Irish dancing? Does anyone have kids enrolled in this?

[binny]

The girls have been talking about this since they saw someone at their school do it. I think its probably a little too advanced for them at this point ( 6 and 7 years old) but wanted to know if anyone does this or has their kids in it?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't have any--but our Catholic school has someone come in and do it for an afterschool Activity and children as young as Kindergarten do it. It looks like a lot of fun and the kids who do it enjoy (we've seen them perform a few times). The group has even had different kids win awards at competition. (if I had to guess--that would be the 7-8 and older kids--though one time it was some iddy biddies that they said also one).

I cannot speak from a parent perspective though.

 

[clarabelle]

Mine has done it since she was 5. She just turned 8. She is not terribly good but enjoys it and looks really cute in her costume.
Her studio does not compete in Irish (they do in clogging). So the only thing they preform at is school carnivals, local festivals things like that.
The shoes are expensive and the hard ones are REALLY expensive.
They start off in soft shoes (gilles) and move on to using both hard and soft later.
She loves to watch her DVD of Michael Flatley "Lord of the Dance".
I don't think this is something that Irish people truly get into that much -but she enjoys herself and it is a little different.

 

[gallaj0]

I wish. My daughter never liked dance of any kind, but a lot of her friends do it, and we have tons of dance schools around here (south of Boston) that teach it to all ages, even younger than yours. It's never too young to start, especially if they like it.

 

[coinkc]

My daughter began taking Irish Dance lessons when she was 5. She is now 10 (as of yesterday!) and still loves it! She began competing when she was 6. It is a great physical activity which is nice because she doesn't play any other sports. I like it because I am old-fashion and don't like my young daughter shaking her booty and wearing revealing costumes like so many of the other dance types do.

 

[anewvance]

My daughter started Irish Dance in January. She is still learning all the steps but she really loves it. Her's is the only Irish dance school in the county. They have 4 levels but as soon as the second level they start with doing shows and competition. My younger daughter is going to start when lessons start up again in August... I think she will be the one that will really do well in it. My older dd is a little heavy on her feet.

 

[4chitlins]

My daughter took it when she was 6. They can continue right along into adulthood. They start out with the softshoes and then can move up to the harder shoe with the heel.

 

[LBAK]

It's huge here. Most of my daughters friends started at 5. They're 11 now and her best friend left this morning for Nationals in San Diego. She was so excited but its a really big commitment at that level.

 

[binny]

Thanks for the input!

I had no idea you could start so young

Its probably a little complicated for Karissa yet but I bet she would love it Who knows it could be great therapy for her as well

Thanks Ill look into classes here then.

 

[luv my clarinet 11]

i've never took irish or anything, but i've been clogging since i was 3! and i'm 13 now! i love it so much, just friday i left to go to a cloggin convention and i just got back earlier today. matt sexton and josh king were both there, they are both national cloggers. but i think its never too early to take up dance.

~*~katie~*~

 

[mommiepoppins]

i would love to get dd invoved anyone know how to do that?

 

[eeyore45]

My dd is in Irish Step Dance - the teacher actually has a group in ID too - McNulty Irish Dancers.

When I first looked into it, a friend told me not to, it was too competative, you have to drive all over the country - its very expensive - so I didnt look any further!!

Then we happened into an Irish Store that had 4 or 5 dancers dressed and moving - so dd asked them, they gave us the website, and they had classes near our house. For the first year the classes are around $10 45 min session I believe... and you just wear shorts, tshirts and a ballet or jazz soft shoe to learn the basics.

Then once dd learned the jig and the reel ( it took about a year I want to say) dd decided to go to her first competition called a feis - we bought the hair (curly wig $50) soft shoes (like ballet, but they lace different) and rented the class skirt, and vest, and shirt ($40 a year rental) She won first place!!

So now she takes workshop $15 for a 3 hr session. and then she can move up to the next level dress (I think $100 rental) the fancy schmancy dresses can be rented for around $500 and you can buy your own for $1100!

She also takes a heavy shoe class - it is a mix of clogging, tap, the shoe is heavy, its not a metal tap but a wooden (sometimes fiberglass I've heard)

They really work hard - I was amazed. DD took ballet for a couple of years, but she loves this so much more -

I'd do a google search for Irish Dancers plus your town... Our teacher was saying that most do sign ups to do shows online, so its a good bet you'll find something!!

 

[eeyore45]

oh, and I've heard that her teacher takes a group to Disney every other year!! They also go to Ireland!! One year they did a cruise, the teacher hires professionals and they do a lot of workshops apparently...

DD was hooked when she learned next year is the Disney trip - that's one reason why she does workshop, so she can qualify to go!!

 

[jimmalru80]

Our girls are not involved and I'm not sure if there are any groups close to our house.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

They are definitely not to young to start. I started when I was 4, and started competing when I was 5. At 7 we moved, and competitions (called feis, pronounced "fesh") were not available to me anymore. But a couple of years later we found a teacher and I started dancing for Irish and Scottish festivals, St. Patrick's Day parades, etc. (Only teachers registered with the Feis Commission can take students to feis to compete). I kept dancing all the way through high school, and even taught (unregistered) for a while.

Be aware that traditional Irish step dance is considerably less flashy than Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. Your girls will probably start out in soft shoe, which is my favorite. They can learn hard shoe around 8 or 10. A proper feis dress is insanely expensive, but they can also perform and compete in less formal dress.

If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

 

[RangerPooh]

A few years back ther were two little girls who lived down the street from me who could not have been older than 7 and 9 (at the oldest) who both did step dancing. It was very cute to watch them practice their dances outside. It was even better when their dad would be playing the bagpipes and they would be dancing along.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Binny, I don't know where in Idaho you are, but I found this school that looks very good:

Scoil Rince na hEasal



ETA: BTW, Scoil Rince is Gaelic for School of Dance, and I'm not sure what hEasal means!

 

[binny]

Thanks Hippie Im in Boise, but thanks for the site!