Call: (919) 871-5660
New? Start Here
Frequently Asked Questions
Connect with us!
Our beginners are split by age. We offer preschool classes for 2's, 3's, then Mini-Beginning for dancers age 3.5-5, and then regular beginning classes for children age 6 and up. Please see our Children’s Classes page for a more complete description of what we offer for beginning children.
All of the classes we offer for beginning children, including Jig Tots and Mini Beginning classes meet for 40 minutes, once a week. Our Beginning Adult class is an hour.
Students can stop at any time. Our calendar is based on a 40-week year, for which most people choose to pay in ten installments of four classes apiece. Your child can stop at the end of any four-week installment. As a courtesy, we ask that you let us know in writing ahead of time if your dancer does not want to continue.
We welcome beginners of all ages, and believe that anyone who loves Irish dancing can have a rewarding experience in the sport, regardless of age! Older teens are welcome in our Adult Beginning class, and middle-schoolers are grouped with beginners their age. Please contact our office directly for assistance on placing your child in the appropriate beginning class.
Yes they do, and we are happy to have them! Boys are welcome in all of our classes, and even have the option to take an all-boys' class on Wednesday nights. The boys who have come through our program in both the children’s and adult classes have made great life-long friendships here and have enjoyed getting involved in performing and competing.
That is fine, and in fact, it’s expected. Inis Cairde runs like any other dance studio in that we expect our beginners to be brand new not just to Irish dancing, but to dancing in general.
If your child has already taken Irish dancing, please let us know upon registering. If your child has taken other types of dance, we recommend that s/he start in a beginning level class. We constantly reevaluate the class placement of our students, and would be happy to discuss an alternate class should a child wish to progress more quickly.
No. The choice to compete is up to each family, and we respect that choice. While we have many dancers who compete annually at the Regional, National and World level, we have many lovely dancers who take class just for the pure enjoyment of honing their dancing skills. Most enjoy participating in our own feis, the Raleigh Feis, but no one is required to compete.
Performing is also optional here at Inis Cairde, and we offer opportunities to all of our students to perform year-round in a variety of settings. While it's not required, most of our students really enjoy participating in the annual Raleigh St. Patrick's Day Parade and our end-of-year recital or spring banquet.
We recommend that new beginning students take at least one month of class before purchasing dancing shoes. At our studio, we have a large inventory of used dancing shoes for sale, and we hold a large shoe and costume sale in mid-August and mid-January. We also offer monthly fittings that you can sign up for in advance. Used beginning shoes range in price from $15-25 a pair.
If your child would like to participate in the Raleigh Feis, the parade, or the recital/spring banquet, we have a huge selection of outgrown costumes for sale at the studio. that we wear for all performances and competitions. Beginning costumes range in price from $25-100 and can be sold used once outgrown.