Rules & Regs

1.This is a Living Document and is subject to revision or amendment at any time. Amendments go into effect 10 days after being posted to the public web site, www.aaidt.com. Competitors and Teachers are responsible for keeping apprised of any changes that affect upcoming Feisanna.

2.Spirit of the Game. There can not be a rule or regulation for everything. AAIDT frowns on the over-regulation of Irish dancing. The concept of good sportsmanship in the “spirit of the game” is the guiding principle of AAIDT. Any activity which exploits a “loophole” or lack of clarity in the rules and regulations and/or is contrary to the spirit of the game, may be deemed inappropriate and not allowed. Generally, anything that would be considered inappropriate in any other Irish dancing organization is probably inappropriate in AAIDT. Members and teachers are cautioned to exercise good judgment to avoid conflict.

3.Feiseanna are open to all Registered Teachers/Schools and Clubs.

4.Competitors associated with any school will be considered a member of that school and must register under their name.

5.A Teacher is any individual whom, in any capacity, instructs dancers who can not be considered the students of another instructor. The terms Teacher, Instructor, Club and School have interchangeable meaning as it concerns this document.

6.Competitors must participate under the direction of a registered Teacher/School or Club. No dancer may enter independently without the oversight and authority of a registered Teacher/School or Club.

7.Any Dancer/Competitor who is associated with a Teacher/School in any capacity may be considered a member of that school.

8.Active competitors may not attend two Schools simultaneously. Upon transferring from one school to another, the competitor is required to inform the new school of ANY previous affiliation and provide records of former competitive status. If the new school, or both, are AAIDT affiliates the competitor must inform AAIDT of this transfer to ensure the fair treatment and smooth transition of the competitors records.

9.Upon transfer, a competitor is subject to a reorientation period of up to three months, at the new instructors discretion, to prepare new choreography for competition.

10.AAIDT will not tolerate behavior unbecoming a member. This includes the solicitation of students affiliated with any other school; failure to comply with any feis or event rules or creative “flexing” of rules which are not clearly defined in order to benefit oneself or school. Any such behavior may result in permanent ejection from AAIDT without refund of member dues.

11.If competitors have no previous record of standing they will be placed at the discretion of the authorized Adjudicator by one of the following methods. A. Register to the best of your knowledge and allow the adjudicator to determine if you should be moved to another level during the competition. (See adjudication form) B. Complete Virtual Feis or Distance Evaluation no less than 15 days before the date of the Feis.

12. Competitors may only participate in one Skill Level at a single Feis. Competitors may only enter a category once. Multiple entries in the same category will be denied.

13.In Special categories, including Freestyle Group and Solo, competitors may not perform a single choreography for more than a single annual season.

14. Competitors must check in at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start of competitions. Failure to do so could result in disqualification.

15.Age groups are determined by the age of the competitor on the actual date of the Feis.

16.Age groups may be arranged according to Adjudicators discretion based on the number of competitors present. Default age groups begin at age 6 and consist of two years each.

17.Music must maintain acceptable speeds per level. (See Tempos.) Musicians must use a metronome and are subject to monitoring by Feis Marshals.

18.Feis organizers must provide a safe, suspended or sprung wooden floor for competitors. The minimum floor size for single dancer is 16X16 feet. For two dancers side-by-side, the minimum stage size is 20X16 feet. Under no circumstances may dancers dance on covered concrete floors or similar hard material. (Specifics of stages are subject to the discretion of the Feis Committee.)

Feis Personnel Roles:

19.Dance Medic. At least one AAIDT trained Dance Medic must be present at all AAIDT events. Medics are responsible for dancer and public First-Aid, injury treatment and prevention. In smaller Feiseanna the roles of Feis Medic and Safety Officer may be combined.

20.Feis Safety Officer. A designated and trained Feis Safety Officer must be present at all AAIDT Feiseanna. Safety Officers monitor the environment and the dancers for safety and unsafe practices. It is the responsibility of the Safety Officer to help prevent injury by maintaining safe practices. In smaller Feiseanna the roles of Feis Medic and Safety Officer may be combined.

21.Clerk(s). Every AAIDT Feis must have trained and appointed Clerk or Clerks. Clerks are responsible for tallying and finalize scores. Only trained and appointed Clerks may participate in Feiseanna. Registrar. Every AAIDT Feis must have a trained and designated Registrar. No person that is not duly trained and qualified by AAIDT may participate in the registration process.

22.Feis Marshal. All AAIDT Feiseanna must have a designated and trained Feis Marshal. It is the duty of the Feis Marshal to ensure the rules and regulations of a Feis are continually met. This may include monitoring of live music tempos, ensuring that staging meets guidelines and maintaining crowd control. In smaller Feisanna the roles of Safety Officer and Feis Marshal may be combined.

Procedure:

23.No more than one Competitor to one Adjudicator may dance at one time. Organizers should consider this when scheduling time and resources.

24.Competitors should dance in the appropriate skill levels according to their abilities and the content of their choreography. Competitors who dance inappropriate steps or appear to have entered above or below their proper skill level are subject to disqualification or may be moved up or down in Level immediately and without notice at the Adjudicators discretion. Adjudicators may also reduce marks for dancers who enter above or below their actual skill-levels.

25.In Solo Competitions where more than one competitor will dance at a time, competitors will line-up along the staging area and take their places to dance their steps simultaneously.

26.Competitors may not practice steps while in queue for a competition. Competitors must stand quietly at Parade Attention (First Position) during line-up. Conversation or poor deportment may result in ejection from the event. When each competitor finishes they will visually acknowledge the adjudicator and bow before leaving the stage.

27.Only Feis officials and competitors in the current event may approach the staging area during competition. 28.There may, or may not, be a break in the music between each set of dancers. If not, as the previous dancer exits, the next should enter and start on the expected open count.

