MONTHLY UPDATES
DECEMBER 2020
SCHOOL NEWS HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS PRIVATE LESSONS COVID-19 UPDATE
DATES TO REMEMBER SOCIAL MEDIA COMPETITIONS FOLKLORAMA
COSTUME ORDERS 2ND HAND SHOES & COSTUMES LEAVE US A REVIEW
SCHOOL NEWS
Our dancers continue to work hard from home with Zoom lessons continuing for December. In spite of the challenges learning Irish dance on-line, the dancers are making wonderful progress, working on improving technique, learning new steps and getting in a good workout as we try to increase stamina and fitness. We recognise it hasn't been easy, but we truly appreciate the lengths our dance families have go to in order to transform their living rooms, bedrooms, and basements into dance studios. We are very thankful for all you do to keep our dancers dancing!
We are all missing our regular events this time of year. Last December we were in the midst of hosting the FIRST CRN Canadian Open Championship competition, our Annual Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser, and our student Christmas party. Although we wont be able to gather for our holiday events this year, we look forward to a time when we can get together again.
McConnell Irish Dance will break from regular classes Monday, December 21st to Sunday, January 3rd. We will be open for our HOLIDAY WORK-OUTS & PRIVATE LESSONS . See below for more details!
2020 presented challenges we never imagined and we are all hoping for a better 2021.
On behalf of McConnell Irish Dance instructors and assistants, we wish you all a safe holiday season and a happy and healthy 2021.
HOLIDAY WORK-OUTS
We recognise the Holiday Season wont be the same this year with cancellation of seasonal events and limits on gatherings for family and friends. Many of us will be spending more time indoors at home this year and it can have affect our mental and physical health. With this in mind, we'd like to offer our dancers an opportunity to get together during the break, burn off a bit of steam and doing some Irish dancing with us.
We'll be offering HOLIDAY WORK-OUT WORKSHOPS for Soft Shoe & Hard Shoe!
TUESDAY DECEMBER 22nd & 29th
*Level 1 - 3 SOFT SHOE December 22nd 2:00 - 3:00 pm *Level 3 - 5 SOFT SHOE December 22nd 3:30 - 4:30 pm
*Level 1 - 3 HARD SHOE December 22nd 2:00 - 3:00 pm *Level 3 - 5 HARD SHOE December 22nd 3:30 - 4:30 pm
SIGN UP AVAILABLE IN THE STUDENT PORTAL
PRIVATE LESSONS
Private lessons are now being offered for all levels during the holiday break December 20th - January 3rd, 2020
Looking for an activity for your Irish Dancer during the holidays?
Instructors and Assistants are available to work one-on-one with dancers to help improve technique, work on current dances, and learn new material.
Private lessons are highly recommended for dancers;
ADVANCING LEVELS
LEARNING NEW DANCES
STRUGGLING WITH ON-LINE LEARNING
Family members from the same household may combine lessons for a semi-private class.
EMAIL info@mcconnelldancers.com
to schedule a Holiday Break Private Lesson
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COVID - 19 UPDATE
Due to Manitoba Public Health orders we have suspended our in-person classes (Winnipeg and Brandon) and will continue with Zoom On-Line lessons, until these orders have been lifted.
The safety of our dancers, their families, and those in the greater community are of utmost importance to us. Our dance family brings together students from many cohorts across the province and many of us have loved ones who are vulnerable. .
If we can pull together as a community now and follow all public health guidelines, we can reduce the numbers and get back to in-person classes again soon.
Stay strong and we will get through this together!
COVID-19 PLAN - CLICK HERE
DATES TO REMEMBER
DECEMBER 2020
Holiday Break - No Classes
Monday, Dec 21st - Sunday, January 3rd
UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER
Jan 15th, 2021 Louis Riel Day - No Classes
Mar 17th, 2021 St. Patrick's Day - No Classes
Mar 28th - Apr 4th Spring Break - No Classes
Apr 5th, 2021 Easter - No Classes
May 23rd, 2021 Victoria Long Weekend - No Classes
May 24th, 2021 Victoria Day - No Classes
May 30th, 20201 Fall / Spring Session End
SOCIAL MEDIA
We have an active social media presence and we encourage dancers and dance families to follow us and keep up to date with school activities.
