More than 300 dancers from 35 dance schools across Canada and the United States came together to celebrate and share the richness of Irish culture at the Bradford Sports Dome Saturday.
The York Simcoe Irish Performing Arts Association together with the Yvonne Kelly Dance Academy (YKDA) of Newmarket, after overcoming some last-minute logistics hurdles, hosted the 18th annual Newmarket Feis.
A feis (pronounced “Fesh”) is a traditional Irish dance competition where dance schools come together for their students to compete across all age groups and skill levels in many different dances.
Originally scheduled at Newmarket High School, the Newmarket Feis fell victim to the CUPE education support staff job action. With less than a week notice, the event planners were told about the cancellation of their permits due to the staffing dispute.
With a flurry of calls and emails, the Bradford Sports Dome came to the rescue as the new venue, bringing this opportunity for members of the Irish community to come to Bradford to celebrate and share the richness of their culture.
“It’s an amazing sport to watch with the intricacy of the foot work and the different types of dancing,” said Arlene Coward, co-chair for the Newmarket Irish Dance Feis.
“Between the hard shoe and the soft shoe, it’s very entertaining.”
Events like the Newmarket Feis are a chance for dancers like Madison Shadlock, who trains with the YKDA through The Irish Dance Studio, to come together with friends and family to share their love of the sport.
Starting out in Irish dance at the age of seven, Shadlock explains that she got into it because her cousins did it “and I wanted to be just like them.”
“I love it,” she said. “I don’t love anything more!”
Now, 10 years into her dancing journey, Madison’s mother, Debbie, describes it as “an amazing experience. It really does a lot for them.”
“She’s danced in Scotland, England, Ireland and China; all through Irish dance,” she said.
Just as a dancer would find at any major competition on the world stage, the Newmarket Feis gives the dancers the opportunity to showcase their skills to the sound of live music.
Musicians from across Canada and the United States travelled to Bradford to play traditional Gaelic jigs and reels on their accordions and fiddles.
Fiddler Linda Rutherford, a former competitive dancer based in Rochester, New York, has been playing for Irish dance competitions for over 20 years.
Employing live musicians for each competitive stage not only shows respect to the heritage of the sport but ensures a consistent and level playing field for all the dance competitors who are continually trying to raise the standard of competition at every feis.
“Compared to when I was dancing, it’s way more complicated,” says Rutherford.
“The steps are way more complicated and it’s very athletic now.”
“The big thing is the camaraderie and the friendship,” says Coward, “But it does cost a lot to run a local competition.”
“We would gladly do fundraising of any kind, but the big thing to help us out is sponsorship from local businesses,” she said.