29.If a competitor stops dancing early he/she should bow and wait to be dismissed by the adjudicator. If dancing two-by-two he/she should return to first position and wait for the other competitor to finish. Both should bow and exit together.

30.Once a competition is closed, no dancer will be permitted to dance. 31.Feis Officials reserve the right to amend, merge, cancel or add age groups and competitions on the day of the Feis

32.Dancers in public view must be in full costume at all times. The only exception is the use of street shoes instead of dance shoes during long periods between dances. Competitors must be in full costume and shoes when receiving awards and photography.

33.The Feis reserves the right to video tape and/or photograph all aspects of competition and distribute images of any competitor in all forms of commercial and public media deemed appropriate by the President. By participating in an event the competitor, parent or guardian agrees to these terms.

34.Behavior unbecoming a competitor or member. Any activity or behavior that is disruptive to a Feis, other competitors, or the organization as a whole, may be ejected from the vent and forbidden from ever returning to an AAIDT event.

35.All vendors must be licensed by the proper AAIDT committee member in charge of regulating Feis commerce in order to vend at AAIDT events.

36.No competitor, instructor or audience member may say, “mouth” or otherwise signal choreography to a competitor; nor address a competitor in any way while on stage or in queue. Such activity can result is competitor disqualification.

Levels and Advancement:

37.Competitive Levels consist of Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Novice, Prizewinner, Preliminary and Championship.

38.Competitors are evaluated based on six skill components. These are Posture, Timing, Placement, Execution, Technique, Presentation. Competitors are also subject to penalties for various offenses. (See Incidentals and articles 20, 33)

39.A competitor must be prepared to dance 32 bars of each dance. Placement and advancement is per-dance.

40. In competitions where a dancer places First, Second or Third in any dance, they must meet the minimum score requirement for that category in order for that win to qualify toward advancement to the next skill level. (See Adjudication Form)

41.If a competitor places First in a Feis AND has earned sufficient points to move up to the next level in that dance, they MAY move up at the discretion of their instructor. They may opt to move back down within one year of the placement unless they place First, Second or Third at the higher level, after which they must remain at the higher level.

42.If a competitor places First at any level Twice in a year AND has earned sufficient points each time to move up to the next level in that dance, they must move up and may not compete at that level again.

43.If a competitor places Second or Third three times in a year AND has earned sufficient points each time to move up to the next level in that dance, they must move up and may not compete at the lower level again.

44.Competitors who place First, Second or Third, but do NOT earn sufficient points, may not move up regardless of how many times they place in a year.

45.Competitors may not move up more than one level in a single dance until they match the highest earned level in all their dances. This means a Beginner may place and move up to Advanced Beginner Reel while staying at Beginner in their other dances. The competitor Can not advance to Novice in Reel until all other dances have reached Advanced Beginner.

46. Dances:

Beginner: 3 of 4. Reel, Single Jig, Light Jig, and Slip Jig. 32 Bars each.

Advanced Beginner: 3 of 4. Reel, Single Jig, Light Jig, and Slip Jig. 32 Bars each.

Novice: 3 of 4. Reel/Boys Reel, Slip Jig, Treble Jig (traditional speed) or Hornpipe. (traditional speed) 32 Bars each. Additional category Traditional Sets 32 Bars each.

Prizewinner: 3 of 4. Reel or Slip Jig, Treble jig or Hornpipe or Treble Reel or a Non-Traditional set dance from our list of sets. View our list of Traditional and Contemporary/Non-Traditional Set Dances. 32 Bars each.

Preliminary: Reel or Slip Jig, Treble Jig or Hornpipe or Treble Reel and a Contemporary/Non-Traditional set dance from the commonly accepted list of 38 sets. View our list of Traditional and Contemporary/Non-Traditional Set Dances.2.

Championship: Reel or Slip Jig, Treble jig or Hornpipe, Treble Reel and a Contemporary/Non-Traditional Set dance from the commonly accepted list of 38 sets.2. Steps. Competitors must be prepared to dance 32 bars per category.

47. 2009 Additional Categories: Traditional Set, Traditional Ceili, 2, Hand 3 Hand 4 Hand.

48.Toe-Stand Bann released for 2009. After exhaustive consideration AAIDT has released the ban on toe-stands and “Toe walking” at any official AAIDT competition or event. However, extreme penalties will apply to any competitor who demonstrates poor or improper technique doing toe work. This is a deterrent for the safety of the competitors and instructors who are unqualified to teach toe stands. If a competitor receives a penalty they are encouraged to NOT attempt toe stands again unless they receive qualified training. Penalties may range from negative 1-10 points. This decision has been reached after consulting with professionals in the Irish Dance Education, Healthcare, Insurance and Irish dance shoe manufacture.

49. Illegal Shoes: Rutherford “Shamrock” Hard Shoe and/or any Hard shoe which does not have a leather ankle strap and which uses laces to secure the ankle where a strap belongs.

50. Attire: Costume will consist of appropriate outerwear, dance shoes and accessories. Unusual or improper footwear may be determined at the discretion of a Feis Safety Officer, Marshal or Adjudicator. It is the responsibility of the competitor to ensure that they are in compliance with generally accepted dance-wear. Minimum Standard Uniform. Competitors have the option of wearing the minimum standard uniform (MSU) of AAIDT. The MSU consists of the official AAIDT polo shirt and green circle skirt with dance socks and appropriate shoes for females; black slacks and socks for males. A white V-neck t-shirt must be worn under the shirt. This is the recommended costume for Beginner and Advanced Beginner competitors, and dance groups who lack a uniform costume. Competitors may purchase uniforms directly from AAIDT. Group dances must wear matching or design-coordinated uniforms, or the MSU.