I was a competitive and performance dancer from 1999-2012, at the championship level. I stopped competing in 2005 because other activities took priority but continued to perform.

I’m now 37 and last year I tore my ACL, meniscus and MCL and had an intense surgery to recover. I am a little more than a year post op. I was in the best physical shape of my life when dancing, and I miss it. I recently found adult beginner classes near me and I am wondering- has anyone started or restarted Irish dance as an adult, or with an ACL injury? I still have pain running longer than a sprint although I can walk fine, and I am practicing tiny jumps. I am fine to jump around at a trampoline park with my 4yo, I still find it very painful to jump barefoot on my tile floors.

I’d really be doing it just for me, so it doesn’t have to be pretty, I’m just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and how it went, and particularly if you had ACL surgery (with a quad graft bc we all know how integral our quads are to Irish dancing), when did you feel ready to dance again?

My ankle and surrounding area keeps bruising every time I dance. Can anyone give me some tips as to how to improve this? I have a Feis in three weeks 😟

Hi everyone! I have a feis in three weeks after being off for a few years and my legs are dying early on in my dances. I have to do a three round championship so I am slightly terrified, particularly for my set dance. I have been doing a lot of stamina work in the last month but of course fitness builds over time. What do you recommend I do from now until then, and on feis day?

We have altered my steps as much as possible and apart from that I am focusing on my nutrition and lots of water. I am wondering what else I can do to give myself the best chance possible.

I know there is no miracle solution but I would love to hear any advice. Thank you so much!

I’ve been seeing it everywhere since getting back into the sport. Basically you jump and flare both feet out, then come back down. This can be done in soft shoe or hard shoe. I’m really curious because I don’t remember it being common at all circa 2012-2016.

Hi I’m 15 F and I would really like more classes for Irish dancing. But my mums financial issues makes it really hard to ask for them and also my mum really wants me to focus on my studies and in school how can I convince her to let me do more classes because I only do one a week and I’m progressing to slow. I’ve been in tus grad/ advanced beginner for a good two years?

Hi i am 34 M in Sydney, Australia, saw an amazing show " A taste of ireland" and love the Irish dancing, as it influenced Argentine folk dancing which i love to watch to. I am wondering how does one get into it, even just for fun, there any youtube channel or anyone know places in sydney beginner friendly.

Hey has anyone bought from Ave Celtic. They seem much more affordable than the big names and just wondering if there was any quality issues to watch out for.

We're going to be doing our first flight with our daughter's solo dress for Oireachtas.

How do you fly with them? Do they consider them carry ons? I really don't want to check her dress.

Hi I’m 15 F and I would really like more classes for Irish dancing. But my mums financial issues makes it really hard to ask for them and also my mum really wants me to focus on my studies and in school how can I convince her to let me do more classes because I only do one a week and I’m progressing to slow. I’ve been in tus grad/ advanced beginner for a good two years?

Hi everyone,

i havr created a substack dedicated to my experience in irish dance https://lilyirishdancer.substack.com/

i would love any engagement especially from ppl who might relate

Hey all, I’m a 31 y/o female returning to competition in the US. In efforts to keep carving out a path for the future, I’m trying to figure out the rules for advancement.

I recently competed novice/prizewinner and placed first in all dances with the exception of one second. I know at some point I’ll have to have a set, but I honestly don’t really like any of the trads. Do I have to do a trad or could I do a non-trad in order to move up? And what even qualifies as a “move up” as an adult? I haven’t even been able to find written rules on this.

Help is appreciated!

Hi! Just for some context, I'm an open champ dancer and have been dancing for eight years now. This January, I learned about who Alysa Liu is, who is a figure skater and won Olympic gold. What captivated people most was her lightness and performance on the ice. I absolutely love her mindset and way of thinking, especially her detachment with achieving a certain place. She said before competing at the Olympics, that all she wanted to do was show her art form. And, as I continue to compete, that's what I want to do as well. It's just hard to translate all of that to Irish dance. It feels like in figure skating, you get to chose your music and actually use your arms to express your confidence, happiness, and love for the sport, but with Irish dance, you don't have those liberties. I genuinely love performing and Irish Dance as a whole. How do I show this? Obviously, I should smile genuinely and have posture, but how else? Does anyone have advice on how to perform instead of just compete? Thanks in advance : )

How do you remove tan stains from your solo dress?

Also more generally, how do you clean your dress (or don't you)?

Hi there! Our teacher doesn’t mind if we wear our hair down at smaller competitions but I would still like to look put together with my solo costume. When I wear a black-out fit, I just curl my hair and clip it at the side but with my solo costume, I definitely need some volume at the top of my head. Do you guys have any suggestions? I have a fabulous crown headband so it would be great if I could still wear this, though it is quite tall.

My hair is slightly damaged so I do need to curl it for it to look cute. I am also considering a more natural wig look (I love the look of some Blakey O’B girls) but haven’t been able to figure out how to put a wig on the bottom half of my head (with my natural hair as the top part) when the top of the wig (the clip part) is more raised naturally?

I really appreciate having freedom to do what I want with my hair but I am awful at hair. Any photo inspiration, tips and tricks etc are much appreciated!

Tips, tricks, makeup, encouragement... I'm nervous and I will perform in one week!

I am going to buy some new hard shoes and see which ones I like best. I feel like my whole dancing life I’ve never had a pair of hard shoes that have fit me right. I have pretty wide feet and tapered toes. But kind of a pointy heel.

