TRINITY LINGO!
PROGRAM BASICS
Mark Howard
Trinity Booster Club
(TBC)
Staff
DEFINITION/DESCRIPTION
Trinity’s Founding Artistic Director. Started teaching dance in his local parish basement in 1979. Big
personality. Artistic genius. Insanely passionate. Definitely innovative. He also has a really smart Golden
Retriever named Cooper. And an even smarter wife named Natalie.
The Trinity Booster Club, simply put, is YOU. It’s the support of parent volunteers and a small 2-person
office staff that creates dance opportunities and a buzz that feels uniquely Trinity.
Student Teacher
Assistant Teacher
In addition to your Lead Teacher, most classes will have a student volunteer that helps with drills, steps,
bathroom runs and the occasional shoe tying. We call these extraordinary teachers-in-training, Student
Teachers. An Assistant Teacher started as a Student Teacher and now has a bigger role and more
responsibilities. Assistants will sometimes sub for your Lead Teacher should (s)he need to miss a class.
Essentially, an Assistant is your Lead Teacher’s wingman.
Family Mentorship
Program (FMP)
A group of 2-3 parent volunteers/mentors at each location who commit to being your resource for all
things Trinity. Your FMP is coordinated by the Trinity Booster Club.
Damhsa
Gaelic for “dance”, pronounced DOW-sa. Damhsa is our big end of summer concert that’s open to IL
students. It’s like a recital, but incredibly better. Damhsa is coordinated by the Booster Club and tickets
are open to the public
Milwaukee Irish Fest
The world’s largest celebration of all things Irish is Milwaukee’s Irish Fest. This end-of-summer
extravaganza is offered to dancers enrolled in the Milwaukee-area locations. The teachers focus on the
show, the parent volunteers run everything behind the scenes, soup to nuts. It’s a grand production!
Madison Spring
Performance
Madison area parent volunteers are some of our most enthusiastic volunteers anywhere. While small in
size, Madison is large in spirit and support. The Madison Spring Performance is a recital that showcases
our Verona and Sun Prairie students. This opportunity comes to you from the Booster Club…which is,
again, YOU and a small office staff!
Winter Weekend
A weekend getaway for your whole family at the Grand Geneva Resort which focuses on daytime dance
workshops, an evening family buffet followed by a big family party. There’s even an indoor water park.
This family event is brought to you by your Trinity Booster Club. Are you starting to see why Booster Club
support is so important to this organization?
Trinity Performance
Troupe (TPT)
The TPT program trains dancers for performances that happen throughout the year. Information on the
next TPT session (preparation for St. Patrick’s Day season) will be emailed to you in a few weeks.
Although completely optional, this really isn’t something you want to miss; Imagine tiny touring units of
children dispatched all over IL and WI that are highly trained in making people smile, clap, shout and
dance. If you’re an Irish dancer, you don’t want to be sitting in the audience on St. Patrick’s Day - you
want to be dancing.
Trinity II (TII or T2)
TII is a teenage performance unit that is not only featured in local performances throughout the year,
they also dance at high-end events and international cultural festivals. This summer, TII performed at
cultural festivals in both Italy and Spain! In case you were wondering, that wonderful opportunity was
brought to you by your Booster Club.
Trinity Irish Dance
Company (TIDC)
Trinity Academy of Irish Dance is the dance school where students hone their Irish dance skills for
competition and performance. Trinity Irish Dance Company is a professional cast of dancers that tour
around the world: They toured Japan and in 2014 and will return in 2016 they also toured the west
coast and Europe in 2015. Some, if not most, Company members have graduated from training at the
Academy and now focus on touring while also balancing their high school or college studies.
Men of Trinity (MoT)
A program created for Trinity’s male dancers offered to all levels. Sorry girls, this one’s for boys only.
