Mini Update: Oireachtas 2k14

Feis Culkin

• I'll start with the fact that I'm pretty sure that most everyone who placed in the top 50% of the competition are not senior lady dancers. The 18& over open competition was full of tough competitors from the younger age groups.
• I placed in my hard shoe round which was a shock to me since I think that it felt weaker than my slip jig that day. I was excited to get a Hershey bar!
• I ended up placing 12th out of 17. What was most frustrating to me was that two judged agreed on their ranking of me, while one placed me second to last. I am quickly becoming tired of scoring inconsistencies and how they can seriously make or break a dancer's overall placement.
• Also, the Washington Post had an article about this feis on their website recently.

Anyway, have a chocolate bar picture.

Goals (and things)

• My Oireachtas goal is (as it's been for the past four years) to be a world qualifier. I have not suffered through eight torn ligaments and a surgery to not finally meet my goal of qualifying at the Oireachtas.
• And things...  After the Oireachtas, I am planning on submitting my application to the Riverdance Trinity Academy International Summer School program. I'm hoping that having the chance to be a part of this week-long academy will give my dancing a new spark. I am feeling a slump in my dancing. It may be injury recovery, it may be Oireachtas stress, but regardless, I have not seriously put any effort in to show dancing, and I think it would be a great break from the competitive world.

Follow my adventures this weekend!

• As always, I will be all over social media this weekend with updates on my dancing and other Oireachtas adventures. Be sure to follow any (or all!) accounts for up to the minute details on my weekend.

[Twitter] [Facebook] [instagram] [tumblr]

Goals: Relax a bit, finish packing, and DFTBA

Days till Os: 3

Surgery Update, part 3

I am now done and graduated from physical therapy. My next doctor appointment is a month away. I am a regular participant in everything at dance class, even leading a fitness class during our Oireachtas prep Saturdays.

Did I really heal this fast?

Three months seriously flew by! Maybe I just feel that way because the past month has been a blur with the beginning of the school year and my own insistence that I never have days off to do nothing.

For the most part this past month, when I wasn't working, I was doing something to improve my physical fitness. I was at physical therapy getting essentially an hour and a half personal training session. I was running (yes, running!) in the fitness center on the treadmill. I was choreographing a show treble reel for the Baltimore Comic Con.

So, yes, I finally got to attend a comic con in my Captain America dress! I entered a costume contest for fun, and danced on stage for a bit of an audience. They went wild! My costume was totally a hit, and I loved getting all the comments on how cool an Irish dancing Captain America is. Now, I'm going to dedicate a whole post to this outing very soon, but until then, have a picture!

I have officially registered for two feiseanna this fall before the Oireachtas. I will be doing only the set dance competition at Rhythm of Ireland to try out my new Downfall of Paris without the stress of having to push myself to have the other rounds ready (namely slip jig). Hopefully all goes well, and if not, there's still time to perfect it before the SRO (and if not, there's the ol' standby Planxty Drury). My one and only three round competition will be Feis Culkin a few weeks after.

And now for something completely not related to healing... Remember when I mentioned I won an instagram contest hosted by Marvel and Dr. Pepper that was run during San Diego Comic Con? My prize came in the mail last month. I was expecting five Dr. Pepper cans, which I got. What completely blew my mind was that they came in a fantastic case signed by the Avengers: Age of Ultron cast! Consider me blown away.

Goals: Stamina all around
Days till Os: 66

2013 Goals and Aspirations

It's amazing how far I have come in the world of Irish dance.  When I started in 2007 as an adult beginner, my only goal was to simply learn anything and everything about this amazing dance form I have admired for so many years.  A year later, my goals shifted to the realm of competitive dance; something I swore to myself I'd never do after spending nearly a decade as a competitive gymnast.  Little by little, I upped the ante for myself from getting to novice, to preparing for prizewinner, to competing at my first Oireachtas and moving to the champ levels.  Now that I'm at the top level of dance, it's weird to me that my goals have hardly changed at all.

Granted, I did spend 75% of last year injured or recovering from an injury.

For 2013, my goals include to:

1. Continue to improve my turnout and cross technique in my dancing,
2. Begin to place more consistently in my competitions at feiseanna,
3. Recall at nationals, and ultimately
4. Qualify for the world championships as a soloist.

I aspire to be the best team member I can be by coming to practice with a pleasant and helpful attitude.  I aspire for good health and stamina.

In other news for this year...

• Feiseanna and majors I will be present at:
• World Championships (March)
• CCE Feis (May)
• Old Dominion Feis (June)
• North American Nationals (July)
• Rhythm of Ireland Feis (October)
• Feis Culkin (November)
• Southern Region Oireachtas (December)
• New dress, new dress by Elevation Designs!
• If you're wondering where the Shut the Feis Up posts disappeared to, the author (my boyfriend) has enlisted in the Army.  He is currently at basic training in Georgia, so he is unable to continue to write blog posts.

