At what age did you start Irish Dance? Do you agree with...

[xxCelticGhilliesxx]

I started Irish dance when I was 17! I've been dancing for almost two years now, and I started competing last October and I'm Advanced beginner Technically I could move my treble jig up to Novice but that's up to my teacher My school has no age limits, even the website says anyone ages 3-93 can learn to Irish dance! I don't believe in the age limit, though, I think you should be able to start at any age. I love it though and was so glad to find it!! I had 11 years of ballet experience before I started, so the TCRG who is now my teacher decided to put me in to advanced softshoe right away with all the novice, prizewinner, and some champ dancers! I was really embarrassed because I didn't know anything about Irish dance...but now I don't feel that way. There are two sisters in my softshoe class that are my friends now and are older than me (and are now in Novice & Prizewinner)! It felt good to be with dancers close to my age. Now I feel like I belong in the school and I know it will always be apart of my life! I love it so much!! I'm learning slow speeds now as well, and it feels great to know how far I've come in such a short time. My goal this year is to be in Novice, so I'm working hard! So it doesn't matter how old you are, you just need to have a love for the dance!! (Sorry this is so long, I get carried away sometimes! Thanks for reading!)

[OregonIrishDancer]

i started when i was 11(well i still am.)and had my first feis a month later. i'm mostly in advanced beginner. i should have all my dances in it. (for the whole story check out my comment on the thread "Bad feis day" in sounding off.) i'm attending the Emerald City Feis this april and i really hope i get into novice. i'm SSSSSOOO tall! (5 foot 7 inches) my teacher want's to get me to novice because i kinda stick out.
i had three years of tap lessons which helped me very, very much for hard shoe. (i still so it.) and i did a year of jazz which let me do high leaps from the start. i play piano and cello, which means that i could count music and be able to stay on beat before i started irish dancing.
(sorry i tend to ramble. i'll stop now.)

[emmamaydancer]

I started when I was 12, nearly 13. I'm currently 19 (20 on Sunday) but in the 7 years since I started I've been plagued with injuries, so missed approximately a year and a half with those, and 2 years with university and other exams so probably in total about 4 years and only been competing for 2 of those. I'm in Intermediate in England which I guess is maybe equivalent to Prizewinner in the US (that's before Prelims right?)
I'm kinda going through a crisis at the moment with my age after receiving some very rude comments from people at my last feis last weekend, but it's not going to stop me, it's just making me work harder to get out of Intermediate and into Open where I can dance with people my own age.

I guess my only problem then is I'm going to be competing against people who have been dancing all their lives. I know I'm really in one of those situations where it's difficult to succeed but I really am determined as I want to take my TCRG exams eventually and open my own dance school.
My dream in dance is obviously to dance at Worlds one day but I'd be content at getting to the stage where I can dance at a major and recall. I know I'm getting there slowly but surely, but there's times when I'd give anything on the planet to reverse time and start dancing earlier.

I'm glad there's no specific age limit though, I adore dancing, it's my life and if I'd been told I couldn't start it would have destroyed me.

[Michaela Šourková]

I started with irish dancing when I was 12. Now I am 14 and I am in Beginners/Primary level after 2 competitions. I know, it should be better but i hope, I will be in Intermediate in June.
I think your age shouldn´t be barrier for dancing. If you love dancing you must dance

[Smiley Face]

I started Dancing at the age of 8.....I'm 12 now

[Reel RAID Gal]

I started dancing when I was 6, but it took me another 6 years to pluck up the courage to do a competition. So, at 12 I started competing. It took me 4 years (2007-2010) to get out of beginner, the next year I was graded into Primary and now I'm in Intermediate. This will be my 12th year of dancing, I have one Primary dance left and am now doing championships. Hoping to dance at the Australian Nationals this year. I'm 17 now.

[ReelyBriansGirl88]

My school (Trinity) is 3 1/2-12 but there are some girls I've seen who start 14, 16, and we have two sisters who started at 20 and 21! I don't think you're ever too old to dance.

I started when I was 7 and I'm 15 near 16 now.

[Len01182001]

I think your never to old to start to dance!!! Although MOST people start under the age of 12, some people discover Irish dance in their 20's or 30's, maybe even 40's. It's not fair to the people who can't dance just because their too old!!!

[Festivaldancer]

Well, I danced when I was about 6, but then quit soon after when there was no other boys in the class...stupid I know, and I've regretted it ever since. I'm now at university, aged 19, and thanks be to God I found an adult class offering beginners lessons!! Loving every minute of it!

[Royally_Reel_Princess]

I started dancing when I was nine. At first, I wasn't even interested in the dance. I was only in it because I had broken my arm in the summer, and after not being able to run or play(it was a really bad break), my Mom thought it would be good exercise. I didn't start really taking my dancing seriously until two years ago. Now at sixteen, I am sorry I didn't take it seriously when I started. I am really blessed for being able to dance. I don't know what I would do without it!