Over 40 teachers took part in the second AIDF Conference held on the 20th & 21st August 2011 in Abbeyleix Manor Hotel. A number of new teachers sat their exams and join the professional ranks. Lectures were given by Gillian Anderson, Gemma Kenny, Fiona McKitterick and Patrick Purcell. A full report on the conference 2011 will be posted soon.

Welcome To Our New Professionals

The NEC would like to congratulate everybody that took their exams both at Conference 2011 and more recently on 5th September 2011 in Abbeyleix. Welcome to our new professionals;

Laura McLoughlin
Shioban Jackson
Sabrina Twomey
Ruth Kavanagh
Shane Glennon
Jacqueline Hayden
Louise Durkin Leigh Doran
Maomi Hamilton
Andrea Murphy

Unqualified Teachers & Next Exam Date

The NEC has agreed that any teacher who is currently un-qualified will not be allowed to re-register their dancers after 31st December 2011. Even though dancers may have status cards it was agreed that these cards will be de-activated until the teacher has taken their exams. In order to facilitate the unqualified teachers, extra exams have been scheduled before the next NEC meeting on Monday 14th November in Abbeyleix Manor Hotel. Teachers are urged to take the necessary steps to ensure their dancers are not stopped from dancing in the New Year. Please contact the Secretary to arrange your exams.

Lapsed License Holders

If a teachers license lapse for two years or more they will be subjected to reapplying for their license. In this case, they must pay for the new license and additional license fee for the previous year.

Competition Numbers

It has been highlighted that dancers are requesting specific numbers at competitions. This practice is not permitted and dancers must take the next number on the top of the pile!!

No Status Cards At Competitions

It has been agreed that any dancer who does not produce their status card on the day of a competition will be charged €5.00 to get a competition number. This €5.00 will be refunded to the dancer if they produce their card during the day. If a card is not produced the €5.00 will go into the Federation funds.

Last Registrations for 2011

The registrar will not be taking any more registrations for 2011 following the competitions in Dublin and Limerick. Joey will be at Tommy Egan's competition in Dublin on 25th September 2011 and then he will be in Limerick on the 8th & 9th October 2011. If you need status cards before these events please contact the registrar.

AIDF Competition

Continuing with the further development of the Federation, our very first competition will be held on the 6th May 2012 in Limerick (venue to be confirmed). This will be the very first time that ALL our dancers, some 1600 at this point, will get the chance to compete at a truly National Level. The competition is closed to AIDF members only and all teachers, promoters and members of the AIDF are encouraged to support this one event. More details on this after the next NEC meeting in November.

Invigilators

It was agreed that invigilators cannot promote or adjudicate on the day of a competition.

1st April 2011

EXTRA CHANCE TO GET THE NEW STATUS CARDS

The registrar has agreed to facilitate some extra opportunities to those that have not yet had their status cards processed. If you need a status card these are the only times that you will be able to get one;

Emerald Stone Championship (Alan Healy), D4 Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 17th April 2011 between 9am-12noon

Brendan Scully Competition, D4 Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 29th May 2011 between 9am-12noon

Southern Solos Trophy Day (Tracey O'Donovan), Neptune Stadium, Cork, 12th June 2011 between 9am-12noon

West European Championships (Gerard Ledwidge), City West Hotel, Dublin, 27th August 2011 between 2pm-6pm

Registrations will no longer be taken by invigilators on the day of a competition.

28th March 2011

AGM 2011

Over 40 people attended the recent AGM. A 4 hour discussion took place and the NEC would like to acknowledge all of those that took the time to attend and submit motions. Desiree Halvey Purcell was voted in as the Chairperson taking over from Alan Healy who is now Vice-Chairperson.

Some of the motions passed will be posted on the Constitution page:

TEACHERS EXAMS

A number of teachers sat their exams last weekend in Dublin. Congratulations to one and all. The next round of exams will take place at Conference 2011 in August.