Goals: Work through new hornpipes and reels

Days till NANs: 179

Mini Update

Injury recovery

• I have finished my first round of physical therapy!  Already, my ankle is nearly back to full strength and flexibility.
• I began my second round of physical therapy three weeks ago and will finish the day before I leave for New Orleans.  This was recommended for extra strength since I'm still not 100% back with my dancing abilities.
• At my recent visit to my podiatrist, he said that everything was healing nice and tight like it should. 
• My dancing is improving on the daily.  As of Monday, my slip jig is finally feeling back to it's pre-injury self, I even added an over back into my lead!  My hard shoe focus is mainly getting my stamina back up.
• Fun fact: I use a roll and a half of athletic tape each day I dance to tape up both ankles for injury prevention and maintenance.  I own a case of athletic tape for this reason, and I will probably be halfway through this box by Oireachtas.

Oireachtas news

• My confirmed dances for the big day: solos (senior ladies), mixed four-hand, ladies eight-hand, and figure choreography.  It promises to be a long day since the southern region so lovingly puts all the senior solos and all teams on the same day.
• I designed the shirts you'll see my dance school wearing at this years Oireachtas.  I won't give any sneak previews, though.  You'll have to wait till the SRO to see them, but let me say, we will stand out.
• We recently were on a two week break with dance classes, and while it doesn't fall at the most opportune time, I was able to fit in small drilling sessions at home, which have had varying degrees of success.  Less success after Sandy hit and I got behind in job things.

Other dance things

• October has passed, and with it my five year dance-iversary!  Happy five years of dancing to me.
• This past weekend was Feis Culkin, which I chose not dance in.  I decided to save my ankles from intense competition until my Oireachtas marathon day.  Regardless, I did have nightmares the night before the feis about showing up late to dance even though I wasn't registered.
• Check out these pants.  Just look at how perfectly they match my solo.  Plan on me wearing them at the Oireachtas.

• Also in my Oireachtas fashion suitcase: this Captain America shirt to rock on the day that I'm dancing so I can be the Star Spangled Girl with the Curls.  I still have to do some tailoring for easy over the wig removal...

Goals: Stamina/sharpen steps

Days till Os: 25

Mini Update

1. Feis Culkin: Out of 16 dancers, I got 16th. I was particularly disappointed in the moment because it was the best I had ever danced to date, and being that I placed so well at Rhythm of Ireland with so-so dancing, it was slightly upsetting.

2. I'm getting a new dress for the Oireachtas! Stay tuned for pictures as soon as it arrives. I also have a new wig I'll be wearing at the Oireachtas. (and with that, new make-up look, etc.) The coolest thing is that I have Hollister plaid that almost exactly matches my dress. Hello color coordination...

3. Also updated in my look is that I've started taping the strap on my hardshoes white so it blends with my sock. So far, my foot looks cleaner. I can't really tell when I'm dancing, so this needs peer review on our Sunday practice.

4. We have been working a lot of stamina in class (three, then four, then FIVE steps), and while I had a bad day with that in class the other day, I got a comment on my set from one of the guy dancers that you can tell I've worked really hard and am looking good. Practice really does pay off, and that positive comment gave me an extra boost to know that my hard work has not been in vain.

5. I have found that practice is a good stress reliever when I've had a tough day with my middle schoolers. It's so nice to put on my hardshoes and pound away the frustration on the dance floor, rather than to dish it out on the students.

6. All the extra practice brings me to a confession: I really want top ten at the Oireachtas.

Goals: Cross, stamina

Days till Os: 14 days, 15 hrs.

Huge Update, Part 2: Feiseanna

Since nationals, I have been busy doing various feiseanna in the area, and placing rather well. I did not place lower than third in prelim since July, which is rather neat, and quite an accomplishment after only having been dancing for three years.

Nation's Capital feis: Keeping with the trend set forth at the CCE and Old Dominion feiseanna, a gentleman won this competition, and I got my first ever frustrating second place. Honestly, I'm going to admit that I hadn't practiced my steps since nationals three weeks prior to Nation's Capital, so I was acting on pure muscle memory and prayers that my stamina would hold out. I was surprised I placed as well as I did, considering the circumstances: 30+ dancers (16 and over competition), no practice, and bad stamina.

Baltimore Feis: Well, my first time competing my new Oireachtas steps was at this feis. While I thought my treble jig round was rather poopy technically, rhythmically, and stamina-wise, it was definitely my slip jig that saved my life (nothing new there). Two awesome things happened here. The first is that Kristin got her very first prelim first (and awesome perpetual cup), after being in this level for a few years, becoming the first of the three of us older Maple people in prelim to do so. The second was that despite what I thought was a poor performance, I still placed top three, and received my very first crystal award.