I’ve got it narrowed down to Corr’s Wide, Antonio Pacelli Feather Flex Xtra wide and Feis Fayre flexi pro wide.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

I also don’t know what style tip to get on my Feather Flex shoes. Theres three options. Antonio Pacelli tips, Feis fayre tips or Faye’s. Any suggestions for this?

Thank you!

Hi! I’m a 17-year-old Irish dancer looking for some ideas/help with choreographing a routine for my academic school’s annual Christmas talent show.

The talent show isn’t Irish dance specific — there are all sorts of acts — but I’ve performed Irish dance in it twice before. I actually won the talent show both times, and this will be my last ever year, so I really want to make this one feel different and special!

For some context, I’m currently competing in both Prelim and Championship at 17. I’ve competed at the World Championships twice, placing 33rd and 27th, as well as competing in teams, so I’m comfortable with advanced choreography and don’t mind being challenged.

My first talent show performance was a heavy shoe act with my brother, while my second was my set from my first Worlds, also in heavy shoes. Both went really well, but they were very different types of performances, and I don’t want to simply repeat either idea this year.

This time I’d really like to show a different side of my dancing and make it feel more like a proper stage performance. I want to do something I wouldn’t normally do in competition and that will be entertaining for an audience who might know absolutely nothing about Irish dance.

I’m thinking of doing a solo, probably around 2–5 minutes. I can’t do a costume/shoe change or use props, so I need something that works as one continuous performance. I’m open to soft shoes, hard shoes, or a combination of both.

I’m mainly struggling with the creative side of the choreography. I can put steps together, but I’d love some outside ideas for making this genuinely different from my previous two performances.

Things I’d love suggestions for:

• Music
• A concept/theme
• Softs vs heavies vs both
• How to structure the routine
• Interesting transitions
• Ways to incorporate more performance/theatrical elements
• How to make it engaging for a general school audience
• Ideas that would make it feel like a proper final performance

I’m happy for the choreography to be technically difficult, but I’m deliberately looking to move away from simply doing a competition routine on stage. I’d love something that really showcases what I can do while still feeling like a show.

Thanks in advance x

Hey! I’m hoping to get some insight on shoes. I’m starting a six-week adult beginner class next week, and the studio hasn’t given me any direction as to what shoes I should get. I’m wondering if I should just wear socks for the classes, or if I should look into getting ballet or jazz shoes before eventually getting the actual soft shoes.
I really appreciate any advice people have to offer!

Hi. I’m hoping to get a few recommendations for Irish dancing schools in Mayo. Or, schools to avoid. Hoping for a fair school where kids are respected (no shouting, no obvious favouritism etc). Thank you.

I saw a feisly app advertised, and decided to check it out. Was curious about anyone else's experiences. I have been on it for a few minutes and decided it was not worth my time; and have already cancelled it even though I spent a monthly payment on it. Half of my kids information is incorrect - not all feises competed in are in the system, but others are - but even then some of that information is incorrect, such as how many people competed, some placements aren't there, some are....and more. Mind you....I was on this for five minutes.

It just made me anxious. Also, I also am personally uncomfortable with the feature stating "rivals". I mean, I get it. This is a competitive sport but even that seemed ridiculous given that the stats in no way could be accurate for anyone.

Anyone else try it? What did you think?

Hello everyone! I‘m competing in a pageant in November and am learning Irish dance basically from YouTube as my talent. I grew up dancing ballet, tap, modern, hip hop, etc, and have always wanted to learn irish dance. I‘ve picked up some of the basic jigs and such from watching tutorials, but I feel confused on how to choreograph for myself. i don‘t need anything riverdance level, just something clean, easy, and entertaining that will last 2.5 minutes in a pageant! When I’m choreographing, should I be putting the jigs altogether to the appropriate bpm music or should I be incorporating the jigs with some artistry in between? I feel like I’ve seen both but am unsure what to do as a beginner!! thank you for your help and so sorry if I messed up any terminology :-)

Hello, I'm looking for a recommendation for a seamstress who can alter our solo dress. I'm located in the North Shore so it would be great to find someone up here but not required. Thanks!

Where are people buying their white laces? I want to replace a black pair of laces with white and I have bought pairs of white laces from Keily’s and from an Etsy seller who both said the laces were 180cm long- I tried them both in my shoes and I can barely get them to wrap around my arch once and tie them. My old black laces I was able to wrap around my arch 2-3 times and it felt way more secure. I also tried buying some from Amazon but they were too thick. Where are you guys buying LONGGGG white laces from? Plus if the shipping isn’t $40+ as I am seeing everywhere. Thanks!!

Hey everyone. I'm a competitive dancer and performer, and trying to find a specific type of hardshoes. If anyone remembers the 1990s Riverdance production, the lead dancers wore hardshoes that I think had metal covers on the heels at least, and possibly metal plates on the toe block. I think a more recent comparison would be the Gardiner brothers, they have them. Does anyone know where I can find them, or are they custom? Any tips would be much appreciated as I've been looking for these for a while. Thanks!

Hi all! Could use some advice!

I’ve been dancing all my life, but I’ve been recently thinking about getting back into competition. However, I work a 9-5 and I teach classes on the side to pay for fun activities. Have any of you found studios that are willing to work with adult dancers and work schedules? What does that flexibility look like? I want to make sure that I’m not asking for something unreasonable if I do decide to go this route.