Photos from the fourth annual Texas Coast Feis

Champs 16&Over (L-R): Jamie Callahan, Megan Murat, Ashleigh Hopkins, Taylor Stephens, Hannah Cass


Champs Special Treble Reel 13&Over (L-R): Cheyenne Stokes, Rebecca Herd, Megan Murat, Bailey Quigley, Sawyer Hicks, Shane McGoldrick, Hannah Cass


Champs Special Trebble Jig or Hornpipe Under 14 (L-R): Heather Noonan, Rebecca Herd, Bridget Kennedy, Sarah Troy, Paige Lanam, Lauren Begnaud


Champs Special Trebble Jig or Hornpipe (L-R): Lisa Noonan, Meredith Slimp, Colin Troy



The fourth annual Texas Coast Feis? Not your average one! Breaking with tradition, the feis was held on a Sunday this year (Sept. 4) at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas, giving Labor Day weekenders the chance to leisurely make that drive to the coast. Inishfree School families took advantage of the extra day by arriving Saturday afternoon and enjoying a school-wide shrimp boil!

Skipping and whirling into the ballroom Sunday morning, more than 175 competitors checked out the beach theme that lent a more relaxed feel to the usually sophisticated ballroom. The musician, Brian Glynn of New Jersey, certainly seemed comfortable in bermuda shorts and flip flops perched with a bird’s eye view on an actual lifeguard stand next to the stages.

Hosted by the Corpus Christi Irish Arts Association in collaboration with the Glor na Daire Academy of Irish Dance, the feis had a plentiful supply of fabulous trophies for champs and specials, along with surfboard medals for the lower grades!

So next Labor Day, mark your calendars for the Texas Coast Feis. It’s got just the right competition sizes, a hotel with a view of the ocean, the opportunity to dance barefoot in the sand with friends, as well as the chance to feast on delicious seafood with your family. What a way to bid farewell to summer and, more importantly, a hello to the fall feis season.

Photo Credit: Shelby Miller

Special thanks to Feis America contributor Caitlin Buck for compiling this post!

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New songs to get you pumped for this weekend’s Irish dancing competitions

by PATRICIA MCNAMARA, Feis America Magazine contributor

Heading to the Clearwater Beach Feis in Florida this weekend or the Oakville Feis in Ontario? What about the Kansas City Feis in Missouri or the Texas Coast Feis? Or maybe you’re packing up for the Constitution State Feis in Connecticut or the Hidden Valley Feis in California.

No matter your competitive destination this Labor Day weekend, we want to share four tunes you should add to your own warm up playlist before lacing up and taking the stage. Best of luck to all competitors and be sure to come back and share your results with us!

"Pump It" – The Black Eyed Peas
It sets the perfect pace to practice your high kicks. And, well, it will get ya pumped to own the stage.

"I Wanna Go" – Britney Spears
Want to go out on stage and show the adjudicators how fierce of a dancer you are? This song will help you do that.

"Shake It Up" – Selena Gomez
Shake off your jitters with this catchy jam.

"Outta Control" – j786
Close your eyes, envision you getting through your steps, and get ready to be in total control of the stage.

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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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