NEW STATUS CARD

A big thanks and congratulations to everybody for assisting in the transition to the new status card system. Currently there are over 1400 members in the AIDF making it the biggest Freestyle body in Ireland. The AIDF would like to acknowledge the tremendous work by the registrar Joe Furlong for travelling the length and breath of the country to get everybody registered over the last three months. Over the coming weeks and months the system of registration will be rolled out fully at all AIDF sanctioned competitions. All dancers must be in possession of their own status cards. Teachers should not hold onto these cards, they are the property of the dancer. On the day of competition each dancer must scan in their card with the invigilator to get their competition number. The status card should then be given to the parent or guardian to carry around their necks until the results are called out. At this point all finalists MUST have their status card around their neck in order to receive their prizes.

Plans will be made to discuss the system with the ADFP for those of you travelling to the UK for competitions. We will update everybody once this has been sorted.

Anybody that has not got a new Photo ID Status Card cannot dance at sanctioned competitions. The registrar will be attending a number of competitions throughout the year to facilitate any new dancers that need the new cards.

VISITING GROUPS/NON-AIDF GROUPS:
Any visiting groups that are not in possession of the new Photo ID Status Card MUST fill in the regular competition slips in order to get a competition number. The invigilators will ensure that these slips are available at all competitions.

MAKE-UP RULES:
As of the 1st April 2011 we are adopting the ADFP rule on make-up for Under6, 8, 10 and 12's. The ruling is as follows:
(a) Under 6s No make up of any description and no false-tan. Under 8's No make up of any description.
(b) Under 10s and under 12 Dancers are not allowed to wear false eyelashes, stones or false nails.

HAIR EXTENSIONS:
No coloured hair extensions are allowed in Beginners.

SCRUTINEERS NEEDED:
It has come to the AIDF that there is a shortage of scrutineers for competitions. If you are interested in taking the exam please contact the Secretary.

STREETDANCE RULES:
It has been agreed that a short number of rules to cover Street Dance at any AIDF competition will be complied.

5th February 2011

The time has now passed for License Renewals at the regular price of €50.00. It is now €60.00 to renew during February and this will increase to €70.00 on 1st March 2011.

The AGM is all set to take place this Monday 7th February at the Abbey Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois at 6pm. All members over 18yrs are welcome and encouraged to give their feedback and opinions.

28th January 2011

A special invitational meeting has been arranged for Hip Hop Dance Teachers on 3rd February 2011 at Bewley's Hotel, Dublin Airport from 7.30pm.

The time is running out for Licence's to be renewed at the normal price of €50.00. After the 31st January the cost will be increased by €10.00 to €60.00. If you let it run into March it will be €70.00!! BE ADVISED!!

13th January 2011

AGM 2011

The AGM has been confirmed for Monday 7th February 2011 in The Abbey Manor Hotel in Abbeyleix, Co. Laois from 6pm.

All members must attend and only fully paid up members can vote so make sure you contact Joey.

Motions for this years AGM must be submitted to the Secretary no later than 17th January 2011. Please email your motions to here.

EXAMS

The next round of teacher exams will take place on Saturday 26th March 2011. Desiree is working on a venue so check back for updates.

All applications should be sent to the Secretary, Paddy Shiels with the appropriate fees and forms.

The official Syllabus for the AIDF is the UKA Exam Book. These can be purchased through the federation and the price is included in the exam fees.

The new exam fees for 2011 are 'Associate Exam = €175.00' and 'Membership/Licentiate Exam = €200.00'.

STATUS CARDS & LICENSES

It has been agreed to extend the renewal date for status cards until 1st March to facilitate the implementation of the new Photo ID Cards. Joey is working flat out to get to as many schools as possible but due to the bad weather recently, his plans went up in the air somewhat!! The use of the paper status cards will expire on the 28th February 2011.

It was discussed at the NEC meeting that some teachers do not have membership of the Federation yet their dancers do. This will not be accepted and plans are underway to deal with this problem. All teachers should at this point be qualified as an Associate or as a Member/Licentiate or have applied to sit their exams.

It was agreed that Licences should be renewed no later than the 31st January 2011. After this date an additional €10.00 per month late renewal fee will apply. The current cost for the License is €50.00 in February it will be €60.00, in March it will be €70.00 and so on!

