August 2017 Pacific Newsletter

Important Dates

Winter Feis (12 - 13 August)
Teams Workshop (9:30am 20 August)
Victorian State Championships (25-27 August)

Competition Entries

O’Connor Feis (Due: 11 August)

Class Changes

Winter Feis (TBA)
Victorian State Championships (26 August) - NO CLASSES

PPFA Meetings

6:30PM Tuesday 1 August - Fundraising Meeting

State’s and National’s Team Workshop

Sunday 20th August

9:30am - 1:00pm

Jason Coleman’s Ministry of Dance - Sutton Street, North Melbourne

All dancers competing in a team competition at the State Championships are required to attend. This will be a long morning for the dancers so please ensure to pack snacks and adequate water.

We will doing a full dress rehearsal as part of this workshop. We will send specific details regarding costume details directly.

Winter Feis and Victorian State Championships Timetables

The official timetable for the Winter Feis and State Championships are available. We will send the timetable with arrival times directly to the dancers competing.

Australian National Championships - Information

With the National Championships celebrating it’s 50th Anniversary there are a number of special events happening over the course of the week. If you are planning on being in Adelaide when these events take place it will be well worth attending.

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony will be held in the evening of the first day of competition. Each state is preparing an item to showcase the evolution of Irish dancing in Australia over the past 50 years and from all accounts it is going to be a great evening. The ceremony is currently scheduled to start at 7:30pm.

50th Anniversary Golden Gala Ball - Saturday 30th September

The Formal Gala Ball will be held on the Saturday night and tickets are currently on sale on the AIDA Inc website. Further information below.

Please let us know via reply email by August 31st if you are thinking of attending so we can organise a table.

Ceili - Sunday 1st October

There will be less formal Ceili celebration suitable for all ages held on the Sunday night. This is a social night which will have performances and a DJ.

If you are thinking of going along please let us know by reply email.

Music Suite - An Austrail 50 years a growing and Shoe Bank

‘For our 50th Celebration The Marie Duffy Foundation has sponsored an amazing suite of music entitled ‘An Austrail 50 years a growing’.

A special souvenir CD of this piece of music will be available for purchase at the Australian Championships in Adelaide following the Opening Celebration and throughout the event. All monies raised will be sent to the Marie Duffy Foundation (MDF).

In addition, at the Australian Championships, AIDA Inc will be supporting the MDF with a Shoe Bank ‘Shoes for Shining Stars’.

The Shoe Bank helps young aspiring dancers in new developing areas where resources are scarce and children can only dream of having a pair of their very own dance shoes to practise their new found passion of Irish dance. It aims to assist at the grass roots of Irish Dance where dancers have to share shoes and maybe only get to use them every third or fourth week in class; such is the demand and sadly the inequity on our planet.

We are therefore appealing to the extended family in Irish Dance to make donations of good quality second hand shoes to the Shoe Bank. The shoes will then be sorted and sent out all over the World to places where a pair of shoes may be equivalent to two to three months wages. These shoes will be gratefully received by the Shining Stars in these areas.

The Shoe Bank will be located in the vendor’s area in Adelaide. Please go along and visit the Shoe Bank and write a little message to accompany your donation and support to dancers less fortunate than yourself.’

Details on the shoe bank are attached.