Do’s and Don’ts in the 12 weeks leading up to the World Irish Dance Championships

The World Irish Dance Championships is the biggest event in the Irish dancing calendar! Each organisation holds their World Championships once a year in spectacular venues and dancers prepare all year round for only a few minutes on that stage. The World Irish Dance Championships are always filled with emotions and an energy which is unparallelled - there’s nothing else like it! 

With 12 weeks to go before the CLRG World Championships we have come up with the ultimate do’s and don’ts list to help you prepare for the event. Whether this is your first World Championships or your 10th; this list is going to be your World Irish Dance Championship Bible for the 12 weeks before you step on that stage. 

World Irish Dance Championships: Do's and Don'ts 

So, let’s start with the don’ts:

Overwork 

Now, we say this multiple times every single week to dancers, but when it comes to the 12 weeks before a World Irish Dance Championships, we are saying this multiple times a day! We don’t say it for no reason - trust us! But don’t overwork! 

We know that you want to work as hard as you can to achieve your goal at the World Championships, but there is such a thing as too much work. What you’ll end up doing is increasing your risk of injury, tiring yourself out, not dancing as well as you can do and becoming frustrated in the process. 

Remember, rest is productive and in the 12 weeks before the World Championships, that rule is no different. 

Start to work 6 weeks before 

Your preparation for the World Irish Dance Championships should be something that has been happening for the last 12 months. Dancers often come to us with an ‘70% effort’ attitude, which they plan on ramping up in the six weeks before the World Championships, but that’s not enough. Simply starting to work hard for the six weeks before the event won’t be enough to see the improvement you want to see in your dancing. You need to be working consistently, rather than trying to ramp it up at the last minute. Not only will this impact your mindset surrounding the World Championships, but also your likelihood of injury and burnout. 

Forget about stretching

When the World Irish Dance Championships gets closer dance teachers tend to put on more classes and our schedules can get very busy. So what’s one of the first things that dancers normally stop doing? Stretching! For some reason, this is one of the first things that dancers add to the bottom of their to-do lists and it often doesn’t get done, the busier we get. Stretching is so important for a whole range of aspects of our dancing - from improving our technique, to giving us the perfect way to recover from long classes - stretching is something that you don’t want to be missing out of your schedule. 

Get discouraged by feises in the lead up 

Not had the best result at a feis in the 12 weeks before the World Championships? Don’t get discouraged! Just because you didn’t perform well on stage in the weeks leading up to the World’s or the judges didn’t give you the scores you were hoping for, then that doesn’t mean that will happen on the day of the World Championships. But letting the ‘negative’ aspects of feises impact your mindset in the run up to the World Championships will impact how you dance on the day/days you dance.

Let it overwhelm you 

As much as the World Irish Dance Championships is super exciting - don’t let the day overwhelm you. At the end of the day, it is a big feis…that’s all! Yes, it is a great achievement to dance at the World’s but by bigging the event up in your mind you may end up feeling overwhelmed with the importance of the day and feeling under immense pressure. Boil it back down to exactly what it is - a feis. That way you will feel less under pressure and more in control of how you feel on the day. 

Now, let’s talk about things you should be doing in the lead up to the World Championships: 

Set World goals 

First of all, we always recommend dancers set World based goals in the months leading up to their World Championships. Most dancers assume this is simply a goal like - recall or get a World Medal etc - but we always say that you need a range of goals. Think about placement goals but also about things you have control over. Can you make one new feis friend? Can you work on how you handle your nerves? Can you perform on stage? Have a think about a range of goals for your whole World Championship experience. 

Be prepared - even down to your hair and makeup 

Preparation is so important! Just like we prepare our dancers in dance class, we need to prepare so much more than that. Think about preparing all the things you are in control of such as: your warm up, your nighttime routine, your morning routine, your food, your water…even down to how you want your hair and makeup to look on the day. It is uncommon for dance schools to run rehearsals before major competitions so that dancers can be extra prepared for their time on stage. 

Don’t forget about your mindset 

Mindset is more than just reading some quotes or having a pep talk before you go on stage, this is about the deeper work that impacts the way we perform on stage, but also how we feel about our dancing. Working on your mindset consistently, but definitely in the lead up to major competitions, can help you to feel more confident, more in control and filled with a sense of self-belief. 

Have a plan of action 

We talked earlier about being prepared, but for the day or days when you compete at the World Championships we recommend dancers create a very detailed plan of action. Start your plan from the evening before you compete and think about what choices you’d like to make on the day which will help you to perform well on stage and help you to feel good. This will help to take away some of the uncertainty of the day and help you to visualise how the day will go. Remember, your plan of action will look different to your friends’, it has to be personal to you. 

Work smarter, not harder 

Finally, work smarter and not harder. Remember right at the start of this blog we talked about not overworking and this is the best way to do it. Identify your weaknesses in your dancing and focus on how you can best improve this. Each of our MWM Gold Club classes have a monthly focus, which means that when you use the search function it is super easy to find the best classes for you. 

If you are looking for a little bit of additional help with your World Irish Dance Championship preparation, then our World Championship Sprint is perfect for you!! If you aren’t already a Gold Club member then use this link to sign up here and if you are a Gold Club Member (amazing!!) then you can use this link to get the six additional bonuses for less than £40!! 

In this World Championship Sprint, you will get clear on WHAT is holding you back and learn HOW to improve these key areas. In 10 weeks time you will be mentally and physically prepared to SMASH YOUR GOALS at the World Championships with coaching, guidance and support from Meg and her team.

What you'll get:

12 weeks access to the Gold Club, starting the moment you make the purchase

INCLUDED:

• 40+ live classes per month 
• Access to Members Club 
• Library of on-demand specific classes (labelled and searchable by pain point/focus - eg turnout, kick height, toe height) 
• Access to all new and existing challenges 

PLUS:

1. Downloadable World Championship Countdown Wall Calendar 
2. Welcome Masterclass and Gold Club Orientation video
3. Whatsapp Dance Assessment by Meg to assist your use of the Gold Club Classes (if purchased before the 18th of January) 
4. World Championship Specific Goal Setting LIVE with Annabelle Fri 9th Feb at 5pm UK.
5. World Championship Specific Make Up Class with Ellie-Mae on Tues 27th February at 5pm UK.
6. Plan your competition day with LIVE on ZOOM with Meg on Wed 6th March, 7pm UK

We created this FOR YOU, so that you can take the guesswork out of what it takes to have a super successful and enjoyable World Championship experience 🍀