CONFERENCE 2011

Plans are underway for Conference 2011 to be held in The Abbey Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix, Co Laois in August. The final date will be confirmed very soon and all members are asked to make a genuine effort to attend this year. Full details will be announced real soon so again check back for all updates.

It was proposed to hold a Promoters Conference as part of Conference 2011 and this will take place on day two of the weekend. Again times and details to follow.

UNDER 6 & UNDER 8 MAKE-UP RULES

It was agreed to continue with the current rules for Under 6's & Under 8's for the time being. Please take note of these rules for all AIDF sanctioned competitions.

        23.1 Under 6’s & Under 8 Restrictions:
        The following are not permitted in the under six sections in all styles
        a) Tanning of any description
        b) Make-up of any description or
        c) False Eyelashes

        23.2 Under 10s Restrictions:
        False eyelashes are not permitted in the under eight sections in all styles

Please note that when dancing in competitions outside of the Republic of Ireland you will need to familiarise yourself with the rulebooks of each jurisdiction.

NEW MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA

It was discussed that all new teachers coming into the AIDF for the first time should be proposed and seconded by two existing full members of the Federation. A number of other criteria for membership will also be required. A motion to support this will be put at the AGM in February.

8th October 2010

Hello everybody. Apologies for the delay in updating the website, computer issues!!

Anyway, lets get straight into it. Since June we have had lots going on including a very successful Conference, the first promoters meeting and the roll-out of the new Photo ID System is underway.

On the Conference side of things we had over 40 people that took part with lectures, exams and workshops taking place over the two days in Limerick back in August. Desiree will be posting a full report of the Conference so check back for that in the next couple of days.

The first promoters meeting took place in Abbeyleix in September and the competition calendar was agreed which was then passed at the NEC meeting which took place after the promoters meeting.

A huge calendar is now in place for 2011 and no more sanctions will be considered until 2012. The calendar will be posted on the website very soon.

The new Photo ID Status Card System is been rolled out around the country so get yourself ready for this.

ALL dancers and teachers must be in possession of the new ID cards come January 2011. If teachers can make sure that when Joe gets in touch to arrange your visitation that all your dancers bring along a passport or ORIGINAL birth-certs. PHOTOCOPYS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

All under 18's will also need to have the permission form signed also otherwise your cards cannot be processed. Avoid any delay by bringing along the proper forms.

The system will come into affect from the 1st January 2011 and only dancers with the new ID Cards will be given competition numbers.

This is the biggest undertaking for the current NEC and with the help and assistance of all our members the system will be a big success.

More information on updates can be found in the newly published 'DanceLINKS' Newsletter which you can view from here.

5 June 2010

Following the NEC Quarterly Meeting on 24th May 2010 in Abbeyleix a number of major steps have been achieved and undertaken by the current NEC of the All Ireland Dance Federation.

Firstly, the current membership has now exceded 1100+ dancers, the largest ever membership of the AIDF.

A number of new rules have been passed and will come into immediate affect, so teachers please check these out in the ‘Rules’ section of the website.

The Annual Conference has now been finalised and full details can be found here Annual Conference

The new Photo ID Status Card System has been purchased and will be demonstrated at the Annual Conference for all in attendance. The system will then begin to roll-out in September. Joe and Karen will be co-ordinating this so expect a call to this affect. The new cards will be free to existing members.

A proposed Promoters Conference and Policy is been developed and will be announced after the next NEC Meeting in September.

All sanction applications for 2011 competition calendar must be received by the Competition Secretary no later than 31st October 2010.

A new AIDF Management Structure has been put in place to assist in getting the most work done over the next two years. Both the Chairperson and the Assistant Chairperson will spearhead each of the groups. More details can be found by clicking here Executive Committee

13th April 2010

The first Annual Conference of the AIDF has been rescheduled to 14th and 15th August 2010 in The Kilmurray Lodge, Limerick. Plans are been finalised at the moment with lectures and exams penciled in for Saturday and lots of workshops on Sunday. There are plans for a social aspect also, with a meal and a 'get together' on Saturday evening. The annual teachers exams are part of the Saturday programme and full details of the conference will be made available to all teachers very soon. So, pencil it into your diary, 14th & 15th August AIDF First Annual Conference!

