The Dances
There are three traditional styles in the Irish dancing – solo dances (Reel and Jig) and the group dance (Ceili dance). The traditional dances are mainly practiced at competitions. Aside from the traditional dances, another form of dance has recently emerged – authors dance for dance shows.
The solo dances, as the name implies, are performed by a single dancer. The straight position of upper arms and body is specific for those dances. The movement of the feet is very precise, and it is important for the feet to be in the main position “cross and turnout”. The Ceili dances are performed by a group of 4 or 8 people of the same dance school and they are rated together on the competitions.
There are three basic soft shoe dances – Light Jig, The Reel and Slip Jig. The thing to look out for when performing those dances is the smoothness and the gracefulness. In each of these dances there are different types of dance for male and female performers.
There are several standard hard shoe dances. They are the Hornpipe, the Treble Jig, and the Treble Reel and the Traditional Sets. Students usually learn the Hornpipe or Treble Jig as their first hard shoe dance. Those dances require from the dancer to use his shoes as a musical instrument and resemble the rhythm of the music (like playing drums). Just like with the soft shoe dances, there are different types of hard-shoe dances for male and female performers.
Depending on the complexity and speed of the dance there are several different performer levels:
1. Beginner: A dancer who has not taken Irish dancing lessons from a registered teacher prior to September 1 of the previous year.
2. Advanced Beginner: Dancers remain in this category until they win a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in a given dance. After that they can advance to the Novice category, but only for that dance.
3. Novice: Dancers remain in this category until they win a 1st place in a given dance. Then they can advance to the Open category for that dance.
4. Prizewinner: This is the last solo category. After this dancers move into Preliminary and then Open Championship competitions.
5. Preliminary Championship: A dancer who has placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, in the reel, slip jig, treble jig and hornpipe in Prizewinner Solos may choose to enter Preliminary Championship.
6. Intermediate Championship: A recently added category to bridge a growing gap between Preliminary and Open Championship dancers.
7. Open Championship: A dancer who has placed first in 3 Preliminary Championships Oireachtas (or-rock-tus) This is an official championship level feis. These competitions for very experienced dancers are annual events.