Boston Bash: days 5 and 6

Saturday March 30th

Saturday was again spent mostly in the same competition hall as the day before, this time to watch the senior men dance, and cheer on Colin.  I always love watching the men dance because they are so powerful and at this level, they have quite excellent rhythm.  One thing I noticed as I was watching the dancing was that for their recall round, many of the men danced Vanishing Lake.  I came to worlds not knowing the tune, and left that competition not only having it memorized, but it's my set dance ear worm. It's not my set, but it is always in my head!

I ran straight from watching the senior men competition to get ready for the figure dress rehearsal.  I went to put on my wig, and ran into a slight snafu.  Of all the things I forgot to bring, I never would have thought it would be my wig.  When I was quickly packing (carelessly), I managed to grab the wrong wig.  I didn't realize my mistake until about half an hour before a dress rehearsal the day before competing at worlds.  I pulled the wig out of the bag, and wouldn't you know, it was my old wig that is completely the wrong color.  It was not my teams wig.  After a short freak out, I called around to other team members in the junior figure and was able to borrow the correct wig.  Problem solved.

My afternoon and early evening were dominated by a three hour figure practice and wig/make up tutorial to make sure we were ready.  It was a great chance to talk over with the team things those of us noticed about the staging with the junior figure, and what we can do to make our performance successful.

The night was concluded by eating at the P.F. Chang's bar because my friend and I were not feeling like good explorers.  I also had the good fortune of having excellent post-wig hair.  This once in a lifetime event was documented, and saved for posterity.

                                             Sunday March 31st: Competition Day

Our morning warm up and make up session will live in my mind forever as our best team building time.  We commandeered a bathroom four our team and helped each other achieve a uniform look with out make up and wigs.  Our Zumba-certified senior dancer led us in some of her favorite Zumba routines as a warm up.  We ran through our figure knowing that if we kept it controlled, and had our faces on, we could do this.  We could go home with some hardware from the world championships.

"Breathe"

Looking back a little over six months after being on the worlds stage, I cannot remember much of our performance, I do remember feelings.  During the walk on, I was keeping a cap on my nerves.  I may have been shaking just by the mere thought of dancing on a worlds stage.  My mantra was breathe.  Once the music started, it was smiley faces, chin up, sparkle baby sparkle, and one sassy wink at the judges.  I remember getting off the stage thinking that was not our best.  It was okay.  But not the best.

The entire time the announcer was calling out scores, I don't think I could breathe.  I tried adding up our numbers, but my brain could only focus on those groups that were receiving perfect 100s from the judges.  We were not among them.  Our team ended up placing 8th, the first non-awarded place.  It was mildly heartbreaking, considering the hours (read: years) of practice that we have put into this dance.

After dancing, those of us in the figure who were of age went to one of Boston's many Irish pubs.  We watched a little bit of the basketball tournament, reviewed videos of our performance that our friends and family were able to sneak, and determined that we didn't look as bad as we felt we danced.  It was a great chance to celebrate our accomplishment, and finally relax now that the pressure of performing at worlds was over.

My worlds experience was concluded with Pinkberry and having a mini viewing party for the Season Finale of Game of Thrones since the hotel I was in had HBO.  My greatest hope is that I get to repeat the experience in London this April as a soloist!

Goals: Keep up stamina and health

Days till Os: 24

Mini Update

Oireachtas Prep

• With the Oireachtas being a month away, I have really solidified my goals.  I am determined that this is my year.  I have two goals within reach (and one other secret goal) which include: 

1. Be a world qualifier, and
2. Place in the top ten.

• I have been working on stamina lately, and am feeling less and less exhausted at the end of each dance.  Well, this is not entirely true.  I am less tired at the end of the first time through each dance.
• Have I mentioned the teams I am on?  Along with solos, I will also be part of a mixed 4, a mixed 8, and the senior girls choreography.

Rhythm of Ireland Feis

• I felt fairly confident in my dancing for the day, at least in those moments when I wasn't bumping into the gal I was sharing the stage with.  Our steps followed similar path, and we were constantly vying for the same space on the stage.  Despite that, nothing seemed to go horribly wrong.
• I was slightly shocked when placements were called!  Until that weekend, I had never placed above 6th in an open champion competition, and lo and behold, I found myself not only on the podium for third place, I also received a sash and lovely plate!  This gave me a great confidence boost.  It's great to have proof that my hard work it playing off.
• This was also the most fun I'd ever had at a local feis.  I greatly enjoy spending time with the particular group of senior ladies that are both within my dance school, and that I see only at competitions.  There is a lot of camaraderie between all of us.  The Maple seniors spend some time before awards playing a favorite game of mine, Cards Against Humanity, and it may just be a feis staple from now on!

Coyle Feis: I will be there this weekend!  My goal is to recall in this large and out of region group.

