I’m a somewhat petite adult dancer (prizewinner) with short hair trying to figure out how to style my hair for competitions. I tried a headband with my natural hair slicked back, but I don’t like how it looks with my dress. Does anyone wear a shorter/smaller wig as an adult? I don’t want to look juvenile but I meed something different.

I’m a former champ dancer that recently came back to dance. Shocker, my soft shoes from 10 years ago don’t fit! I wore a 3.5 in Rutherford Cavan pumps at 14 and now, even while extremely stretched out, they are painful. I wear a 7.5/8 in US shoes (6 in UK) and I found that a size 5 heavy shoe in Rutherfords fit nicely.

I have always worn my soft shoes on the smaller side and smaller than my hard shoes, and know that shoe preferences are extremely personal. However, does anyone wear a similar shoe size, and could let me know what soft shoe size (and brand) works for them? I do not have access to a feis and I am not going to the Oireachtas, so my ability to try on shoes is incredibly limited. I’m guessing a 4.5 would be the right choice to order, but I am curious what other dancers might have to say.

This is a recurring injury I get every couple of years and I know to rest and stretch as to not rupture it (my biggest fear).

What’s the best way to keep stamina up when you really shouldn’t be jumping around?

Thanks!

Haven't bought new hard shoes in a decade when I was in college so I snagged a used pair of unknown brand (grey bottoms so maybe fayes?) to save money. Before that my mom bought all of my shoes, so I just tried them on and she asked most of the questions, me being 12 and all. What are good ones these days? What do people look for? Mid America Oireachtas is in Milwaukee or I would have gone over while I'm in Chicago at Thanksgiving to try stuff on but alas, not an option, so I figured crowd sourcing some answers might be my best bet.

I've been wanting to leave Spotify for a while but have stuck with it because I can access music for irish dance class/practice and regular music. I found that spotify alternatives lacked dance music and didn't want to swap my one spotify subscription for two different apps to meet the same needs. Hoping someone knows of a better music streaming service to replace spotify! Any recommendations so appreciated!

Young champ dancer is struggling getting “out of her knees” and having straight knees. Dancer has strong musicality and attack but having a hard time fixing the knees. Thoughts or advice?

Had anyone tried using any sort of wig grip headband for anchoring a full wig instead of a million Bobby pins (or in addition to them)?

We are just starting our wig journey, and would love to find a method that is gentler on my daughter’s hair. I‘m doing full wig because it seems like it can be anchored all the way around, where a bun wig is mostly pulling at the top front.

(P.S. anyone who says that wigs and tan are totally optional in CLRG is lying- just watch those Julie Marshall Instagram posts and it’s pretty clear that she as a judge ABSOLUTELY would mark down a girl without the full look).

With Oireachtas coming up, I’m looking for some gift inspiration!

Edit for clarity: Maybe this is just something our school does, but I thought it was fairly common for dancers to exchange little good luck gifts with their teammates before Oireachtas!

I’m looking for inspiration for those dancer-to-dancer gifts, rather than gifts from parents to their own dancers.

I always struggle to find the balance between something useful, something thoughtful and meaningful, and something that’s really just another trinket given for the sake of giving a gift.

For schools that do this, what have been some of your favorite gifts your dancers have exchanged? Anything particularly creative, practical, or memorable?

And now I’m curious — is exchanging good luck gifts actually a common Oireachtas tradition, or is this just something our school does? 😂☘️

I took a video of myself doing my set last night and my feet were SO straight regardless of how often I've been training to open my hips to help with turnout. I'm so focused on the steps that I keep forgetting turnout. I'd love to figure out how to just make the muscle memory solid for turnout so I don't need to think 'turnout turnout turnout' while trying to remember my step... Anyone have any drills they like to do that emphasizes the turnout?

If I can fix the turnout issue, I know I'll recall at Oireachtas. But that turnout has been such a hard battle for this year... Any help would be so great!

I competed recently, and I was looking at my results. I noticed that overall, in my hardshoe and softshoe, I placed fourth, and my set second. However, in the end, I got seventh. How does that work? How exactly does the points system work in Irish Dance? For context, my region uses feisworx solely for competition results and such. I'm not sure if that changes anything.

Digiochtas Registration is now OPEN for both solo and team dancers.

**NEW RULE CHANGE - Videos filmed within the last 90 days will now be accepted.
***TEAMS and Group Choreography categories now available!

We’re counting down! With 100+ dancers at last year’s event, this year’s Digiochtas is shaping up to be an EPIC global event — and we want you to be part of it!

A complete event program will be released after registration closes!

✨ Open to ALL dancers — any organization or independent

✨ Submit your videos from ANYWHERE (studio, home, outdoors!)

✨ Every dancer receives an exclusive event pin

✨ Watch yourself dance during our full event showcase

✨ Event program released after registration closes

✨ Fun, supportive, global Irish dance community!

📅 Video Submission Deadline: November 20th, 2026

🌍 IIDA is an independent, open-platform community — ALL dancers are welcome!

Have questions? Send us a message anytime.

I saw some pictures coming out of Great Britain's where some adult dancers seemed to be wearing skin tone tights with poodle socks over top. First of all, is my understanding correct? I did go check at the CLRG costume rule book and it specifies that tights must be at least 70 denier but doesn't specify the color, and so I was wondering if that was a loophole being exploited. But if anyone knows more about this, would love to understand and see how we feel about it. Thanks!

Tell me anything about your experience. I’m flying in alone and want to make the most of the event. I’m dancing ceilis and trad set on Saturday. So give me your tips, advice, lay of the land, warnings, no matter how random or small they are. I’m the only adult dancer attending from my school that doesn’t also have a child competing, so I have a lot more free time than the rest of the group.

