Let me first explain what a feis is.  Feis (pronounced “fesh”) is the Gaelic word for “festival”.  In its truest form, it is a festival of the Irish arts: bread baking, arts & crafts, instrumental music, vocal music, spoken word, and dancing.  At modern feisanna, the emphasis is on the dancing.  While most feisanna at least have a music competition, it is usually held on Friday night, with all day Saturday devoted to dancing.  In North America, there is a feis every weekend somewhere.  Most people have a select few in their region of the country that they try to go to.  For a complete listing of sanctioned events, go to www.northamericanfeiscommission.org, and look for the feis calendar.
In order to participate in a feis you must register/enter your dancer. This is done online at www.feisworx.com. Ms. Judy will have detailed instruction sheets to help with this process. Just ask her for a copy. (Short version: go to this website, click the feis you want to enter and follow the step by step directions) There are cut off dates for registration, usually three weeks before the event so don’t put it off.

 The actual feis event can seem overwhelming at first glance.  You will pick up a registration packet either on Friday evening or Saturday morning – this will contain the dancer’s competitor number with a reminder of what they have entered. The dancer needs to wear this number, usually with a ribbon tied around the waist.  It is highly recommended that you purchase a program because you will find a “schedule of events” in it. The schedule lists the order in which each dance is performed AND on what stage it will take place. The dancer will watch for the competition number to be posted on the assigned stage, then they will check in with the stage monitor.  Once they’ve checked in, they cannot leave the stage area.  When the judge is ready for their competition, the stage monitor sends them up on the stage.  The competitors dance two at a time, until all dancers have finished.  In “Beginner” classes, there will usually be an advanced dancer or teacher on stage, helping to start the dancers on time with the music.  Each dance is judged individually, meaning, you might place in your reel, and not in your light jig.

There are different categories of graded classes.  For the first year of instruction, the dancer is in the “Beginner” category for each of their different dances (reel, light jig, slip jig, single jig, etc).  At the Ozark feis, we will have a “First Feis” category for those who have never competed before.  Obviously, you can only compete in “First Feis” at one competition – then you move in to “Beginner”. At the end of the first year of instruction, the dancer automatically moves into the “Advanced Beginner” (or “Beginner II”) category.  To move up out of the “Advanced Beginner” (AB) category, the dancer must place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd against at least 5 competitors in a particular dance (that placing only moves the dancer up in that particular dance).  Usually, the dancer remains in the lower category until the feis year is completed (a feis year is January – January).  It is possible (and probable) to be “mixed” – some AB classes, some Novice classes.  Once a dancer is at the Novice level of a dance, they must place 1st (against at least 5 competitors) in order to move to Prizewinner classes (some feisanna call this Open – not to be confused with Open Championship).  To move out of the graded classes (Beginner to Prizewinner), the dancer must place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in four Prizewinner classes: reel, slip jig, treble jig, & hornpipe – not necessarily all at one feis.  At that point, the dancer moves into the Championship rounds, where everything changes again. J  It often takes several years for a dancer to move through the graded classes into Championship rounds – don’t get discouraged.

In the first years of competition, the dancers wear a school costume.  This means that the costume was chosen by the McCafferty School.  Essentially, the dancer is representing the McCafferty School by wearing the school costume.  For the first year or so of dancing, the girls often wear a black leotard and black skirt, and the boys wear black pants and a black shirt with gold tie.  Because the girls are wearing skirts, they also wear white “poodle” socks (these can be purchased at a feis or from many online vendors) with their ghillies and hard shoes.  The girls soon move into a black skirt with a black vest, white shirt, and gold sash in the back.  After that, the girls get a school dress, which is black with colorful Celtic knot work, and “M”s on it. Underneath these dresses, the girls wear dance bloomers of gold (they match the underside of the dress) or red.  The McCafferty school costume is usually accompanied by a red headband worn in the hair. Later, as the girls move up, you will see them in very colorful and fancy dresses – these are called “solo” dresses, and are usually only worn once the dancer reaches Prizewinner or higher.  Anytime a dancer is in a figure (group) dance, he or she wears a school costume so that they appear as a unified team.

You will notice at a feis that many of the girls are wearing wigs with very curly hair.  Traditionally, girls curled their hair for a competition – this eventually transitioned into wearing wigs because it’s easier.  However, the young, beginner dancers still curl their hair.  Most moms put the girls in sponge rollers the night before a competition, and pull the curlers out the morning of the competition.  Girls 10 and younger in the Advanced Beginner classes and lower cannot wear makeup, but you will see the older, more advanced girls wearing some.

As I mentioned earlier, this all can seem overwhelming, even on the day of the feis.  You will soon get the rhythm of the day, and figure out where your dancer needs to be, and when.  Ms. Judy always patiently answers any question, as will most any parent who has been around a few years.  We’ve all been in your ghillies. J  Every dancer was a beginner at one point.  This was part of the reason the Ozark Mountain Irish Arts Council was formed – we are here to mentor you along.  Please feel free to ask any questions.

Here are a few vendors where you can find most anything you will need before feis day.

www.tartantoes.com
www.antoniopacelli.com
www.ceili.com
www.callahansimports.com