The PC/OC stages (1-3, were on the 1st floor in what appeared to be a large ballroom, while the grades stages (4-7) were on the 2nd floor in another large room. Stage 4 was in a corner by itself, and stage 7 was in another corner by itself. Stages 5-6 were together near the center of the room, and shared a musician. The setup worked well – there was no music bleed over & there was plenty of room to move around in the room.

The stages themselves appeared to be made of plywood (although my dancer insisted they did not feel like normal stages) & were a decent size. However, they were the slipperiest stages I have ever seen at a feis, and we’ve been at this game for almost 4 years now. I saw dancers at every age & level, in both soft shoe & hard shoe slip & fall all day long on all 4 grades stages. My own dancer slipped in 2 dances & took a full out fall in a 3rd (and we did douse the soles of her shoes in sprite to try & prevent slips/falls). The feis did put wet towels at the side of the stage for the dancers to rub their shoes in & I did see stages being mopped during the lunch break, but the sheer number of slips/falls we saw was completely unacceptable.

This alone would keep me from coming back to this feis next year – it is extremely disappointing to have driven 5 hours to a feis, only to find that the quality of the stages is this poor.

Overall Stage Score: 0/10.

Judges

My dancer danced 5 times and was seen by 4 judges. I thought that was excellent rotation, particularly for a feis that moved as quickly as this one did. My dancer’s judges seemed attentive, but unfortunately didn’t provide many comments.

Judge Score: 8/10

Music

The musicians did a nice job playing consistently. There was very little bleed over from stage to stage & I didn’t notice excessive breaks or timing issues or anything like that. The musician on stage 4 played some lesser known songs, which did throw some of the dancers for a bit of a loop, but as a parent, I appreciated the change of pace from the standard songs that are stuck in my head for 3 days post-feis.

Music Score: 9/10

Food

We did not partake in any of the food offered by the feis, but options/prices looked to be standard convention fare. A full list of food offerings & prices can be seen at http://cincinnatifeis.com/general/food/.

Food Score: 7/10

Results/Awards

This was a Quickfeis feis, so results were fast & simple. Results were posted on a wall, but you could also simply hand your number card to a volunteer at the awards table, who looks you up in the computer, prints out all your results (including comments & exact placements!) and hands you your awards.

We don’t check results until our dancer is finished with all her dances, so I don’t know how fast results were posted during the day, but she got in line to pick up awards within 10 minutes of finishing her dances & was able to get all her results immediately.

This year, the feis was also posting results online. I believe they were updated every 30 minutes or so, so it was probably faster to simply walk over to the awards table, but it did allow folks who weren’t able to attend the feis to see how friends had placed.

Placements appeared to be generous – I am not sure of the exact formula, but it appeared to me that the feis placed either through 5th place or half the dancers, depending on level & the size of the group. I doubt many dancers went home empty handed, which I like – it’s nice to see the dancers have a little something to show for their hard work, in my opinion.

Medals were awarded for all grades placements, and trophies were given out for 1st place in Open Prizewinner. The medals were very nice quality & best of all, they came with the ribbons already attached (other feiseanna, please take note – parents LOVE this!!!). The trophies were also nice quality – small, but well made.

Results/Awards Score: 10/10

Feis Flow

For grades, this feis was run by dance, but was divided by age, with younger dancers in the morning & older dancers in the afternoon, which meant people were in & out fairly quickly. My dancer started dancing around 9:15, and was done around 11:15, so things moved very quickly.

Feis Flow Score: 10/10

Overall Score: 7/10

A solid score overall, but this feis was definitely hampered by the poor quality stages. We are unlikely to attend again next year because of that issue, and I heard several others make similar comments.

What did you think?

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Custom-dress Regret Anxiety and Panic Syndrome (CRAPS)

Posted by:Patty O'BenchonNovember 2, 2014 0 Comments

An in-depth look at something that, at one time or another, will affect us all, from new contributor, Patty O’Bench.

Have you put a deposit down on a solo dress? Are you checking email obsessively hoping for a photo or a FedEx tracking number? Do you worry endlessly that you’ve made a big mistake and you should have forked out the extra money for a Gavin?