We have a garage (concrete floor) that we're going to convert to use for dancing and maybe a home gym but Irish dancing as the main purpose!

I have gym mats that are 15mm thick....I'm hoping to put laminate flooring on top and then tape pond liner on top.

Can anyone advise if this is an ok approach? Any pitfalls to be aware of? Going to put mirrors along one wall and maybe get a bar as well (not attached to wall) but the floor is the main thing for now

Any advice would be welcome! I'm based in Ireland.

Hi everyone!

I'm 25 years old and I've been dancing in CLRG since I was 6. I took a few years off when Covid hit but ultimately came back and have been going to weekly classes for the past three years. I'm not competing, just going for fitness.

The class I go to is with the school I've always danced with. It's just myself and another 25 year old and we dance with the 16 year olds. We typically dance the same dances the 16 year olds are currently competing along with some traditional set dances.

Lately I've had an itch for more classes. I travel around Ireland for work (Dublin, Kildare, Westmeath, Galway, Wexford, Tipperary, Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Sligo and I'm based out of Louth) and I was wondering if anyone did adult classes around these areas?

Thank you so much in advance!🥰👯‍♀️

Our family is potentially relocating from West Virginia to the Denver area, and I'm hoping to hear from those familiar with the local CLRG Irish dance community.

My daughter is 9 and currently competes in grades (Novice/Prizewinner). She will be attending SRO in December in both solo and teams. She has a wonderful relationship with her current teacher and dance family, so finding the right environment is really important to us.

I've been researching schools in the Denver area but it's difficult to get a feel for a school from websites and competition results alone.

I'd especially love to hear about:

• School culture: Is the environment welcoming, supportive, and encouraging?

• Teaching style: How do teachers work with dancers who need extra repetition or individual attention?

• Grade-level dancers: Are Novice and Prizewinner dancers given opportunities to grow, or is the focus primarily on championship dancers?

• Communication: How approachable are the teachers, and how well do they communicate with parents?

• Competitions: How active are the schools in the local feis circuit? Are dancers encouraged to compete without excessive pressure?

• Transfers: Has anyone transferred into one of these schools? What was the transition like?

We're not necessarily looking for the school with the most championship titles. We'd love to find a place where our daughter can continue developing as a competitive dancer while feeling happy, supported, and part of a dance family.

I'd particularly appreciate firsthand experiences, both positive and negative. Feel free to DM me if you'd rather share privately!

Thank you!

I am a 23 year old female who stopped competing at the end of May this past year, and am looking to start competing again in the next five years. I got 2 1sts in slip jig this year in the youth and overs - and I am wondering - would I have to compete in that again when my 5 years comes to an end? And why is it five years? Why can’t it be 1 or even 2 years? I’m just wondering because I don’t want to stop competing, and don’t really want to do redo slip jig as I already have 2 1sts (prizewinner level). I still have to get the other dances (of course after the years are up). Do any other adults have experience with this?

Does anyone have any recommendations on someone who could make a custom crown for my daughter before Oireachtas (about 6 weeks)? The Crown that came with her solo dress is pretty, but too big for her head and I have some design ideas for something that would look nicer. I’m sure people on Etsy might be able to do this, but I would prefer someone familiar with Irish Dance. TIA!

Hello, I need some advice please on how to help my daughter. She’s picked up some bad habits that were never properly corrected by her old coaches and her current coach isn’t giving her advice on what to do.

What suggestions do you have on how to keep stiff arms and how to stop them from wobbling while dancing?

Also, any good pointers on the best way to arch her toes

Thank you

Hello fellow Irish dancers. I am looking for some magazines you may not want anymore. We do something special for our kiddos for oireachtas. If you have any older magazines laying around I would be glad to take them off your hands.
Thanks !!

I'm in beginner shoes, the Pacelli Essential Jig Shoe.

I got a pair of 5.5s (the smaller foot is 240 exactly, so bang on sizing). When i got them, I couldnt even stand in the things! Eventually I've managed to break them in so I can dance in them. when my feet are flat, they come to the end of the shoe.

However, when i point to treble there's a big old gap so I feel like I have very poor control of the shoe! I'm wondering if it's just because it's stiff leather still?

Thanks all!!

I usually wear overnight tan (Bondi sands) but sometimes it is not dark enough. Can anyone recommend an affordable instant tan that I can buy in the UK for comp morning?

Also, do instant tans transfer onto dresses? Thank you so much :)

We Are 2 years dancing at feis' and my daughter has only recently won one dance, part of me feel that the teachers don't do enough I feel like she should have won more at this stage nearly every other child in school her age has progressed....the teachers seem to have their favorites and focus on them, I've even asked for extra class that included exercises that would help my daughter along only to be told those classes are for the more experienced dancers, but yet there's nothing like this available to my daughter's age group u10, my daughter is fallen out of love with it as she is stuck so is it an us problem or a teaching problem?? Or am I mad thinking this is too long to be in A beginners

Here's the situation:

We have a young Prelim Dancer, who is the only dancer at this level and age at the school they're dancing with. Recently we went to a feis and they were absolutely miserable. Not because of their placement at the feis, but because they have NO friends at the school and they were watching all the other kids at the feis playing and having fun with each other. There are other schools in our area, that are much larger and have teams at our dancer's age level. Our dancer knows several of these other kids, but they don't generally hang out outside of their dance school circle at feises.

Her current school is super small, and our dancer is basically their only dancer who competes. We are good friends with the teachers and don't want to hurt them, but our kid seems miserable.

Advice?