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 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.
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Qualifications
for the 2008 North American Irish Dance Championships:
The
qualification for the North American Championships will consist of four
opportunities:
All
Open Championship level dancers at registered Feisanna. -
All
under 8 and under 9 year old dancers will be entered at
the discretion of their teachers.
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The
top 10 dancers plus 25% of the competition (that danced)
at their
Regional World qualifying Oireachtas in each age
category, subject to their being recalled at their
Regional qualifying Oireachtas.
All
dancers recalled at the 2007 North American Irish Dance
Championships.
The
2008 North American Irish Dance Championships will be hosted by the New
England Region at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN from July
2-6, 2008. Reservations for teachers has already begun, please
refer to your recent newsletter for details. Reservations for
dancers can be made by calling the hotel at
866-972-6779. A day schedule of competitions
is available here.
Click on the logo for additional information regarding the
Championships. 
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