COSTUMES
DEFINITION/DESCRIPTION
Ghillies or Soft Shoes
(females)
Traditional Irish dance shoes. Similar to ballet shoes, ghillies are best known for their black color and
crossing laces. However, ghillies do not have toe boxes! Dancers must push high on their toes through
muscle control! This type of shoes is for girls only. Boys have a different soft shoe. We will offer a new
and used shoe sale in October. You guessed it…all made possible by your Trinity Booster Club.
Soft Shoes (males)
Our male dancers also wear soft shoes when dancing. They resemble jazz shoes. Although female and
male soft shoes look different, we will used the term “soft shoes” as the universal term for both boys and
girls. When their steps get advanced, the boys get soft shoes with hard heels in order to make clicking
sounds while performing certain moves. Beginning boys only need the soft heels right now. Shoe sales
are in October. More info out soon through the Booster Club.
Hard Shoes
Both male and female dancers wear the same type of hard shoe. These shoes are the ones that make
the thunderous pounding noise you are mostly likely familiar with. You don’t have to worry about these
shoes until your dancer is in Beginner II. For now, enjoy the silence.
Pre-Beginner Dress/
Costume
This refers to the lycra one piece dance dress our littlest female dancers wear. This dress is white, black,
red and silver. More information about the look and the pricing to come before Christmas.
Worn by Beginner 1 and Beginner 2 female dancers, this is actually a costume with separate skirt,
Green Dress/Costume blouse and green vest. These items come used and new. More info about the look and pricing to come
before Christmas. All costumes are managed and sold through your Trinity Booster Club.
Black Dress/Costume
or School Dress/
Costume
This iconic black wool dress with a multicolored celtic knot design and lace collar is known throughout
the world. These dresses are worn by our most experienced dancers, with some exceptions made for
older Beginners. By “older”, we mean the dancers that are beginning at the ripe old age of 10.
Solo Dress/Costume
Solo dresses are worn by the most advanced dancers. For now, enjoy the beautiful colors and designs
that are unique to every advanced dancer in the world. Most girl dancers are mesmerized by the flash.
Poodle Socks
Mid-calf length socks for the girls with small, raised bumps on them. A traditional Irish dance accessory.
Wig
Now that you’re on the inside, you deserve to know…it’s not real hair. It’s instant curls. Just for the girls
of course. Offered to you by the Booster Club. Info on the wig orders will go out with the costume
information before Christmas.
Boys Costumes
Pre-Beginner and Beginner boys wear black slacks, black dress shirt, black vest, black tie and black
socks. We also like the boys to have fresh haircuts before competition or shows. They need to anchor
the tailored, polished look of the girls. Each item can be independently bought at department stores, but
we pick the exact brand to buy. The vests, however are custom made for each boy. More information
provided by the Booster Club before Christmas.
COMPETITION
DEFINITION/DESCRIPTION
Feis (Feiseanna)
Singular pronunciation is FESH. Plural is FESH-en-nuh. In gaelic, these terms actually mean “festival”
but the Irish dance world uses it to refer to an Irish dance competition(s). A Pre-Beginner doesn’t
compete. They are still learning the basics. A Beginner is typically ready for competitions by Spring. We
don’t push dancers to compete, but just so you know 98% of the school does. Competition shouldn’t
scare you. We teach the kids to compete in a healthy way. They’re doing it to better themselves, not beat
other dancers.
U8, U9, U10, etc…
These refer to competition age groups. Irish dancers compete against other dancers who are similar in
age. The age of a dancer on January 1
that entire calendar year. Ex: If a dancer was 8 on January 1st of 2015, they will compete in the U9
category for all of 2015.
Oireachtas
Pronounced o-ROCK-tis. This Gaelic word has several meanings, but in Irish dance it’s used to refer to
major championships. Your dancer may never attend a major championship, but you will see it in the
Trinity Times/Friday Fast Facts in the upcoming weeks; the Mid-American Regional Oireachtas is almost
here. It’s held each Thanksgiving weekend, this year in Minneapolis.