You might be suffering from Custom-dress Regret Anxiety and Panic Syndrome or CRAPS. The symptoms of CRAPS change with each stage but might include the following:

Stage One

Anticipating the moment your daughter earns her first solo dress. This symptom includes bargaining with God, biting your nails, private lessons and searching for a Feis with four other dancers in her category.
Dreaming of your little darling in the most gorgeous dress ever created. It must stop people in their tracks.
Combing the internet for the perfect dress that can be slightly tweaked and made again for your daughter without copyright violations. Dance.net, Dance-again, Pinterest and every dress maker’s sight on the planet are bookmarked on your browser and dinner is late – again.
Sketching and coloring dresses in a sketch book from Michael’s – extra points if you have tiny bling on your sketch.
Seriously considering selling any of the following: plasma, a kidney, a sibling of the dancer or your grandmother’s wedding ring to finance the dress.

Stage Two (post earning the dress)

Immediately after sending an exorbitant amount of money to a complete stranger, which is just half of final cost, you second guess yourself.
Stressing over the sketch from the dress maker, how long will it take, will the designer understand how special the dress needs to be and did you communicate the color accurately? These questions result in no sleep from CRAPS.
You panic because the sketch is taking much longer than you thought.
You eye your daughter every morning because you know that the measurements you sent are way too small even though it has only been a week. You consider feeding her junk food so she won’t grow before the dress is out of style (four months – at most)

Stage Three

You vacillate between reassuring yourself that the dress will be lovely and perfect with panicking because you are scared it will be so hideous that you won’t be able to sell it – EVER.
Telling yourself and anyone who will listen, that you will never, ever make another dress again. The stress is too much and at least with a used dress you know what it looks like and how it fits. You will take the body odor of a thousand used dress over going through this process again.
You make the above statements while simultaneously dreaming of how you will manage the next solo dress designing and creating with a fresh perspective with all that you have learned. These conflicting symptoms occur while waiting for the dress to arrive. This is when you can sure that you have CRAPS and that you need help.
You pre-order additional matching crystals so you are prepared to bling the dress out to the max. You throw in a new wig and a tiara because who can debut a new dress without everything being bright and shiny.

Stage Four

Resignation. You succumb to the fact that you will never have a savings account and that until your daughter gets a wedding dress, you will be going through this process every year. With wine in hand, you get on your laptop start pinning solo dresses that your picky TCRG might consider…maybe…probably not. Sigh.

Take a minute, and add a comment below telling us if you have CRAPS…

Rince Na h’Eireann Charlotte Feis 2014 Review

Posted by:Maeve SayersonNovember 2, 2014 0 Comments

3948211 The RNE Charlotte Feis was held on October 25th, 2014 at the Hilton Hotel in the UNC Charlotte are and was held in memory of Brian Quinlivan and what a great memorial it was to him. This is always a favorite feis because of the venue, the draw of the competitors from the region and the awards.

Venue and Food

This feis took place at the Hilton Hotel in the UNC Charlotte area. Since this venue is in the middle of a retail complex, there was plenty of parking for the number of people attending as well as plenty of restaurants within walking distance so you weren’t locked into the typical hotel food.

There were signs posted in the hall ways letting people know it was unacceptable to ‘camp’ and there was a security guard who made sure the rule was enforced. This allowed people to easily get between rooms without having to navigate around stuff scattered on the floor. I don’t know if the organizer planned this or the hotel but it was MUCH appreciated.

My only complaint were the costs for snacks sold by the venue which I thought were overpriced which is probably par for the course and the length of time it took to get through the Starbuck’s line. With only 4 people ahead of me, each ordering 2 drinks a piece, it still took about 20 minutes at 7am!

Stages/Music

There were a total of 5 stages. According to the schedule, Stages 1-3 were in the main ballroom and were host to Figures and grade levels. They were slightly raised (inches) and covered in marlee. Tape divided the 3 stages which were all serviced by the same accordion player.

Stage 4 was the Champion Stage and was a beautiful raised stage covered in marlee as well. PC & OCs were all supposed to dance on this stage but unfortunately, the U15 and higher PCs were moved to stages 1 & 2. This caused a lot of confusion since families were arriving in the afternoon and were hearing conflicting stories as to the schedule change.

Stage 5 was plywood and used for the Prizewinner/PC non traditional sets.

Judges/Competition

I commend the feis coordinators for splitting the competitions in the PC & OC levels so that the dancers could compete against other dancers in their same draw and age. This does require extra awards and time but it is nice to see how competitive the dancers are in relation to their age group this close to Oireachtas. The one thing that I think disappointed some dancers and parents is when the U15 and above PC levels were still dancing 3 at a time versus 2 at a time. I am assuming this was more because of how late it was in the day.

