Irish Dancing Champion Success starts with Supportive Shoes

with CAITLIN BUCK, Feis America contributor

Last fall, I wrote about at-home exercises for Irish dancers who suffer from flat feet and low arches, and how tightly lacing your soft shoes can actually cause more harm than good to them.

Suffering from the same problem? Not only should you rethink the type of Irish dance shoes you buy, my doctor told me to just throw away my flip flops and steer clear of any footwear that had a flat bottom, replacing them with shoes, like good running sneakers, that support my arches.

This is a hard pill to swallow!  Most dancers are creative at heart, and enjoy fashion, shoes and accessories.  But if you want to dance for the rest of your life, or a good while longer, you have to take care of your feet.  No question.

Heather Robson from LiveStrong.com says: "When you have flat feet, you tend to put more stress on the insides of your feet. To compensate, you want to select a tennis shoe that offers some additional stability for the inside of the foot. You may also have good luck with a shoe that uses a mid-cut design. The higher ankle support can help compensate for your feet's tendency to roll to the inside."

Based on my conversation with other dancers of all ages, my doctor's advice and my own experience here are two main points:

First, wear supportive tennis shoes whenever possible when you dance--especially when doing repetitive leaps.  Let your dance teacher know you would like to wear dance sneakers in class for drills and steps whenever possible.  Save wearing your ghillies and hard shoes for critique time.  This becomes more important the more you are practicing weekly; if you have to add a class or hours to your practicing routine as a major competition or performance gets closer, moderate the time you actually spend in your Irish dance shoes.

Artist flats in a variety of colors are stylish, supportive
and for every pair purchased, Tom's donates a pair to a needy child.
Courtesy www.Toms.com

Second, wear supportive shoes daily to school or work. There are many tennis shoes out there with style! I’ve recently fallen in love with Toms. They are cute, offer support and work towards a good cause.
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Read more:

Irish dancing through illness or injury

Neck stretches for Irish dancers - health tips and warm-ups

Motivation to practice Irish dance during the school year
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So what kind of Irish dance shoes should you look into if you have flat feet and low arches? These leading vendors gave me their top recommendations.  Fay’s Shoes recommends Celtic Choice soft shoes. They have a built-in arch for superb points. Corr’s Irish Shoes recommends the Wild Irish Ghillie. It’s their new soft shoe with a modern design to emphasize the dancer’s arch in every way.
Rutherford Irish Dancing Shoes recommends the Cavan pump, a split sole that offers arch and toe point construction, and their black suede sole flexi for jig shoes.

What are your favorite pair of supportive Irish dancing shoes?  What have you found that is stylish and supportive for street shoes or sneakers?  Please share in the comments below.

Shelley Wasatch winter Feis Utah Irish dancing competition - Results and Photos

Championship Double Reel Special 14 & Over
with winner Shannon Becker

The Shelley Wasatch Winter Feis is the annual Irish dancing competition hosted by the Shelley School of Irish Dance.  This year's event was held on February 4, 2012 at the Kearns High School in Kearns, Utah.  Adjudicators from Ireland and the United States oversaw events for first-time competitors through adults.

Preliminary Championship 17 & Over
with winner Meredith Henderson

New competitive Irish dancers, called First Feisers, from the Shelley School, Genevieve Shelley (under 6) and Savannah Gedris (under 7), each won both the reel and light jig competitions. Julia Steed, also from Shelley, won the First Feis single jig for the under 7 age group.

In the Open Champion competitions, Acadamh Rince Irish dancers seemed to own the podium. In the under 13 event, Paige Crandell, Alexis Farnsworth and Moira Turner, all from Acadamh Rince, took the Top 3 spots. Two Acadamh Rince dancers - Kylie Farrenkopf and Shannon Beckerin - placed first and second in the under 15 competition.

Amelia Walker from Shelley won the under 17 event, with three Acadamh Rince dancers - Rachel Jepsen, Camille Ensign and Sarah Brewster - rounding out the podium. In the 17 & Over category, Cara King from Scariff won, while Carolyn Webber from Acadamh Rince and Taylor Jones from Shelley placed second and third.
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Read more:

Eating the Rainbow for Maximum Performance as an Irish Dancer

2012 All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships Wrap-Up

Adult Irish Dancers from Niall O'Leary in New York
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Open Championship under 17
with winner Amelia Walker

In the Adult solo competitions, two Acadamh Rince ladies stood out, sweeping all seven events in each category. Heather Peterson won all the Adult Beginner dances and Danielle Montague-Judd won all the Adult Novice/Prizewinner dances plus the Adult Double Reel Special.

