Feis 101

Whether your first feis is coming soon or you’re an old pro, Feis 101 is a help to everybody. So, let’s start from the top. A few days before the feis, a stage schedule will come out. This will let you know where and approximately when you will dance. I would recommend printing the stage schedule and highlighting your dance/s. You can find what numbers you are by looking at the feis syllabus, which normally come out a little less than a week before the feis. Since you need a few supplies, I made a few packing lists.

Feis Packing Lists for Dancers

Personal Packing List:

• one hot weather outfit (t-shirt, shorts)
• one cold weather outfit (long-sleeves, jeans)
• jacket
• practice clothes
• book or other thing to do while waiting for results
• ipod and earbuds
• hairbrush and hair bows

Dance Packing List:

• dress or pants
• bloomers or not
• socks
• hard and soft shoes
• duct tape
• electrical tape
• scissors 
• towel for water
• extra laces
• buckles (if applicable)
• undershirt (if applicable)
• wig and other hair necessities or not
• towel to use to stretch on
• chair (unless in auditorium)

So, once you have your clothes and dance stuff packed, you are ready! Go to bed early and have a healthy dinner (I recommend pasta) the night before a feis. It’s the morning of the feis! You will want to get there approx. 2 1/2 hours early if you are a champion, and a little less if you are in the grades. An hour and a half is allotted for makeup and hair, plus an hour to warm up and get ready and such. When you get to the feis, you will stop by the registration desk. There, you will tell a volunteer either your last name or dance school and receive a number. The number is a folded piece of paper that has, duh, a number on one side, which is how the judges identify you, and your competitions listed on the other. Next, find your stage/s and plunk yourself down to get ready. You will want to do a quick warm up, stretch out, and then run through your steps. If you get there early or at lunch break, you may be able to practice on the stage. You can either ask the stage manager or go on up and see if you get kicked off. Thing is, sometimes judges take lunch at the stage, so the manager won’t let you dance. I always go ahead and try anyway 🙂 After you are ready, it is time to compete! In grades, you and your competition and dance two at a time. Once the two before you are on the left foot of second step, you will walk up and start as soon as they finish. Both the younger and the less advanced categories will be counted in (“5, 6, 7, 8”) by a volunteer. You will typically have one judge. After the entire line has finished dancing, you will bow to the judge and musician and walk offstage. The grade awards are posted on a wall. The feis determines where this wall is, but you will see pieces of paper hung up with your competition number and the top placers. Ask a volunteer to show you where the results are. You collect your award at a table. Again, ask a volunteer where to find it. In Prelim and Opens, the set up is a little different. You will be judged by three judges, usually. In Prelim, you will have two rounds, and three in open. You will dance your first round with three other competitors in both. Sometimes it is two, but that depends on the judges’ preference. The second round will usually be two at a time, but younger age groups may dance three and again, the judges determine the number too. After each round bow to the judge and musician and walk off. If you are a Prelim, you’re finished! Catch up with the opens for awards. If you’re an open, you still have to do your set round. Traditional sets are danced U9 and under. The speed is the same for all dancers (although it depends on what set you do). The set is pretty close to the same choreography, but every school has their own variations. U10 and up dances non-traditional sets. You guessed it- this dance can be any dance at any speed and with any choreography. Both are hard shoe, and is danced one at a time. At majors like Regionals (Oireachtas), Nationals, Worlds, etc., the third recall round is a set. It doesn’t matter what level you are. Finally, you’ve finished dancing. You’re going to want to find the results room. There may be a sign posted somewhere that says what competitions will be announced when. Unfortunately, not all feis have that sign that you can check on. If the feis doesn’t have something like that, it’s best to up and move to the awards room. Sometimes, if you dance in the auditorium, the times for each competition’s awards will be announced. I love it when that happens.

Anyway, awards differ for prelims and opens. Let’s start with prelims. Here is a step by step list of…

Prelim Awards: How It All Goes Down

1. Get your dress on. PLEASE, no shorts under dresses, tennis sneakers vs. hard/soft shoes, or unzipped/capeless dresses. It makes everybody cringe.
2. Numbers of the placing dancers will be announced, either in numerical order or in no particular order. So, if they say “101, 204, 600” and you’re number 517, don’t freak. You could still get called up. They’ll tell you which way they’re announcing, anyway.
3. The places will be announced, from bottom to top. You will be given a trophy/plaque/who-knows-what and then placed in your proper position. Top 3 or sometimes top 5 get to stand on a podium, and if they’re lucky, they can get sashes, though that’s usually reserved for opens. Sorry! Not my idea…

Ok. So, now, let’s look at…

Opens Awards: How It All Goes Down

1. Get your dress on. PLEASE, no shorts under dresses, tennis sneakers vs. hard/soft shoes, or unzipped/capeless dresses. It makes everybody cringe.
2. Most feis do medal rounds. Starting with the first round, the top placers from one judge are called up and awarded medals, or sometimes luggage tags. Other feis like to give out chocolate. YUM! Anyway, just wait for your number and placement to be called out, then walk up, accept your award, and stand until everyone who placed from that judge has been called up. Bow, walk away. Bye bye.
3. Repeat step 2 for the soft shoe round.
4. Now the fun begins. Numbers of the placing dancers will be announced, either in numerical order or in no particular order. So, if they say “101, 204, 600” and you’re number 517, don’t freak. You could still get called up. They’ll tell you which way they’re announcing, anyway.
5. The places will be announced, from bottom to top. You will be given a trophy/plaque/who-knows-what and then placed in your proper position. Top 3 or sometimes top 5 get to stand on a podium. Most often, open top 3/5 will get sashes, and the winner will get a perpetual trophy- a trophy that you engrave your name, dance school, and year winning in and return it the next year. That way, there are tons of names on that trophy.

And that’s basically it! Have fun, and contact me if you have any questions about feising 🙂