It was nice to see comments from all of the judges which were emailed out that same evening.

Vendors

The vendors were the typical ones and could get everything from socks to wigs to shoes including the make your own t-shirt vendor.

Awards

The results for the grades and the recall lists were posted VERY fast! I think within 20 minutes of the completion of the competition which I attribute to the number of volunteers the organizers probably had in the tabulations room. I think this helped with the crowd control so that people could dance, see the results and leave when they were finished versus having to hang around and wait.
Gorgeous perpetual trophies were given out to the winner of Traditional Sets as well as PC and OC winners. It was nice to see the Traditional Sets held in such high regard by presenting such beautiful trophies since it is the basis for modern Irish Dance.

The OCs dancers who made it to the podium received beautiful platters and the coveted embroidered pink and green sash. PC dancers on the podium received imprinted sashes. Prizes for individual rounds were also given which is nice for some of the dancers to receive who didn’t make the recall list.

Volunteers

It is so nice to get to a feis and encounter volunteers who were happy to be there. I think they were the contributing factor to the success of the overall event. They should all be congratulated.

Social Media

There was no social media effort for this feis which is unfortunate. There is a lot of great communication that can be pushed out through Facebook and Twitter that can solve some confusion when competitions get moved around on stages or what competitions are being run concurrently as well as when awards are going to be announced. It can also help promote the event to boost attendance. My recommendation would be for the feis organizers to look into a social media plan for next year but start to build a presence months before the actual event.

Summary

Well run feis! To quote a family who travels there every year by plane, ‘it is one of our favorites and we wouldn’t miss it!’ I, myself, will definitely return.

Score 9.5

What did you think?

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Harvest Time Feis 2014 PC/OC Review

Posted by:MIss Feisy PantsonOctober 30, 2014 0 Comments

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?

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Neponset Valley Feis 2014 PC/OC Review

Posted by:MIss Feisy PantsonOctober 30, 2014 0 Comments

The 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.

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Ryan-Kilcoyne Feis 2014, PC/OC Review

Posted by:Mom O'ThreeonOctober 30, 2014 1 Comment

The 20th Annual Ryan-Kilcoyne School of Irish Dancing Feis was held on October 11, 2014, at the Maple Point Middle School in Langhorne, PA.

Venue

A school. A very small, tight school. This mainly presents issues when it comes to parking and navigating the halls. There are vendors in the small hallways, right next to award postings. It is a difficult feat to get between a beginning mother and her much needed pictures of her newest dancer who just received her first 1st. It could take you several minutes to get to the gym navigating the maze. There are many unused hallways in this school. Why does everything need to be crowded into 2 narrow hallways?

Rating 6

Food

didn’t see any, but it may have been there. Trying to stay as far away from the crowded hallways as possible.

Vendors

Typical vendors nothing out of the ordinary.

Rating 8

Stages

Most of the stages including one preliminary stage are in the gym. Once you take 5 stages and all of the dancers, parents and feis gear into one small space, I bet you can guess what happens next? Lack of floor space. After about an hour of dancing, it is difficult to even find a path to walk to any stage in the gym. Camping occurs everywhere and anywhere. If there is an open spot on the floor, by all means, drop your stuff there. It won’t matter if you are in the direct path of the stage. The person behind you will need to navigate that one.

Rating 5

Musicians

Good musicians, but it is always difficult for dancers to hear when 5 stages are in close proximity.

Rating 8

Awards

This is the worst part of this feis. The champ awards are held on the opposite side of the school from the prelim stage. The background is a lovely set of red lockers. There is no school banner covering the lockers. Even after the placements are called, the volunteers didn’t even attempt to move out of the background for the parents to take photos. I actually have a picture of my daughter on the podium with a volunteer picking her nose in the background. I think I will frame that one. I understand that you are dealing with limited space, but a simple banner would fix some of this.

Rating 4

Flow

Good, kept to schedule. Awards came out relatively quickly.

Rating 9

Overall score: 7

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Rhythm of Ireland Feis 2014, Champs Review

Posted by:Finnegan MurphyonOctober 20, 2014 0 Comments

The Rhythm of Ireland School hosted their annual feis Sat Oct 18-19, returning to Williamsburg after a one year hiatus (held in nearby Portsmouth in 2013.) This review covers the Championship competitions on Saturday.