Non-dancing tidbits

• Work is going well!  My 4th graders will be putting on a Veteran's Day concert in a week.  It will be my first concert at my new school!
• I am moving to a new apartment in the very near future!  I will conveniently located in between work and dance.  I just now have the added stress of packing all my things up and moving when Oireachtas practicing is reaching critical mass.

Goals: Dance confidently at the feis
Days till Os: 31

Boston Bash: Days 3 and 4

Thursday, March 28th

Like Wednesday, Thursday was a frenzy of running around everywhere in Boston.  The morning was a special nod to Big who loves the Red Sox.

The middle of the day was my team support moment for the junior girls eight hands and figure choreography.  It was also my first look at the worlds stage I would soon be dancing on.  While watching the junior ceilis, I was mentally planning how the senior figure would look on the stage.

Maple junior girls figure

The night was a hectic nearly nightmare of late buses and north of Boston suburbs coupled with wine and paint.  The end result is pretty good if I say so myself.  (If you live in a major metropolitan area, I highly suggest looking into wine-and-painting night deals on LivingSocial or Groupon!)

Friday, March 29th

Friday was strictly dedicated to watching each second of the senior ladies solo competition.  I was there most to support the two dancers from my school in the senior ladies competition.  I was there to catch up with dancers who I hadn't seen in a while.  There was also a part of me that was there to see the top dancers in my age group completely rock the stage.  How could I pass up the opportunity to watch Claire, Olivia, Nadine, Simona, and Siobhan?  I couldn't is that answer.

Me, Emily, Colin, Kelly, and Nora.

During lunch, I played around on the stage.

Then recalls were announced.  It was a tense and overwhelming experience, and I wasn't even dancing!  Getting to watch Claire Greaney's set dance was one of the most fabulous and inspiring moments of my dance career.  I think it was perfect.  I also made sure to record which dancer did which set, and I took my data and compiled it into a pie chart upon my return from Boston.

After watching dancing all day, my little group was ravished, so we went on a search for Mexican food and margaritas.  We stumbled upon this trendy Mexican restaurant a block and a half away from the dance action that just happened to be participating in Boston's Restaurant Week.  It was a win-win situation.

Goals: finish all the Boston blog posts!
Days till NANs: 51

Mini Update

1. Just one week ago, I was in Boston for the World Championships   My figure choreography team had the chance to compete for a title, and we came just one place shy of a recall medal!

2. My new solo dress arrived the day that I returned from worlds!  I'm not ready to post a full picture of it yet (patiently waiting for the day when I'm all dressed up for a feis).  I'll tide you over with a sneak preview:

3. My red plaid dress will be up for sale shortly.  Check back later for more details!

4. Nationals update:

• I will be in Anaheim July 4th through the 8th.
• My TC has a vendetta to get us all super fit in the coming months, which I am really excited about.  I'm chasing after a recall.  I would be so happy with a recall.  Being fit with super stamina will help!

5. Summer feiseanna

• As I sit here writing this, I'm fervently trying to register for the CCE feis in May.  I cannot count how many error messages I've received.  Fingers crossed that I get in! (Edit: I got in!)
• I will also for sure be present at the Old Dominion feis because my dance school runs it.  I'm planning on both competing, and probably managing a stage.

6. As for other blog happenings, I will be playing catch up in this next month or so.  I plan to write about Boston over the course of four posting in the next month, as well as writing about St. Patrick's day and other random things I have to tell you about!

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

The Oireachtas (teams)

(The first half of my Oireachtas experience was dedicated to my solos, which can be read here.)

My afternoon of teams was what I was looking forward to.  It meant I was halfway done with Oireachats.  Plus, dancing ceilis is just plain fun.  I was a member of both an all-girls eight-hand and a mixed four-hand dance.  Neither ended up placing, but the point is that we all had fun practicing and competing together as a team.  Team was a big theme of this year's Oireachtas for my dance academy, and for good reason.  With one Maple team being in each of the three figure choreography age groups, coming in with a team mindset is extremely important to help combat through nerves, and share in excitement.  I have never felt so close to and supported by my teammates in my years dancing.

The figure was one of the highlights I was looking forward to all day.  After being part of the team that won the 2010 Oireachtas in our own backyard, I could not wait to step on stage and feel that same sense of exhilaration.  Our music, though was a minor issue.  If it doesn't start exactly at the beginning of the piece, then the whole count-timing-to-start-thing is off.  This happened.  Our music was restarted and we began for real.  This dance felt different than two years prior.  It was in a smaller hall.  There were new-to-figure dancers who never danced the figure on a stage this large before.  I felt as if I was being pushed towards chaos.

I personally was holding my breath as the announcer called the results for the figure choreography that night. The figure team was in a tight circle, all holding each others' hands.  The closer the announcer got to announcing the winner, the tighter we (read: I) held on.  Time slowed down as he began to read second place.  The team called was not us!  We were the champions...again!  "Gangnam Style" played as we partied to our spot on the podium.  It was a grand celebration of teamliness.  Nothing could bring us down as we reaped the reward of our hard work this fall.