Rhythm of Ireland: The coolest part of this feis was not just that I got my first prelim first (and sash), but the fact that all three of us Maple dancers swept the podium for our competition. Jess received her highest placement ever (2nd), and Kristin just came off an illness and still danced really well. It's amazing the camaraderie between the three of us, when we could just take the low road and be catty and super competitive toward one another.

Feis Culkin: This was a busy day. I spent the week before praying to the feis gods that my competition would dance first since I had a choir concert that evening, and we did! I can honestly say that this is my favorite feis of the entire year. It is always well-run (we danced, got our awards, and were done by 10:45 AM), and a good pre-Oireachtas check up on how you're doing. Despite the slippery wood stages, I danced pretty well, but not quite full out on my treble jig, since I was trying to avoid the treble sit. The highlight of the morning (pre-awards) was a "beautiful slip jig" comment from Russel Beaton, who wasn't judging that day, but just watching. There were four Maple girls who danced this day, and all of us placed! The most exciting part? Winning my second prelim competition, and my dad being there to witness it.

I can now say that I'm officially an OPEN CHAMPION dancer, and have met and exceeded two our of three of my goals for the year (place regularly and win at least one prelim competition, and don't get last at nationals). I am both excited and extremely intimidated by the fact that I am now in the highest level of Irish dance. I remember three years ago when I started dance class thinking how wonderful those championship dancers are. In my eyes, I have put a lot of pressure on myself to be that inspiring figure to new dancers that the champs were to me when I first started. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely stoked to have achieved so much in such short time, but I feel very daunted just thinking about regularly competing against people who have been dancing their whole lives, and have qualified for worlds, and possibly even recalled there. Clearly, I am just psyching myself out by this thought, as I am currently more freaked out about dancing open at CCE in May than I am about dancing at the Oireachtas in two weeks.

Goals: Do my homework for REAL.

Days till Os: 14

Yes, I am still alive....

It's come to that time of year: my life is extremely busy. If I'm not practicing some dance, I'm attempting to get some school work done, knowing that the Oireachtas are less than twenty days away. Needless to say, my days are full to bursting. If there's ever a time when six or eight more hours are needed in the day, now would be it.

Feis Report: Feis Culkin
Well, this was an interesting
feis. This year's feis was held in a different location, which I personally like a lot less than the Mount St. Mary's venue. My competition went well, considering the following story: I was dancing my heavy round as usual, wheen partway through the left side of my first step, I felt my wig slipping off, which it did at the end of my first step. I somehow managed to grab it before it fell, all while dancing (I didn't miss a beat). Needless to say, I got a big applause afterwards. Despite the fact that I had a slight wardrobe malfunction, I got sixth overall in the competition, out of nine dancers. Again, not last!
Up next: Southern Region Oireachtas, December 5-6th.

My brain is on an Oireachtas binge:
Dancewise, I have mainly been focusing on stamina these past few weeks. As of now, I don't think my technique will change much, so I figure I might as well make sure I don't die before the end of my dances. Everyday I go over the order of the four-hand I'll be dancing. I still need a ton of work with the eight-hand, as I've only been through it once ever.
Logistics-wise, I've been figuring out how to transport all my dance stuff to Dallas safelty. My new dress bag should be coming this week, a only need to figure out a school dress for my four- and eight-hand dances. The schedule is also out today, which eases my anxiety a bit.
Appearance-wise, I am pretty pleased with everything (see photo above). I need to trim my wig, and tan my legs just a little bit so they match my face.

Goals: Keep working on stamina for the Os, go over 4-hand and 8-hand
Days till Os: 17

Catching Up With Recent Happenings

Feis Report: Rhythm of Ireland (ROI)
My very first prelim feis! I think I did well, considering. I got 8th of 15 dancers in the prelim competition, and considering my goal was to not place last, I say I suceeded quite nicely. I was just one place away from getting a trophy, which is encouraging... I also competed my set (The Hunt) for the first time, and while I got 6th out of 9 dancers, I'm pleased with my performance of it. I love the venue of the Williamsburg Marriott. There's plenty of space to practice, and everything's set up very well. The prelim stage (and accompanying hall) was absolutely ENORMOUS though. I got practice showing off my travelling (or lack of) skills.
Up next: Feis Culkin, November 1st

I'm really very excited. The 2010 SROs will be held just down the road from where I live (if you think of 395 as near my house, which it's not...), at the Gaylord in National Harbor! I'm looking forward to next year, but I also realize I've still got to get through this Oireachtas first... Oh dear. Am I feeling ready? I guess more so now that I have at least one prelim competition under my belt. My goal for this Oireachtas is to recall. I'd be so thrilled with a recall. Making it to nationals would be icing on the cake. Making it to worlds, I might die right there on stage.

Goals: Place in top half of my prelim competition at Culkin, PRACTICE EVERY DAY
Days till Os: 47 (eep!)