The planned new Photo ID Status Card System has been given the all clear by the NEC. The registrar will be contacting all members in the coming weeks to arrange visitations to the schools to roll out the new plans. Once all schools have been registered or re-registered, the system will be tried out on a number of competitions in the run-up to Christmas 2010. It is planned to roll out the system in full from January 2011. Schools registered for 2010 will not have to pay for the new status cards this year.

A number of sub-committees have been setup to review a number of areas that need to be tightened up within the Federation. These areas include the rulebook, the constitution and a number of new policy documents relating to schools, teachers and parents responsibilities both inside and outside of competitions. It is hoped to have most of these policies finalised at the next NEC meeting in May.

The Under 6 and Under 8 Make-up Rule came into force over the weekend. The final wording will be posted in the coming days so all teachers please be aware that the Under 6's cannot were false tan, make-up or eye lashes. The Under 8's cannot wear make-up. This is not the final wording so please check back.

A number of questions came up recently regards to Slowdance Status. The NEC ruling is that Slowdance now is graded separately to a dancers Freestyle grade. However, if a dancer has danced in the Intermediate Slowdance section up to now, then they MUST STAY IN INTERMEDIATE. Slowdance Status Cards must be marked at competitions by Promoters of AIDF sanctioned events. If this is not happening please inform a member of the NEC.

8th March 2010

As of the 1st March 2010, the AIDF 'no card, no dance' rule has come into force at all sanctioned competitions in the Republic of Ireland.

What this means is that only dancers in possession of the official AIDF status card will only be allowed to dance at competitions.

Dance schools from Northern Ireland and the UK must all have either AIDF or ADFP status cards in order to dance in sanctioned events in the Republic of Ireland.

If you are one of the few schools that have not yet registered your dancers you can do so by contacting the registrar.

21st February 2010

The AIDF 'no card, no dance' policy will come into force from 1st March 2010.

In the run-up to this date, the registrar has been working flat out to get all registered members their status cards sorted. Joe has reassured everyone that once he has each schools registration forms and fees they will be receiving their cards asap.

All promoters have singed up to the new policy and have agreed to strictly enforce it from the start of next month.

If you need to get your status cards renewed or you wish to join the AIDF please contact the registrar here.

Once all groups have received their status cards, work on the new photo ID status card will commence and plans for this will be announced soon.

8th February 2010

The All Ireland Dance Federation elected its new Executive Officers at its first NEC meeting held in Limerick on the 6th February 2010.

A fantastic amount of work was planned out for the coming 12-24 months of this newly elected NEC.

Some of the immediate workload has included the 'going live' of this new website and establishing a work programme and calendar for the coming two years.

The introduction of the new Photo ID Status Card System is high on the list of priorities and should start rolling out following the NEC's meeting this coming May.

It was agreed that the current paper status card will continue until the rollout of the new system is complete, expected end of 2010.

A closing of date of 28th February 2010 was agreed for all dance schools to register with the AIDF or to renew their status cards. After this date, a 'no card - no dance' rule will be applied at all sanctioned competitions.

The new year will also see the introduction of the Federation's first Annual Conference. This is earmarked for the 5th & 6th June 2010 and full information should be available following the next NEC meeting. It is expected that the weekend conference will feature workshops, lectures, demonstrations and overviews of the scrutineering and judging systems.

The competition calendar is now closed off for this year and no new sanction applications can be made. An annual date of no later than the 31st October has now been agreed for competition sanction applications for the coming year. These applications must then be supported by the relevant promoters at a special annual promoters meeting in November each year.

Tommy Shaughnessey and Eileen Furlong were granted Honorary Lifetime Members of the All Ireland Dance |Federation for their work over the years. Tommy and Eileen have given some of their best years to the AIDF and its with this in mind that they have received this prestigious honour.