Congratulations to all the dancers and their teachers on a great event and super results!

Photos by Shelly Hathaway Photography and results by FeisWorx, courtesy of the Shelley School of Irish Dance.

Songs for the 25th – 26th February Irish dancing competitions – VIDEOS

by PATRICIA MCNAMARA

Heading to Surrey, British Columbia this weekend for the Van-Eire Traditional Dance Association Feis or West Lake Village, Calif. for Feis Rince Conejo Valley? How about New Jersey for the Broesler School Feis or Mexico City for the Mexico City Feis? Or maybe even New York for the Inishfree Feis?

No matter your competitive destination this weekend, we want to share four tunes you should add to your own playlist before lacing up and taking the stage, inspired by past Oscar-nominated tunes. Best of luck to all competitors. And be sure to come back here and share your results!

“Footloose” – Footloose
Kick off your sneakers, double knot those hard shoes and get moving!


“Go The Distance” – Hercules
This will make you feel just as powerful as Hercules. And use that to push through your steps.


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READ MORE:
Songs for the 18th - 19th February Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS

Songs for the 4th - 5th February Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS

Songs for the 28th - 29th January Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS
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“Patience” – Dreamgirls
Yep, have patience while waiting for those results.


“Jai Ho” – Slumdog Millionaire
This dancing beat will definitely get you moving.

John Lonergan Clinches 5th All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championship INTERVIEW

Men 18-19 All Ireland Irish Dancing Champion for 2012
John Lonergan from Kiely-Walsh
photo courtesy Lonergan family

Just twenty-four hours before John Lonergan went on stage in Dublin to successfully defend his All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championship title, Feis America had the chance to catch up with him and wish him luck.  Lonergan clinched his fifth consecutive All-Ireland Championship in Men 18-19 Saturday and now seeks to defend his four-year World Irish Dancing Championship title in Belfast in April.

FEIS AMERICA: We know you are John Lonergan, four-time World and as of Saturday, FIVE-time All-Ireland Champion Irish dancer with eight Munster regional titles to boot! How is it possible to be on tour in Germany with Magic of the Dance and still get time to practice and condition for another international major competition?

LONERGAN: In my opinion it's all about time management, and your want to succeed. Don’t get me wrong it is extremely hard to do it all together, but it's something I have wanted to do for years, tour with a show and compete, and I don’t feel ready to give up my competition days yet. Therefore I HAVE to make the time to practice. Its like anything, where theres a will, theres a way, and if your determined enough, you can do anything you put your mind to. At first I found it hard, but once I settled in to the show and adapted to the lifestyle of traveling a lot etc, I then found it a lot easier to practice and to go over my dances the way I normally would at home. I have a certain routine now, and I just follow that everyday to the best that I can. After all, someone can only do their best, and that’s what im trying to do!

FEIS AMERICA: The All-Irelands isn’t just ‘another’ major, you had a title to defend! Before Saturday's successful defense of your title at the All-Ireland Dancing Championships, you had held the top spot on that podium for the last four years and then gone on to clinch the same spot at the World Irish Dancing Championships.

Niamh Taylor, Ladies 18-19 2012 All-Ireland Irish Dancing Champion
with John Lonergan
photo courtesy Lonergan family

LONERGAN: That is very true, this time of the year is definitely one of the most stressful times as I have to try and retain my title. It’s a lot of pressure to be under but it is something that I have had to get used to. When I was younger I couldn’t handle it and used to always crack and never dance my best, but with experience and the help from my teachers, parents and friends, I have learnt how to deal with it, and be able to dance my best without having to worry.

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Read more:

Top Ten Irish Dance Videos of 2011

Meet a Reel Boy: Billy Petrocelli

North American Boys Place at All-Irelands

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FEIS AMERICA:  From all the great photos, you obviously have many, many friends that you have made over the years.  What is it about your personality that makes you an inspiration for so many Irish dancers? Who are your mentors in Irish dance?

