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.

2012 NORTH AMERICAN IRISH DANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

We look forward to the 2012 North American Irish Dance Championships to be held in Chicago, IL from July 3, 2012 - July 7, 2012.  The IDTANA Convention will be held on July 2, 2012. 

 

Airline, Hotel, Schedule, and other information can be found here.

 

IDTANA SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2012

The Irish Dance Teacher's Association of North American is extremely 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 $20,000 annually in scholarships for high school senior students, and those students who are already attending college.  

The instructions and guidelines for filing an Application for the 2012 IDTANA Scholarship are now available. The packet can be downloaded here.  

A profile of the 2011 winners can be found here.

2011 NAIDC SOLO REQUIREMENTS

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