Proud dance dad, Robert McAvoy, recently built his daughter, Addi, of the Blackbird Academy of Irish Dance in America, an at home practice floor. The project turned out amazing and is a true mini dance studio for Addi. This is a perfect DIY summer family project!
McAvoy says, “I would like to start with giving props to the website ‘What The Feis.’ I Googled ‘build an Irish Dance floor’, and although there were many ideas, the one I found on his site was, to me, the least complicated and most affordable.”
Using the instructions as a guide for his project, McAvoy then developed his own process to build a larger floor.
There is no better time than summer to take on a fun DIY project, so let's get started!
What you will need:
McAvoy recommends coming up with a plan of attack, as he did, before building. “Cut everything you need to cut outside, but then bring it to the location and put it together there. Colors work for me, so I coded the pieces of wood so I knew what I would need. I am not a professional carpenter, so I need all the help that I can get,” says McAvoy.
Michael Londra is one of the one of the most recognised voices in Irish music, touring the globe sharing his incredible voice with fans.
The Wexford, Ireland native performed with Riverdance and earned two Emmy-nominations for his show Beyond Celtic. Now, he is taking his influential role in the music and theatre scene to help others and encourage understanding and compassion. Recently, Michaelcame across a video which displayed a beautiful moment of solidarity between police offers and community leaders at a local community center in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The group met at the location for a special service in honor of George Floyd, the African American man who was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis. His senseless death, caught on video, shocked the world and led to protests across the United States and world.
The video took place in Lincoln, Nebraska, a city where Londra’s latest show, Celtic Fire, plans to perform to a sold-out crowd in March 2021, one year after its original scheduled date was cancelled due to Covid-19.
Seeing the cooperation between the police and protesters was heartwarming. “The Police and the protestors were dancin’ up a storm, “ said Londra. And, he loved what he saw on the video which inspired him to get involved.
Many dancers across the world felt the loss as feiseanna were cancelled following the distancing guidelines imposed by Covid-19 restrictions. Despite these new obstacles, dance teachers have risen to the challenge, coming up with new and exciting ways to keep the light of dance alive.
Mary Page Dalrymple, TCRG and husband, Kevin on their way to their see their first competitor.
When the Erickson Academy was forced to cancel the Queen City Feis, an annual tradition in Cincinnati, Ohio, McGing Irish Dance teachers dreamed up the McGing Irish Dancers Porch Feis. "For many of our dancers they only attend 2-3 feiseanna a year and this was one of them, so we wanted to do something special since we couldn't Feis." Madeline Duckworth, TCRG shared. When Mary McGing Duckworth and Madeline Duckworth came up with the idea to bring the feis to the dancers, the entire teaching staff was onboard and so excited to help! So on May 9 they hit the road; 7 teachers and 42 judges drove more than 300 miles all over Cincinnati. All told they visited 42 houses with 60 dancers participating.The teachers acted as judges (and musicians!) and many had their husbands and/or children with them too. The teachers made their own signs for every dancers that they were visiting. Each dancer also received a medal and everyone won 1st place. Duckworth told IDM, "It really was a special day and lifted the kids spirits."
Two weeks later, inspired by the McGing Front Porch Feis, the Cleary School hosted their Feis in Place. As Los Angeles County remained on lockdown, Cleary teachers spent three days traveling back and forth across Los Angeles to see nearly every student perform in their driveway or patio.
Discover 10 years of Irish Dancing Magazine adjudicator interviews with more than 50 of the world’s top judges. Learn about the judges’ lives, how they mark dancers, what their pet peeves are and more! A vital resource for EVERY competitive dancer and teacher.