LONERGAN: Well to be honest I don’t know if I am an inspiration to many dancers, but I think the one aspect people really appreciate from me, is that I am a very down to earth person. I talk to everyone, and regardless of how many titles I have won or haven’t won, I will always be that type of person. At the end of the day a title is a title and it shouldn’t change who you are outside of competition. I always say to myself “treat other people the way you want to be treated”, and I think that really does help. I was reared to be genuine and nice to everyone and that’s the way I always will be and don’t plan on changing that!
My mentors in Irish dancing are Maria Kiely-Walsh and Miah Walsh. My school is called the Kiely-Walsh Academy of Irish Dancing and is based in various small towns in the city and county of Cork in Southern Ireland. Over the years, the school has won multiple Munster, All-Ireland & World titles for ceili & figured dancing. It is an amazing school with such lovely people in it, and I really couldn’t have asked for nicer teachers and fellow class pupils!

John Lonergan, Greg Molony and Ian Gott
photo courtesy Lonergan family

FEIS AMERICA: What do you think about An Jig Gig and Prodijig, the televised dance competition and competitive Irish dancing group that are all the rage in the last year or so?

LONERGAN: I think these shows are actually a great way for publicizing irish dancing and showing that it's not all about the “1, 2, 3’s” as many people think it is! I have been on the Jig Gig last year and it was an amazing experience. I got to experience the work behind the scenes that’s put it, and how hard it is to shoot one show. It was such a tiring day, but a day that I will never forget as I gained knowledge of working in a business like that!

I think Prodijig is by far one of the best Irish dancing groups to perform EVER on a tv series. I think them getting through to the final in Got to Dance says enough, as the standard on that show is always amazing. I know a few of the dancers in it, and I am genuinely SO happy for them that everything they’ve worked for over the years is paying off and everyone can see how Irish dancing is evolving and becoming more popular as the days go by. I wish them the very best of luck with everything and I'm sure they will do the Irish dancing world very proud, as they have done so already with their previous two performances.

FEIS AMERICA: So John, what’s your future hold?

LONERGAN: As for my future, I'm not fully sure what it holds.  I want to compete for another few years as I still feel I'm very young to be retiring. So that first of all, and then I want to keep doing shows also. The experience I have gained from Magic of the Dance alone has been incredible and it has been a brilliant show to start off with, everyone is so lovely and they welcomed me into the troupe as if I was there for years. I am entirely grateful to them. Basically that is it, competing and shows, and hopefully when I am old enough and have finished competing I would love to take my TCRG exam. I have always wanted it, and love teaching dancing on a whole anyway, so I think it would only be right for me to take it and pass on the knowledge and experience that I have gained over the years to younger dancers and hope that they enjoy it as much as I do.

FEIS AMERICA: Well we know we will see you Belfast at the World Irish Dancing Championships in April!  Good luck and come back to tell us all about Magic of the Dance when you come up for air!

Check back here on Irish Central's Irish Dance page often for blog posts, interviews, photos, videos, results and more!

2012 Champions All Ireland Irish Dancing Championship Wrap Up

Emma Hoagland-25th, Hali Thorne-6th and Ruth Charles-29th
Ladies 17-18
photo courtesy Suzanne Cummings

The 2012 All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships ended Saturday after eight exciting days of world-class competitions. Champion Irish dancers from as far away as Australia traveled to South Dublin for the first major international competition of the year.  Two ballrooms at CityWest Hotel housed championship stages, panels of international adjudicators and thousands of dancers, teachers and families all week.  Solo and team competitions every day resulted in new All-Ireland champions as well as successfully-defended titles.

Senior Figure Team Champions from McGing
photo Rebecca McDaniel Garcia

Qualified dancers whose teachers are associated with An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha  showed off choreography, execution and timing of dance steps accompanied by live music. Competitors came from Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland,  South Africa, the United States and Wales. The UlsterRegion includes counties in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

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Read more:

Keeva Corry All Ireland Irish Dancing Champion

Boys Results at All-Irelands Sunday

Lavin-Cassidy Wins at All-Irelands

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When all was said and done, Ireland itself had won 14 of 25 solo and 5 of 12 team championships. England/Wales took 6 solo and 4 team titles; North America won 5 five solo and 3 team events, with Scotland clinching a single solo championship.

