Heyo
I'm an Irish Dance instructor in Washington State-- I'm taking lessons through a couple of different people as well as teaching my own classes for ages 3-80 (not that I wouldn't take anyone older than 80, they just don't come to my classes!)
Are you looking for any old school? Or recreational classes?
There's a big world of Irish Dancing, from the low "Sean-Nos" dancing (the kind you see old men doing in pubs in Ireland), to Set Dancing (which I can best explain as "Irish Ballroom"), to Irish Ceili (pronounced Kay-lee) Dancing (big group dances--like line and circle dancing), to Modern Irish Step (think Riverdance without the arms!).
I've done all of these, and each has its good and bad points!
If you have no idea what you want, but you don't mind the more "high impact" stuff, I'd say try out Modern Irish Step because you'll get an intro to Soft-shoe and Hardshoe steps as well as a mini-intro to Ceili dancing.
It looks like there is a competitive school called "The Foy School of Irish Dance" in your area (says Des Moines, but I thought I saw something about Schaumburg in the search engine..): They're probably the first people you'll want to check with. The instructor there has a TCRG as well as being part of some good Associations of Irish Dance instructors in the USA.
"Competitive School" doesn't mean that you have to compete, it just means that if you feel like taking the opportunity, you may!
If you feel like taking classes recreationally, they usually provide those for Adults. If they're a purely competitive school, you can still contact them to see if they know of any non-competitive schools in the area that are holding Adult Classes.
A tiny word of warning-- Enrollment usually happens in September and January, and they typically limit the number of classes held in the summer (because people like to vacation!), so you may have to wait until September for a class to be open for you.
Best of luck! And feel free to ask any more questions-- I've got answers for you
Glad to know I've made my little Irish mark on 3FC!
Modern Irish is really really fun-- you get to do Solo dancing as well as Ceili dancing. It's what I consider my forte in Irish Dancing. The Foy school, as I mentioned before, is the first place you'll want to start!
You'll start with your Beginner dances: including a Reel, Light Jig and Slip Jig (some schools teach a Hop Jig, some don't...--I promise this will all make sense after you start!).
You can get ghillies--the most economical pair is through Corrs Irish Shoes. It's usually up to your instructor whether they want their adults in tights or socks. (I'm partial to the poodle socks, but there are new competition rules saying that 18&Overs need to wear tights)
The best advice I can give to beginners is once you get your steps down, don't think about it--just let your body do the work!
There's a whole group of people on a dance blog called dance.net-- I'm on there as well (same username). There's an Irish section for Adults where you can get the skinny on starting classes, see if anyone else goes to the schools you're interested in (so you might make a friend before you start!).
I'm actually signing up for a Belly Dance class next week! I'm really excited about it
When I tried Hip Hop, it didn't work for me (because moving my arms is awkward), but Ballet isn't so bad, and Belly dancing seems like the same sort of slow concise movements.
Middle Eastern dancing is for the most part, belly dancing, but there are other Middle Eastern dances as well, such as the debke/dabke and other things.
Actually, belly dance and ballet are very different. Ballet concerns mainly the limbs, while belly dance is much more torso work.
I don't know if I would ever take the Irish dance lessons...it's the complete opposite of what I do. (Rapid leg work vs. a grounded leg base and lots of torso and core work.)
weegreenlassie -- I live south of Seattle, do you know of anyplace even remotely close down here? The one or two I have seen mostly cater to youngins' who will eventually compete (I'm almost 30 so I'm just a teeeeny tiny bit late for that, LOL).
Sorry to ask here, I tried to pm, but I don't have enough posts yet
lol No worries!
And you're not too old to start, nor too old to compete There's a great deal of people in their 40's and 50's doing their first competitions up here that I've met!!
I'm in Edmonds/Norther Seattle (like Greenlake area) if you're interested in the commute!! (but we aren't certified for competition yet)
If you're looking for someone to learn from that you will have the opportunity to compete, you want to look for the letters TMRF or TCRG after their name. TMRF means that they can send you to competitions in the big group (multi-people) dances. TCRG means they can host competitions, as well as send you to competition for "Solo Dances"--This is hardshoe and softshoe done by yourself.
ADCRG means that you have all of the above abilities as well as the ability to judge a competition. It's a high honor to earn your ADCRG!!
(this is a very brief description...so if it doesn't make sense, let me know!!)
But if you're closer to SeaTac: Robert Haley TCRG with the SRS Irish Dancers is AWESOME, and in Tacoma and Olympia. The Evolution Irish Dancers (also non-competitive) are in Tacoma. Tony Comerford ADCRG, of the Comerford School, is in Olympia. And Susan Calhoun owns the Fire & Ice Dancers in Federal Way and Tacoma--but I don't think she's certified for competition.
So basically--the Southward Schools to look into are the SRS Irish Dancers or the Comerford School of Irish Dance! I know lots of students who are AMAZiNG dancers of all ages/levels.
I don't remember where Maple Valley is.. Is that near Issaquah? or am I going crazy...
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions if you need help!
Last edited by weegreenlassie; 05-07-2008 at 06:39 AM.
Reason: more info
LOL! Nope, you're not crazy, we are kind of out by Issaquah, it's about 10-15 minutes away. (and Sea-Tac is about fifteen minutes the other way)
Thanks soooooooo much for the information!!!!!! I'm so excited that I'm not too old to compete! I will absolutely look into the schools you mentioned...heck, I'd look into yours if they weren't gouging everyone out of house and home with gas prices On dance.net though, people seem to have a problem with finding schools that are adult-friendly...is that really a big issue? (I checked out the Comeford branch that practices in the Eagles hall in downtown Seattle once, and they seemed that way...but it wasn't the guy from Olympia, so maybe it's just them?)
Anyway, again, thanks a billion, I've wanted to dance since I first learned about it at age 18, but always though I was already too old! *looks around for silver hair dye and walker*
I think as long as you express your goals and commitment, the schools will be adult-friendly. It's mostly the competitions that are unfair, as they don't let you compete past certain levels, as well as don't let you compete with certain musics. (you have to move down an age group into the "16&Overs" or something)
There was recently a ruling that ALL adults have to wear tights of 70 denier or more during competitions: Instead of the much more comfortable "poodle socks"!
But we can get into that more later
My business partner, and the other instructor for our dance company, used to dance with Tony--and she started with him when she was in her mid-20's. Robert, who I'm going to be taking lessons with soon--in Kirkland-- Is going to help me get ready for competition again.
Basically--if you ever go to a competition to watch, they run the Adult Novice and "Teens/Kids" Novice competitions at the same time--and you can see a VERY different expectation of how the body should move between the adults and the kids!
But don't let this scare you away!! It's just politics The most important thing is that you're having fun!!!
Irish Jig Dancing
(Rapid leg work vs. a grounded leg base and lots of torso and core work.)
There's a great deal of people in their 40's and 50's doing their first competitions up here that I've met!! 
On dance.net though, people seem to have a problem with finding schools that are adult-friendly...is that really a big issue? (I checked out the Comeford branch that practices in the Eagles hall in downtown Seattle once, and they seemed that way...but it wasn't the guy from Olympia, so maybe it's just them?) 