School Feis 2024

The school feis is scheduled for Sunday February 11, 2024, and will take place in the auditorium at Ecole du Carrefour in Dartmouth. While participation is not mandatory, we strongly encourage ALL dancers to participate. This is a great opportunity to have an introduction to feiseanna, get some practice time in front of a judge, and spend time with other dancers and families.

If you or your dancer are worried or don’t feel ready, don’t worry. Dancers will be allowed to restart, or have a say buddy or dance buddy if they need. For our younger dancers (or dancers new to feiseanna) is about getting exposure to feiseanna. For our more experienced dancers, this is about getting feedback. For general information on preparing for a feis, what to pack, costume details, etc. check out our Academy Handbook.

Final scheduling details will be determined once we have a sense of numbers, but we expect a start no earlier than 9:00 am, wrapping up no later than 4:00 pm. Events like these don’t happen without a lot of support, so keep an eye out for our call for volunteers–there will be jobs for people of all ages, skill level, and dance experience!

Adjudicator
This year’s feis will be judged by Casey Costello. Casey is the head coach at Costello Irish Dance, and is the Regional Director for Eastern Canada. Casey’s known for his attention to detail, and we’re excited to have him join us this year!

How to register and what’s on offer
To register for our school feis, please complete the registration form. Once you have completed the initial section with your personal information, locate your class in the list and select the dances you would like to compete in. Please note that some classes have mandatory dances, and these are indicated on the registration form. 

We are also offering two special competitions–these are open to dancers at all levels, and can be performed solo, or with a partner or group. Dancers will create their own choreography but will otherwise be dancing to the music played by the musician. There should be 16 bars of choreography per dancer–if dancing in a group, performances can be up to 16 bars of choreography per group member. Standard tempos will be used. Costumes and creativity are encouraged, and prizes will be awarded for both costumes and choreography! Participation in these dances is not required at any level, but if you do wish to participate ensure you also select the specials from the drop-down at the bottom of the registration form. This year’s specials will be:

• Love is Reel – perform 16 bars of a reel in hard shoe or soft shoe. Feel free to get creative as you interpret this theme!
• Soulmate slip jig – perform 16 bars of a slip jig in hard shoe or soft shoe (a slip jig in hard shoe?! Could be amazing). Again, feel free to get creative as you interpret this theme. 

Please register as soon as possible. The deadline to register is January 28, 2024. Dancers may register past this date, but will be charged a $25 late fee.

Fees
Once you have completed your registration form an invoice will be added to your Uplifter account for your selected dances. Invoices can be paid online with a credit card, via etransfer to info@risingtideacademy.ca, or by cash/credit/debit in the studio. Fees are due on receipt of the invoice–unpaid invoices are not considered a withdrawal from the competition. Any fees not paid by the registration closing date (January 28) will be charged a $25 late fee.

There will be a $10 mandatory family fee to help cover the costs of running this event. Families with more than one dancer only need to pay this fee once. This removes a door fee to attend the event so you can bring other guests with you and they are all covered under that one charge.

For all grades level competitions (everyone except for champs) each dance will be $10.
Championship competitions will be $30.
Specials are $10 each – if you are competing on a team each dancer must pay the $10 entry fee.