New rules for 2011 in the ECR

A teachers' meeting was held at the ECRO in Ottawa. Here are some items of which feis chairpeople, dancers and dance parents should become aware.

- There will now be a minimum of three age groups required in a syllabus for treble reel competitions at ECR feises.

-The policy for advancing from PW to PC shall be changed to require a first place in one soft shoe dance (reel/slip jig) and a first place in one hard shoe dance (treble jig/hornpipe) instead of needing wins in all four dances; effective January 1st, 2011. This change will be reviewed next Novemeber to measure its effectiveness.

-The combining of age groups in the grades shall be reduced from three to two.

-Non-GTA feises who desire some leniency with age groups due to smaller numbers are encouraged to write to the Regional Director and the Feis Liaison with requests in a timely manner for review.

-Dancers who compete prior to the official end of their adjustment period shall serve double the remaining time before competing again and a fine of $500 shall be deemed payable by the school. The school has the option to expel the dancer from their school, in which case the $500 fine will not be required. As such, it is every dancer's and every parent's responsibilty to verify the official end date of such adjustment periods with their new teacher. They are advised to ask their new teacher for an official copy of the transfer confirmation form.

-Effective January 1st, 2011, a $25 transfer fee to be payable to IDTACE must accompany all transfer applications.

Info for NAIDC 2011, Nashville TN

Here is everything I know about the 2011 NAIDC:

Dates: Teachers' Convention Friday July 1st; Dancing Saturday July 2nd to Wednesday July 6th inclusive.

Location: Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Nashville Tennessee

Judging System: Rotating panels of three per round

Hosting Region: The IDTANA Executive Board

President - Lisa Petri ADCRG
Vice-President - Tim O'Hare ADCRG
Secretary - Russell Beaton ADCRG
Corresponding Secretary - Vincent O'Connor ADCRG
Treasurer - Sandra Connick TCRG
Seargant at Arms - Kevin Broesler ADCRG
President Emeritus - Michael Mullane ADCRG
with assistance from Regional Directors and many, many volunteers

Qualification Requirements:

-U8 and U9 may enter at teachers' discretion
-Any open championship dancer may be entered. Preliminary Championship dancers who earn their wins to qualify for OC by May 1st must move up to OC as of May 1st if they are entering the NAIDC on this option.
-U10 and up must either be in Champ or qualify at their regional Oireachtas. The qualifying formula is calculated as the top ten plus 25% of those who actually danced on the day.
-the option to enter based on recalling at the previous NAIDC has been rescinded
-dancers who qualified for 2010 but had to sit out due to a judging conflict are automatically entitled to enter the 2011 event; the same applies for 2011 status being deferred to 2012
-dancers who qualified for 2010 but did not attend for any other reason (transfer, illness, injury, personal choice) must meet a qualification listed above in order to enter the 2011 event

Competition Notes:

Soft shoe dances will be danced two-at-a-time for all ages.
Hard shoe dances will be danced three-at-a-time for all ages.
Set dances (including u8/u9 traditionals) will be danced one-at-a-time.
For events where the panels rotate, traditionals must go one-at-a-time in North America. If the panels do not rotate, this decision is up to the event's organizing committee.

Judges/Musicians:

Judges submitted their names in early 2010. Voting occurred at the 2010 IDTANA convention last July. Results of the ballot will be released in early December after the results of the All-Ireland ballot have been announced and all regional qualifiers are complete. Adjudicators who officiate at the 2011 All-Irelands may not also adjudicate the 2011 North Americans.

Musicians have until December 10, 2010 to submit their names for consideration. Voting among registered teachers will decide the list of musicians to be invited. Interested musicians should follow the weblink at:
http://www.idtana.org/index.html

Ceili Dancing:

Amendments to figure dancing shall include splitting competitions into "girls" and "mixed" groups. A mixed team requires only one male (as opposed to the World syllabus which requires more) and no more than 50% of the girls can compete in both a mixed figure and a girls figure in the same age group.

Ceili requirements shall follow the same rules published in the World syllabus for the duration of each dance and the point of conclusion.

Entries:

The entry due date is (as always) May 1st. A late date with a late-fee penalty of double the entry fee shall be May 8th.

Official Website: (not much information so far)

http://www.idtana.org/index.html

Worlds 2011 Preliminary Schedule

This was just sent out from the Dublin office.


Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne 2011 /Time table by days only.

Sunday 17th April 2011
Girls under 11
Girls under 12
Boys under 11
Boys under 12

Monday 18th April 2011
Girls under 13
Girls under 14
Boys under 13
Boys under 14
Junior Dance Drama under 16

Tuesday 19th April 2011
Girls under 15
Boys under 15
Boys under 16
Mixed Ceili under 13
Girls Ceili under 13
Mixed Figure under 13
Girls Figure under 13

Wednesday 20th April 2011
Mixed Ceili under 16
Girls Ceili under 16
Mixed Figure under 16
Girls Figure under 16
Girls under 17
Girls under 18

Thursday 21st April 2011
Girls under 19
Girls under 16
Boys under 17
Boys under 18
Men under 19

Friday 22nd April 2011
Ladies under 20
Girls Ceili under 19
Ladies over 21
Senior Dance Drama

Saturday 23rd April 2011
Men under 21
Men over 21
Ladies under 21
Girls ceili over 19
Girls figure over 16
Mixed ceili over 16
Mixed figure over 16

Compeitions may not run in the order shown above although they will run on the day they are listed against.