The Irish Dancing Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) was born in March, 1964 when Mae Butler, Fedelmia Davis, Kevin McKenna, Peter Smith, Cyril McNiff and Anna O’Sullivan met at the Irish Institute in New York City.  They came together with the goal of assuring teacher and adjudicator competency, as well as standardizing the ever growing number of feisanna throughout North America. 

The surviving founders of the IDTANA: Anna O'Sullivan, Peter Smith, and Fidelmia Davis are still active members and were recently voted lifetime positions on the IDTANA Executive Board.

Since that small humble beginning, and through the efforts of many dedicated Irish Dance Teachers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, the IDTANA has grown now to nearly 650 members - with over 100 members in Canada, 550 members in the United States, and one member in Mexico.  The IDTANA consists of seven regional branches: Mid Atlantic, Mid America, Western US, Eastern Canada, Western Canada, New England and Southern US.  

      The IDTANA operates in tandem with An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha in Dublin, Ireland.   All members of the IDTANA must be registered and certified as a TMRF, TCRG or ADCRG by An Coimisiun.   Additionally, North America currently has 23 voting members of An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha, which includes the 7 Regional Directors along with two elected members of each Region, the IDTANA Executive Board, and the elected North American Vice Presidents of An Coimisiun.

     The emphasis of the IDTANA is to promote Irish Dance throughout North America.  Through continued cooperation with the North American Feis Commission, each region regulates Feiseanna in their area with a standardized syllabus of competitions and rules.  

       Annually, the IDTANA sponsors the North American Irish Dance Championships during the first week of July.  The "Nationals", as they have become known as, is recognized as North America's  secondary qualifying event for the annual World Championships held each year around Easter and sponsored by An Coimisiun le Rince Gaelacha.  The primary qualifying event for dancers to qualify for the World Championships is their Regional Oireachtasi held in November and December each year.

     2010 IDTANA Seminar and Workshop

After the success of the 2009 IDTANA Workshop and Symposium, and as discussed at the IDTANA Convention, the IDTANA will once again be hosting what has now become an annual event.  The 2010 IDTANA Workshop and Symposium will be open to all registered members and will be held at the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV on April 9-11, 2010.   The Workshop will begin on Friday at noon (to allow for travel into Las Vegas on Friday) and end before 3 p.m. on Sunday.    

The goal of the Seminar has always been to offer “continuing education” to the members of the IDTANA., and to have roundtable discussions with our members to improve dance throughout North America.  This is the second full Workshop that the IDTANA has hosted and we have made some improvements from last year including offering a full new slate of seminars and workshops – including a keynote address for all the attendees.

In addition, to the workshops, we are very pleased this year to offer a program for those ADCRGs who wish to be certified by An Coimsiun le Rince Gaelacha as a Grade Examiner.  With more and more schools offering Grade Exams throughout North America - the IDTANA, working along with An Coimisiun, is happy to offer this certification program to those who have been an ADCRG for more then 5 years.  The program will be conducted on Saturday April 10, 2010.  In addition to certifying new Grade Examiners, there will be a refresher course for our existing Grade Examiners.

The keynote address and presentation will be provided by Sean Connolly, a renowned psychologist and presenter from Belfast who has worked with many Irish dance schools throughout the world, and corporations such as Bank of Ireland and the BBC. 

We are also please to announce a Workshop for future TCRGs where all the Traditional Set Dances will be taught, and a review of all 30 of the Ceili dances will be danced and taught.  This program is open to those  who plan to take their TCRG or TMRF with An Coimisiun within the next year.

A flyer regarding the workshop is available here.  For more information, visit the Vegas Workshop page where you can find the link for Registration.  Reservations at New Yor New York Hotel and Casino will be available after February 1, 2010.  We encourage all members to attend. 

If you have any questions, please email IDTANA. 

   2010 IDTANA Cyril McNiff Scholarship Information and Applicaion

Since the inception of the Cyril McNIff Scholarship, the IDTANA has proudly awarded over $140,000 to dancers through out North America.  The Irish Dance Teacher's Association of North America is proud of the accomplishments of all dancers - not only competitively and artistically - but also academically.  

To recognize the accomplishments of these dancers who excel in the classroom and in the dance studio,  the IDTANA is proud to offer scholarships totaling $20,000 in 2010 for high school senior students, and those students who are already attending college. 

Applications for 2010 are now available.  Please note that the application process for 2010 has changed and we ask that you carefully review the information in the application packet for more information.  The Scholarships will be announced in early June, 2010 and a presentation of the scholarship winners will be held at the North American Irish Dance Championships.  

Michael Mullane ADCRG                                       Russell Beaton ADCRG

President, IDTANA                                                  Scholarship Chairman

   All-Ireland and World Championship Information

   2009 IDTANA Convention Minutes

The 2009 IDTANA Convention Minutes are now available in the Member's Section.  It is important that all teachers read and take note of the minutes and acquaint themselves with recent amendments. 

Michael Mullane ADCRG

   2010 North American Irish Dance Championships

The Irish Dancing Teacher's Association of North America, Inc. (IDTANA) and the IDTANA-Mid Atlantic Region are proud to announce the dates and location of their flagship world qualifying Irish dancing event for the 2010 dancing season.  The North American Irish Dancing Championships will be held:

THE WALT DISNEY WORLD SWAN & DOLPHIN HOTELS, ORLANDO, FLORIDA

July 2 – July 7th, 2010

Schedule and further information on the competition is available here.   Room Bookings will be made on line through the above website or by telephone 1-800-227-1500 toll free or 1-407-934-2300 direct. Bookings will open September 15th 2009 for teachers.  

All other bookings open October 15th 2009.

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