I am an Irish dancer.  I practise every week and go to as many competitions as I can.  In a compettion two or three dance together in front of a judge. On Saturday 9th May I went to St Albans to the Murchu-Duiginn Feis 2008, to dance in the under 13 primary group.  Feis is the Irish word for competition.  There are 4 levels: Beginners, Primary, Intermediate and Open.  It is complicated to progress in Irish dancing.  To move from Beginners to Primary you have to gain a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd position and sometimes there can be 40 dancers or more in a group.  Not all dancers can expect to be ranked so it can take a long time to progress through the levels. To progress from Primary to Intermediate you have to gain 1st or 2nd position and finally to progress to Open only a 1st is good enough!  Each dancer performs six dances.
In my competition I danced the Reel, Light Jig, Slip Jiog, Single/Hop Jig. Heavy Jig and Hornpipe.  I won the Reel and so have moved to Intermediate in that dance.  I was awarded a cup and a sash.