Venue

This feis returns to the original location, The Doubletree by Hilton (formerly a Marriott.) The venue is spacious, with large ballrooms for competitions, vendors in the hallways outside the ballrooms and the auditorium. A good feis rate was offered for the hotel, and some rooms were extremely spacious. This feis also offers itself as a weekend destination for the whole family, with much to do for the entire family. Many feis goers enjoyed the outlets, Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens before or after competitions.

Stages

Preliminary Champions were in one ballroom, and Open Champions in another ballroom, and for this reason, music was very good because there was no competing music for dancers to hear. Sets were held on a dedicated stage in the auditorium. Stages were raised and covered with a painted material to help with slipping. Although I did not witness any falls, some dancers did say floors were slippery. Stages were also adequate in size for champion dancers.

Score 8

Feis Flow

The feis began at 8:30am. Stages seemed to be moving at a good pace until there was a delay on Stage 1 before the Prelim U12 competition. Unfortunately, these dancers were dressed and in their chairs for 45 minutes before competitions resumed. The dancers did their best to stay warmed up during this delay. Awards will be discussed later, but having awards between set dances on Stage 5 delayed award presentations and flow of this stage. However, it did ensure dancers that they would not miss their awards while waiting for their set. Sets were adequately scheduled to ensure there were no sets missed due to competition.

Score 6

Food

Food was plentiful and with a variety of options at the Doubletree. There was a cafe, a vendor offering hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, sandwiches, etc. outside the cafe at normal hotel prices. There was also a sports bar and a restaurant available for dining. And outside food was permitted. We did a combination of purchased food and food we had brought for our room.

Score 9

Vendors

Vendors were plentiful and a nice variety. There was a shoe vendor, hair vendor, jewelry, air brushed t-shirts and various clothing vendors. There was nice spacing between vendors as well.

Score 9

Judges

As standard with PC/OC competitions, there was a panel of three adjudicators. I have heard that many comments were given to Prelim dancers, but few to none to OC. This close to Oireachtas, dancers need comments to make the appropriate corrections in the coming weeks. By seeing my dancer’s score sheet, all three judges were in consensus with scoring and two of the three gave comments. All comments I have heard (and experienced with my own dancer) are that the adjudicator dedicated to sets gave many constructive comments to each competitor. This is so helpful this close to Oireachtas, and is offsetting the lack of comments on the OC competitions.

Score 9

Music

There was a dedicated musician to each stage and separate rooms for each competition. No complaints here for the musicians.

Score 9

Awards

As mentioned previously, awards were announced between set competitions, which slowed down award presentations, and also delayed sets. Times were posted in the hallway and announced in the ballrooms. It was nice to have a spacious room for all to comfortably fit inside and see award presentations, and the podium on the raised stage. Awards were given to the top 50% of each competition. Awards were very nice and different than the usual trophy. Open Champion placers were given silver engraved plates. Preliminary Champion placers were given glass plaques. Top three competitors for both PC and OC were given sashes, however no place was printed on the Prelim sashes, which would have been nice. Announcements were loud and clear. It would have been nice to have a dedicated feis photographer of awards, since there was much space between the raised stage and the audience.

Also, results were all emailed by Efeis by late Sunday afternoon.

Score 9

Social Media

I agree with the grades review on this feis here. A big opportunity was lost when ROI failed to utilize Facebook or Twitter with updates and results. Also, the competitor list published had many misspellings of names.

Score 4

Volunteers/Overall Feis

I feel as if I must review the ROI volunteers. I have been to this feis many times, as both the parent of a grades dancer and a champion dancer. These volunteers are top notched. They were willing to help any family who asked and solve the issues. They also each year run a very fun costume Treble Reel part on Saturday night. This year ( and possibly also in the past?) it was judged by Maureen Bakke, who is an incredibly supportive adjudicator. She gives each team positive feedback. Each competitor receives a treat and awards are given to best overall performance/choreography and best costumes. ROI also does their best to make this a destination feis for the entire family to enjoy.

Score 10

Summary

This has always been one of our favorite weekends. The feis may have some glitches throughout, but it is rare for a feis to not have any. We always make this a long weekend and enjoy Williamsburg on our off-feis days. It is also welcomed to be back in Williamsburg. Our thanks to the ROI family for another well done weekend.

Overall Score 9

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