Flat Susan Irish Dances

So in our final hoorah with our guest Flat Susan, we took her to the King O' Sullivan Winter Feis. (pronounced fesh) This was my daughter Bridget's first dance competition of the 2014 season. She has officially moved up to the U14 category. Time just flies too quickly.

Susan had a grand time meeting new people, learning all about how Irish dance and  competitions run, experiencing Ceili dancing, (team dancing) and even getting to attend the awards ceremony at the end where pinned to my daughters dress helped her accept her 3rd place award. All in all we all had a very long and full day of Dresses, Wigs, Make-Up, Shoes, Dancing, and best of all friends. 

This Feis was hosted at the Marriott Evergreen Resort at Stone Mountain by the King O' Sullivan school in the Atlanta,GA area. Several dancers from Irish dance schools all over the Southern region of the US participated. My daughter dances for 
Rince na h'Eireann School of Traditional Irish Dance. The schools name translates to Dance of Ireland. Our school host 2 Feis's a year. The Holy Angels Feis which we raise and donate all money to the Holy Angels foundation which is a Catholic Foundation which helps the disabled, and then our Feis in October.

There are several levels of dance. Bridget is a Preliminary Champion level dancer, and is working toward trying to move into Open Champion which is the highest level of dance. The levels are Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Novice, Prizewinner, Preliminary Champion, and Open Champion. You start as a beginner and move to each level by winning each of your dances in each of the levels. The dances are Single Jig, Light Jig, Slip Jig, and Reel, which are all soft shoe dances. In hardshoe there is Treble Jig and Hornpipe. Single Jig and Light Jig are not usually competed in after Novice. Once you reach Prelim and Open your dances are based on your birth year. So this year Bridget competes in Reel & Hornpipe. She has a Non-traditional set called "The Three Sea Captains" There are a total of 31 Non-Traditional set dances. Most dancers only learn a handful in their career. 

So this is what Susan has learned about Irish Dance. There is a whole lot more, but she can only visit for so long. She will be on her way to her next host on Monday or Tuesday. So I will now show you all the pics form her dance filled weekend. I hope you enjoyed reading about Flat Susan and her visit to Davidson,NC. We have enjoyed hosting her!!!! She will be missed a whole bunch!!!

Welcome to King O' Sullivan Feis

1st Place 4 hand Team

(L-R)Bridget, FS, Maggie, and Laura

Mom's Tracy & Holly

Bridget (FS is pinned R breast)

Bridget & Flat Susan

Bridget getting her 3rd place award