Songs to get you pumped for the Sept. 17-18 Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS

by PATRICIA MCNAMARA, Feis America Magazine contributor

Heading to the Michigan Feis this weekend or the Baltimore Feis in Maryland? Idaho’s Boise Feis By the River or the Oklahoma State Championships? Perhaps the Syracuse Feis or Nassau County AOH Feis in New York?

No matter your competitive destination this weekend, we want to share four new tunes inspired by the 80s to 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 Up The Jam” – Technotronic
The catchy beat will simply pump you up to get on the dance floor.


“Fame” – Irene Cara
Pop it on and start thinking about how everyone in the Irish dancing world should remember your name after you kill it on stage.


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READ MORE:
- A 9/11 tribute from the Caitrin Academy of Irish Dance - VIDEO
- Photos from the fourth annual Texas Coast Feis
- Songs to get you pumped for the Sept. 10-11 Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS
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“We Got The Beat” – The Go-Go’s
Simply because you, too, can keep the beat…just with your hard shoes.


“The Final Countdown” – Europe
Think the “Rocky” theme song with an 80s spin. Play this right before you have to line up side stage.


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A 9/11 tribute from the Caitrin Academy of Irish Dance - VIDEO

September 11, 2011 is a day we will all remember. Thousands of innocent lives were taken from us. The word “terrorism” brought new meaning to everyone around the globe. On the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, many are paying tribute…in very different ways.

Five dancers from Pennsylvania’s Caitrin Academy of Irish Dance decided to use their skills and passion for the sport to create this special tribute. Aged 12-13, the talented individuals choreographed the dance themselves and wanted to use their gift to honor those we lost 10 years ago.

Check out the video below and let us know your thoughts.


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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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Songs to get you pumped for the Sept. 10-11 Irish dancing competitions

by PATRICIA MCNAMARA, Feis America Magazine contributor

Heading to the St. Louis Fall Feis in Missouri this weekend or the Rock River Valley Feis in Illinois? How about the June Butler Memorial Feis in Ontario, the Longs Peak Feis in Colorado or the Irish American Assn. NW Jersey Feis in New Jersey?

No matter your competitive destination this 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!

“Helena Beat” – Foster The People
Pop this on and take a stroll around the venue before going into the hustle and bustle of the day.

“Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + The Machine
Stretch to this song while celebrating the fact that feiseanna in the sticky summer heat are done.

“Louder” – Charice
This song will give you the gusto to “dance through the pain” and pound out your hornpipe or jig for the entire room to hear.

“Dance, Dance” – Fall Out Boy
It’s fast...and, um, the chorus tells ya to dance. So go out there and show ’em what you’ve been practicing.

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READ MORE:
- New songs to get you pumped for this weekend’s Irish dancing competitions
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Colbee Misfud: Relocating from Australia to Ireland for Irish dance

by INSPIRED DANCER, Feis America Magazine contributor

In the sport of Irish dancing, we don’t just have the thrill of performing and competing to look forward to, we also have great people to meet everywhere we go!

When I attend major competitions, I love meeting the other dancers just as much as I love dancing. This past July at the 2011 North American Irish Dancing Championships in Nashville, Tenn., I had the pleasure of meeting of a lovely dancer with a very interesting story. Meet Colbee Misfud, a 21-year-old open champion from the land down under who’s proving hard work and dedication does pay off—even if you move to another country.

It was actually her sister’s dream of Riverdance that got Colbee “dragged along” to classes years ago. But she’s loved it ever since. When Colbee was 18, she decided to take the plunge and move to Ireland to follow her dream and focus more on her passion, taking on an even bigger challenge of providing for herself, paying all of her expenses. But she was on a mission that delved deeper than just dance.

“For me, moving to Ireland wasn't just about the dancing. I wanted to learn more about myself and become independent,” Colbee says. “I had no relatives in Ireland. I knew no one. That's what excited me the most.”

Upon her arrival in Belfast, Colbee joined Kennedy Irish Dance. And since then, she has earned her way to a recall at the World Irish Dancing Championships. But Colbee’s not going to stop there! She has future aspirations of not only dancing in a professional Irish dance show but also getting those shiny letters at the end of her name: TCRG.

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READ MORE:
- Keeping friendships in Irish dance through competition
- Experiencing the North American Irish Dance Championships for the first time
- Performing with an Irish dance show – ‘In Love With The Dance’
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The lessons Colbee has learned along the way are some she would love to take back to other dancers in her home country of Australia:

“I feel that every dancer who gets the opportunity to do what I am doing should take it! It has opened my eyes up to things I didn't even know existed in the dancing world,” she says.

But that’s not to say she has forgotten about her fellow Aussies while living abroad. “The dancing community in Australia is much bigger than what people think,” Colbee says. “We have incredible dancers in the country who should be able to show off their talent overseas.”

Colbee’s story is an inspiration to dancers everywhere because she has proven that you can live the dream if you fight for it. Many thanks to Colbee Misfud for sharing her story with me. And to think it all started in a ballroom before competitor check-in. You never know who you may meet at any given competition.

Photo Credit: Colbee Misfud

Would you ever relocate for Irish dance? Share in the comments below.

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Boost your confidence before fall Irish dance competitions

by ERIN CONCANNON, Feis America Magazine contributor

Confidence is a quality that, to many dancers, might be hard to perfect…and easy to lose.

Just think of how discouraging it can be when one adjudicator’s opinion can make or break your feiseanna track record. But it’s how you mentally prepare yourself for all situations—competitive or not—in the dancing world that will help you survive. And what better way to start than with the fresh fall feiseanna headed your way. Read these tips for a little boost.

Practice is what makes you perfect. If you practice your dance routines outside of class for at least 30 minutes a day, you will know the steps backwards and forwards, causing you to become less nervous on the big day of competition! Look at it this way: On the day of a big test, you study your heart out the nights before, going over the information so many times that by the end of the night you could recite the information backwards and forwards. The same rule applies to dance! If you keep going over your steps so much that you go to bed at night thinking about them, you’re prepped to put your best, um, foot forward.

Tell yourself you are always right. Seeing is believing. If you can see yourself in the mirror doing all your steps right, then you know you can do it. So keep telling yourself before you go up on stage to dance that you can do this! This is your fate in the dancing world. If you say you deserve to be the best dancer you can be, it will help to come true. The constant flow of positive thinking will help your mind reject any negative energy.

Keep friendly conversation. Talking to your competitors right before you go out on stage shows that you are not only friendly, but that you are fearless and can keep your cool while under pressure. Karma is a big thing to believe in while living in this crazy dancing world. If you don’t do nice things to others and put in good thoughts, then only awful and upsetting things will occur while you’re trying to go for gold.

What are some thoughts that help you stay confident through competition? Let us know in the comments below.

READ MORE:
- Irish dancing through illness or injury
- Motivation to practice Irish dance during the school year
- Keeping friendships in Irish dance through competition

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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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