Colorado Wedding Features Irish Dancing Bride and Friends

Weddings are always happy occasions but when you invite your Irish dancing friends, all your guests enjoy a special treat! Lisa Anderson started Irish dancing with the Bennett School of Irish Dance in Denver, Colorado at 15 years old and fell in love instantly. She quickly rose through the competitive ranks to Preliminary Champion, but an injury forced her to stop.

Lisa Irish-danced a little in college, but it just wasn’t the same, she says, so she stayed involved with the Bennett School as much as possible between semesters. She enjoys teaching the 5-6 year olds and as a graphic designer, has created many fun t-shirts for Bennett School Irish dancers for competitions and events.

Lisa met her husband Isaac Hess at a church activity about 18 months ago while home between semesters. When she finished college, the two began seriously dating, fell in love and planned to marry quickly. Lisa tells us, "One of our dates was actually taking him to my dance studio and dragging him into learning some ceili dancing!".

At their wedding a few weeks ago, Bennett School Irish dancers including teachers Bill and TCRG Molly Bennett, and a host of friends, danced for guests.

Lisa says, "Isaac told me he isn't much of a dancer but he picked it up really fast which is why we ended up dancing together in a group dance at my wedding! Nothing brings two people together like dancing does, especially when neither of you remember the steps and end up laughing the entire time."

With the wedding behind them, the newlyweds have a little more free time. Lisa looks forward to getting back into shape and competing at the Open Championship level again. Feis America and Irish Central congratulate the happy couple and thank them for sharing their photos and story with us and Irish dancing fans here on the blog.

Have you been to a wedding where Irish dancing was a special part of the ceremony or celebration? Share your stories here at Go Feis! The Irish Dance Blog.

Subscribe to North America's favorite Irish dancing magazine, Feis America and get stories like these and photos from Irish dancing events across the U.S., Canada and Mexico delivered to your mailbox every other month! A subscription makes a terrific gift for your favorite Irish dancer or teacher!

Photos courtesy of Bennett School of Irish Dance's Debbie Newton and Kristin White

"Jig" the movie now showing on ConstellationTV interactive platform

Discounted tickets - interact with the stars of 'Jig' on Constellation

Interact with stars and get to see the hottest film out there about the world of Irish dancing! 

ConstellationTV, a global online film distribution and theater platform, is the first of its kind and we wanted to be the first to share this exciting experience for Feis America on Irish Central viewers!

At ConstellationTV, audiences buy tickets to attend specific showtimes for movie screenings in online theaters. However, unlike traditional brick-and-mortar theaters, Constellation audiences can interact directly with each other and with VIP hosts (such as the filmmakers and/or cast) via a web cam and chat. It's fun and social!

Read on to the end of this post for details on how to get Feis America-discounted tickets as easy as 1-2-3!

Here is the schedule of online showtimes for JIG. Spread the word!
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Utah State Feis Irish dancing adult results - PHOTOS
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Wednesday 8/17, 6pm EST: Supermodel Coco Rocha will be LIVE via webcam during and after the screening. Attendees will be able to chat live with her about her experience with Irish dancing. Coco Rocha was featured in an article in the May/June issue of Feis America!

Thursday 8/18, 6pm EST: Irish dance phenom Joe Bitter hosts live!

Friday 8/19, 6pm EST: JIG director Sue Bourne hosts live!

Saturday 8/20, 6pm EST: Joe Bitter hosts live!

Sunday 8/21, 6pm EST: Sue Bourne hosts live!

Feis America-discounted tickets are now on sale to select show times of the film and here's how to make sure you get your discount and an EXTRA $1.00 off:

Go to: http://constellation.tv/jig

Select a screening of your choice, log in, and then purchase a ticket. If you enter the code "feisjig" in the discount code field, you can redeem the 15% discount. You can also get a further $1.00 off their ticket by sharing the film on your Facebook wall by clicking that option on the bottom of the payment form.

Stay tuned for more discounts, giveaways and Irish dancing fun EVERY DAY here at Go Feis! The Irish Dance Blog by Feis America on IrishCentral!

For all the Irish dancing news you can handle, subscribe to the Feis America print edition of North America's favorite magazine here.

Historic Savannah Feis: Irish Dancers Rock the South Again!

The Irish Dancers of Savannah hosted the 6th Historic Savannah Feis on August 6, 2012, at the Savannah Civic Center. With eight stages and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians on hand to assist feis-goers, the hostess city of the South, Savannah, could not have offered a better or more-organized Irish dancing competition for Southern Region Irish dancers and their families!

Preliminary and Open Champion Results as tabulated and posted on-line by eFeis are limited to Irish dance school names and competitor numbers. Top Ten Schools in each competition are listed here, but we invite you to comment with the names of the dancers who placed.

Special congratulations to the dancers in Prelim under 14 and under 17 and Open Men under 18 who earned a perfect 300 score from the adjudicators!

Prelim under 8:

Mulligan, GA 1

Rince na h'Eireann NC 2

Hunt MD 3

Prelim under 10:

Drake School 1 and 5 and 7

Breffni Academy FL 2

Leneghan Academy OH 3

Tir na Greine, FL 4

Rince na h'Eireann NC 6

Danny Tighe NC 8

Prelim under 12: Special thanks to Feis America's FaceBook friend Karen Renee Smit-Daley!

Glor na Daire 1

Maple VA 2

Inis Cairde 3

Mulligan 4
Drake 5

Stephen Scariff FL 6

Rince na h'Eireann NC 7

Prelim under 14:
Drake School 1 with a perfect score of 300!

