An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha
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| Sport | Irish step dance |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | International |
| Abbreviation | CLRG |
| Founded | 1927 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
| President | Seán Fegan |
| Chairperson | Francis Curley |
| Official website | |
| www |
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An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG, English:The Irish Dancing Commission) is the oldest and largest governing body for competitive Irish step dancing globally. Founded in 1927, CLRG is responsible for creating a standardised system of Irish dance, music and competition for its member organisations in 26 countries. It organises Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne (the World Championships) as well as Oireachtas Rince na hÉireann (the All Ireland Championships), and is the central authority for teacher and adjudicator accreditation. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
In 1927, Conradh na Gaelige, an organisation dedicated to promoting the Irish language, organised a Commission of Enquiry "for the purpose of examining the organisation of Irish dancing as it existed at that time and to make recommendations as to how it might be better organised in the future. The Commission's stated aim was to unify the various interests involved in Irish dancing and pursue the common goal of promoting the cultural heritage of dance in Ireland. In 1930, the Commission presented its recommendations, and Conradh na Gaelige established An Coimisiún as a permanent body to carry out those recommendations.
The CLRG board was initially made up of 3 delegates from the Dublin Irish Dance Teachers, 3 from the Irish Music Society, and 18 delegates from Conradh na Gaelige. This under-representation of dancing teachers was to cause problems within the first few decades of CLRG's existence.
In 1939, CLRG published the first edition of Ar Rince Foirne (Our Team Dances), an official handbook for the teaching and learning of ceili (social) dances. This was to become standard knowledge for CLRG registered teachers. On its first register of qualifications, CLRG listed 32 teachers from across Ireland. By 1943, a standard system of certification had been introduced in order to organise the training of new teachers and adjudicators.
In 1969, a group of Irish dance teachers, frustrated with what they perceived to be a lack of influence in the growing organisation, broke from CLRG and formed An Comhdháil na Múinteoirí le Rincí Gaelacha (English: The Congress of Irish Dance Teachers) to compete with CLRG. These two organisations remain the most significant in Irish dancing, although CLRG is considerably larger and more highly gloablised. One enduring legacy of "the Split" is that CLRG competitions are open only to dancers from CLRG, and CLRG registered dancers are forbidden from competing with other "open-platform" organisations. (An Comhdháil was originally open-platform, but later became closed after a breakaway from its own ranks.)
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