Figure 1.--American feisanna are held in a variety of venues. This New York feis is held annually at Galic Park, an Irish community fair grounds and ball park. |
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More formalized competitions began in the late 19th Century. This period begins in 1893 when the Gaelic League was founded (Conradh na Gaeilge). This
group encouraged the revival of Irish culture, a culture that the English had suppressed for centuries. The first Feis was held in Ireland
in 1897 and was a celebration of the Irish culture including language, song, dance and creative writing. The Feis did not arrive in America until 1964. Though many Feisanna (plural for Feis) include language, writing and soda bread competitions, the focus is on Irish dancing. The Irish Dancing Commission was founded (An Coimisiun le Rinci' Gaelacha) in 1929 to establish rules regarding teaching, judging, and competitions. It continues in that role. Prior to 1929, many
local variations in dances, music, costumes and the rules of feisianna existed. Part of the impact of the Commission was standardization of competitions. During the 20th Century, Irish dance has evolved in terms of locations, costumes, and dance
technique. For example, during the period of the dance masters, stages were much smaller including table tops, half doors, and sometimes the "stage" was simply a crossroad. (An old poem called dancing "tripping the sod.") Tests of dancing ability involved dancing on the top of a barrel or on a soaped table! As stages became larger, the dance changed in at least two ways. The movement of
dancers across a stage increased greatly (a judge would now subtract points if a dancer did not "use the stage"), and dance steps that require substantial space became possible (e.g., "flying jumps"). The location of competitions also changed over time from barns or outdoors where flat bed trucks were (and still are) used as stages, to predominately indoors in hotels, schools, or fairgrounds. (Note
that fairgrounds are particularly appropriate in a historical context of where ancient feisianna were located.)
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