John Lonergan, 5-time All-Ireland Champion
photo courtesy John Lonergan

Congratulations to the 2012 All-Ireland Irish Dancing Champions:

Check back here on Irish Central's Irish Dance page soon for an interview with John Lonergan, 5-time All-Ireland Champion from Kiely-Walsh in England and a recap of all of the North American results at the All-Irelands.

Songs for the 18th – 19th February Irish dancing competitions – VIDEOS

by PATRICIA MCNAMARA

Heading to Georgia this weekend for Feis Na Tara or California for Feis San Francisco? How about Ontario for the Mary Woodgate Feis or Missouri for the St. Louis Irish Arts Feis and St. Louis Winter Feis? Or maybe you’re going to Brooklyn, New York for Feis na Nollag.

No matter your competitive destination this weekend, we want to share four tunes you should add to your own playlist before lacing up and taking the stage, inspired by this past week’s Grammy Awards. Best of luck to all competitors. And be sure to come back here and share your results!

“The Edge Of Glory” – Lady Gaga
And people will be on the edge of their seats watching you dance after getting pumped up by this jam.


“Holocene” – Bon Iver
The perfect song to play for long stretches.


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READ MORE:
Songs for the 4th - 5th February Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS

Songs for the 28th - 29th January Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS

Songs for the Jan. 21-22 Irish dancing competitions - VIDEOS
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“Lotus Flower” – Radiohead
As long as you don’t dance like this music video while out on stage, you’ll be good.


“Party” – Beyonce ft. Kanye West and Andre 3000
This confidence-boosting album will make you feel ready to get out there and show everyone what you’ve got

Nathan Dale is All Ireland Irish Dancing Champion AGAIN

Nathan Dale successfully defended his title in Boys 14-15
pictured here at 2011 All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships
photo courtesy The Mullane Healy Godley Academy

Nathan Dale from the Mullane Healy Godley Academy of Irish Dance topped the podium again at the 2012 All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships in Dublin on Tuesday!  Dale and Carrick Reider, from the Richens/Timm Academy of Irish Dance, were the only North Americans among 25 competitors; both hail from the Middle America region.  Dale has consistently placed in the Top 5 at the World Irish Dancing Championships, and was 3rd and the highest placing North American competitor in 2008.

Michael Fleck (3rd from left) places 7th in Boys 15-16
at All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships
photo courtesy Richens/Timm Academy of Irish Dance

Also from the Middle America region, Michael Fleck from Richens/Timm Academy of Irish Dance, placed 6th in Boys 15-16.  The only North American to place this year, Fleck consistently places at the World Irish Dancing Championships, and in 2009 was third place and the highest placing North American competitor.

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Read more:

North American Boys Place at All-Irelands Sunday

Middle America Regional Championship Results

Lavin-Cassidy Girls Ceili Team Wins All-Irelands

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Both Mullane Healy Godley and Richens/Timm are known for their competitive Irish dancing programs, with    many successful male Irish dance champions to their credit.  Gary Healy, ADCRG, one of a host of gifted teachers at Mullane Healy Godley, himself holds champion titles from the All-Scotland, British National, Great Britain and All-Ireland Irish Dancing Championships, and was the 2008 World Irish Dancing Champion for Senior Men.  John Godley, also a member of the Mullane Healy Godley teaching team, won the Middle America Regional, All-Ireland and World Irish Dancing Championships in 2010.

The Richens/Timm Academy, founded more than 35 years ago by the late Ann Richens, ADCRG, is the longest established Irish dance school in central Ohio and central Indiana, with a reputation founded in regional, national and international titles and placements.  Richens partnered with her prize pupil, John Timm, in 1993 after he captured the Senior Men's World Irish Dancing Championship.  Today, John Timm ADCRG and four certified teachers instruct competitive dancers of all levels and perform for thousands every year.

Mullane Healy Godley and Richens/Timm both teach Irish dancing for solo and team competition from beginner to adult.

Bookmark this page and check back here on Irish Central's Irish dance page for timely updates and news from Dublin all week long!