Rince na h'Eireann NC 2, 3 and 4

Leneghan Academy OH 5

Drake School 6

Stephen Scariff FL 7

Inis Cairde NC 8

Walsh Kelley, NC 9

Broesler, Maryland 10

Prelim under 16a:

Breffni Academy FL 1

Glor na Daire GA 2 and 5

Rince na h'Eireann NC 3

Mulligan, GA 4

Inis Cairde NC 6 and 10

Drake School 7

Katie Cox TN 8

King O'Sullivan GA 9

Prelim under 16b:

King O'Sullivan, GA 1

Breffni Academy FL 2

Walsh Kelley, NC 3 and 8

Drake School 4 and 6 and 7

Watters School, FL 5

Glor na Daire GA 9

Rince na h'Eireann NC 10

Prelim under 17:

Rince na h'Eireann NC 1 with a perfect score of 300!

Tir na Greine FL 2 and 4

Glor na Daire GA 3

Mulligan, GA 5

Prelim 17 & Over:

Drake School 1

Glor na Daire GA 2 and 8

Rince na h'Eireann NC 3

Tir na Greine, FL 4 and 6 and 7

Stephen Scariff FL 5

Open under 10:

Rince na h'Eireann NC 1

Breffni Academy FL 2

Open under 12:

Stephen Scariff FL 1

Mulligan, GA 2

Maple VA 3

Open under 14:

Mulligan, GA 1

Rince na h'Eireann NC 2

Watters School FL 3 and 4 and 5

Niall O'Leary NY 6

Stephen Scariff FL 7

Drake School 8 and 9 and 10

Open under 16:

Drake School 1

Rince na h'Eireann NC 2

King O'Sullivan, GA 3

Glor na Daire GA 4 and 5 and 6 and 8 and 9

Watters School FL 7 and 10

Open under 18 Ladies:

Drake School 1

McGinley FL 2

Glor na Daire GA 3T

Watters School FL 3T and 4

Yeates Academy FL 5

Breffni Academy FL 6

Open under 18 Men:

Glor na Daire GA 1 with a perfect score of 300!
Rince na h'Eireann NC 2 and 3

Open 18 & Over:

Rince na h'Eireann NC 1 and 2

Drake School 3 and 5 and 6

Watters School FL 4

Henry and Andrew Snead from Rince na h'Eireann (NC/SC)

Top Three Girls under 8 Preliminary Championship

Molly and Sarah Barton, Kierstin Finch and Maddie Loper

Scott Johnson, Savannah Wells and Erin Kaukereit

Glor na Daire (GA) friends and fans for life!

All photos by Madison Daley exclusively for Feis America LLC

For more Irish dancing news from Feis America, North America's favorite Irish dancing magazine, delivered to your mailbox, subscribe today!

Maitiu O'Maoileidigh Summer Feis 2011 Irish Dancing Results

Each year, the Celtic Gold Irish Dance Academy of Garden Grove, California honors founder Doireann's father, Maitiu O'Maoileidigh, with a fantastic summer feis. O'Maoileidigh started one of the top Irish dancing schools in Ireland, Inis Ealga, more than fifty years ago. O'Maoileidigh and Marie Duffy (renowned choreographer for Lord of the Dance) traveled to the U.S., Canada and Australia in the style of the old Dance Masters, where Irish dance instruction has grown by leaps and bounds and reels and jigs to its placed today as one of the most athletic and elegant dance forms of all time.

Here are some of the results from the 2011 Maitiu O'Maoileidigh Summer Feis:

First Feis - Prince Special - 1st place Matthew Walker from Kelly School and 2nd place Nicholas Neoman from Celtic Gold

First Feis - Princess Special - 1st place Janie Retzlaff from Celtic Gold, 2nd placeTIE between Livi Marks from McCartan and Ava Seifert from Celtic Gold.

Beginners Results under 6:

1st Reel and Tie 1st Slip Jig, 3rd Light Jig - Janie Retzlaff from Celtic Gold

2nd Light Jig, 2nd Reel - Madeline Steinbach from Lyons

1st Light Jig, Tie 1st Slip Jig, 3rd Reel - Livi Marks from McCartan

4th Reel - Erin Weir from Celtic Gold

4th Light Jig - Clara Horeczcko from Celtic Gold

Preliminary Championships:

u9: Isabel Taulli (Kelly School)

u10: MacKenzie Moore-Kosslow (Bracken School)

u11: Megan Saenz (Butler-Fearon-O'Connor)

u12: Julianna Kolk (Butler-Fearon-O'Connor)

u13: Shaelyn Ellershaw (Tir Conaill Academy of Irish Dance)

u14: Amy Green (O'Shea Irish Dance)

u15: Lauren Waldman (O'Connor School of Irish Dance)

u16: Dominique Bear (Rose-Ritchie Academy of Irish Dance

u17: Kaitlyn Amodeo (Claddagh Western U.S.)

17&O: Katelyn Gonzalez (Celtic Gold Academy)

Open Championships:

u11: Chloe McGovern (Butler-Fearon-O'Connor)

u13: Allyson Talpash (Donna Means School)

u14: Carley Reger (Butler-Fearon-O'Connor)

u15: Sophie Beirne (Butler-Fearon-O'Connor)

u16: Becky Sanders (Painter-Larson Academy of Irish Dance)

u17: Hana Bellman (O'Farrell School)

u19: Tori Lopez (Comerford California)

19&O: Karissa Kelly (Celtic Gold Academy)

Next year's Maitiu O'Maoileidigh Summer Feis will be held on July 28-29, 2012. For more details, visit Celtic Gold Academy.

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