FACEBOOK GROUPS
MCCONNELL IRISH DANCERS
A private group intended for current and former McConnell Irish Dance pupils to connect and stay in touch.
MCCONNELL IRISH DANCE BUY & SELL
A private group intended for current and former McConnell Irish Dance pupils to sell new and used dance items.
COMPETITIVE UPDATESCRN - CUMANN RINCE NÁISIÚNTA
CRN SAMHAIN FEILE - UPDATE
Results for CRN Samhain Feile have been delayed due to a technical issue with the on-line feis system. This was the first CRN competition to use a new on-line system and there were issues with the master entry list. The competitions were adjudicated and it was discovered afterwards there were a number of dancers not included in the line ups. It was decided that the competitions should be re-adjudicated for fairness to include all competitors. All videos entries will be re-submitted this week with an updated entry form which was proven successful with the Berkshire feile. We appreciate this isn't an ideal situation for dancers who've been waiting for results for quite sometime and competed in other events and we very much appreciate your patience. This was a learning experience for the teachers who've volunteered to set up the system and run the competitions and a great deal of work goes into the planning.
We will keep you updated as soon as results are available!
CRN BERKSHIRE FEILE
Congratulations to our 26 Dancers who competed in the Berkshire Feile! Medals, sashes and t-shirts have arrived and we will look forward to handing them out to dancers when we are back at the studio for in-person classes.
We had 7 dancers advance levels!
*12 -1st Place *12 - 2nd Place *17 - 3rd Place *12 - 4th Place *4 - 5th Place *5 - 6th Place
CRN NOVEMBER FEILE
Best wishes to our 14 dancers competing in the CRN November Feile! The competition reached it's maximum of 400 entries and has dancers competing from every region in CRN. The competitions will be adjudicated on December 13th and we will let everyone know when results will be announced. More information will follow!
DIGITAL FEIS
An update on Digital Feis as we have not yet received medals for the August and September Digital Feis competitions. Digital Feis indicated they were having difficulties with their supplier due to Covid-19 issues and the medals will be delayed. We understand there are some dancers who have not received medals from April and June competitions and we are awaiting for a response from Digital Feis on this matter. We will let you know as soon as we hear from them and appreciate your patience!
FOLKLORAMA UPDATEFolklorama held a virtual strategic planning meeting in October where coordinators and sponsoring organisations were able discuss plans for the 2021 festival. With uncertainty regarding Covid-19 restrictions for next summer, it's not yet known what kind of Folklorama will be possible. Many sponsoring organisations are struggling without their regular fundraising activities and a 2021 festival will be a financial challenge, in addition to new public health restrictions required for large gatherings. Suggestions from sponsoring organisations include combined effort between pavilions, outdoor venues, and more resources for Folklorama At Home summer performances. McConnell Irish Dancers and our bands Barefoot Ceili & Enaid performed at 8 Folklorama at Home shows this summer and it was a treat to be able to get back to performances in wonderful and warm backyard settings.
Folklorama will be working with sponsoring organisations in 2021 to help develop plans for the summer and we look forward to our 52nd year as a festival Folklorama founding member!
We will keep everyone updated as plans proceed...
NEW COSTUME ORDERS
Due to the uncertainty of performance dates for 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, new costume orders which would typically take place at this time of year will be delayed until the new year. Once we have ascertained future performance dates we will proceed with costume orders. Recognising young dancers grow quickly, we feel it's best for us to wait until dates are conformed before we ask families to invest in new costumes.
For more information on McConnell Irish Dance Costumes for Recreational, Performance, and Competitive dancers, please visit the members area of our website
SECOND HAND SHOES & COSTUMES
Due to Covid-19 MSDSA (McConnell School of Dance Student's Association) will not be holding an in-person 2nd Hand Shoe & Costume Sale at the studio. Instead, we have created a private group on Facebook where dancers and parents are encouraged to post their 2nd hand shoes and costumes for sale.
MCCONNELL IRISH DANCE BUY & SELL
A private group intended for current and former McConnell Irish Dance pupils to sell new and used dance items.
McConnell Irish Dance would love your feedback.
Please post a review to our profile by following the link below.
https://g.page/McConnellIrishDance/review?gm
THANK YOU!