Maybe you will see us at worlds...

Goals: Learn a reel, last hornpipe step
Days till NANs: 183

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

Injury recovery

• I officially got rid of my boot this past Tuesday!
• Round one of physical therapy began three weeks ago, and already there is a huge difference in the strength and flexibility of my ankle.  My PT likes to joke with me that he's not needed, being I just went through with all of these exercises less than five months ago... I told him I just need him for his machines and massages.  Also, he's giving me exercises to strengthen other parts of my leg and my core, which are useful.

Dance tidbits

• Figure choreography practice is in full swing, and I can make it through dancing the figure!
• This week, I will be going back to doing solo classes as well.  It's an experiment, since I need to do some soft shoe re-choreographing to compensate for injured ankles.
• I will be dancing solos and teams at the Oireachtas.  I'm very excited and know that this year's journey will be appreciated 100% after the long string of injuries.
• I began taking a weekly class at a local dance center that combines ballet barre work, yoga, and pilates.  I'm only in my second week of class, but already I feel stronger, but that's probably stemming from being sedentary since July.

Life tidbits

• My first month of being a teacher is over!  Almost everything is getting easier since I'm settling into my schedule and routines.  The children are mostly adorable.  Except when they're misbehaving.
• My first paycheck is roughly the price of a new Gavin.  I can't complain, this is more than I've ever made in my life.

The 2012 breakdown, part 2

With 100 days left until I dance at the Oireachtas, I think its a good time to do a goals check in.  (Remember this post from the beginning of the year where I outlined my ideal year in dance?)

My original goals for the year:

1. Improve turnout
2. Place at least once in opens
3. Place higher at nationals (60th in 2010)
4. Qualify for worlds

Unfortunately, due to two major injuries, including six torn ligaments, I need to update my goals. In all actuality, I will not attend any local feiseanna this year to place in.  I was unable to attend nationals.  This leaves me with two goals:

1. Improve turnout
2. Qualify for worlds

I want to qualify to compete at worlds as a soloist. This has secretly been my ultimate goal since 2009 when I started this blog.  I will be completely crushed if my injuries keep me from this goal.  On that note, I will for sure be doing teams at the Oireachtas.  I will be in a figure choreography, which can still give me a chance to be on a worlds stage.  There is just that uncertainty for solos due to my most recent injury and the months of recovery time I still have ahead of me.

My goal for the year will be to go to worlds. Even if just for teams.  Period end of story.

Goals: Heal.
Days till Os: 100

Blog Challenge: Performance Pictures

The Dance Buzz is doing monthly blog challenges, and while I may not have been up to doing all the months (yet), I feel the time is ripe for a new post to let you know I am not dead.

The May challenge is to post performance pictures.  These I'm about to share are from my dance school's recital in March of 2011.  They were taken by my mum.

A cool figure choreography shot.

Look at those lines!

My favorite, purely because of the wig motion.

Ending pose to our figure choreography.

Great leaping action shot.

Goals: Ease into dancing (!)
Days till Os: 197

The Oireachtas, Part 2

Figure:

The most exhilarating part of the day was hands down our performance in the figure choreography competition. It was the very last thing (except for dance dramas), and was danced on the main stage used for awards. According to the schedule posted, it appeared that it would run co-current with some other things mid afternoon. That was not the case. By the time were getting ready to go on stage, the Oireachtas committee had opened the divider between rooms to allow space for awards. The entire southern region had staked out their seat. The hall was full. The stage was set. We were ready.

From our performance, you wouldn't have been able to tell that within the hour before us walking on stage that we were nit picking and whining about how tired we were and how this was far from some individuals' priorities. You wouldn't have been able to tell that the first time we ever had a full figure practice was in that hour before we went on stage. You couldn't see the drama in the preparation because in that moment in stage, we had finally become a team.

It's one thing to dance for the five adjudicators and parents. It's a completely different experience to dance for five adjudicators and a couple thousand people, all in your hometown. Standing side stage was daunting. All those people are gonna watch us? I can only speak for myself here, but during our walk-on, my heart was pounding and all that was running through my head was "oh my god" over and over. The music started, and withing seconds of our beginning sequence, the hall was clapping along with the music. I forgot my anxiety and just danced. In the few sequences where I was up front, I looked out over the crowd and could see the reactions of the audience. The POSITIVE reactions of the audience. Not a face in my view had anything less than a smile and a gaze of amazement upon it. We, the figure, also had real 100% genuine smiles. Just dancing it was an experience unlike any other. I no longer felt the cramps in my legs or the blisters on my toes. WE were gliding across the floor as teammates. WE were finally dancing with the precision Bryon wanted from us. WE were finally a team.

If just dancing was a surreal experience, then the most extraordinary moment was when we finished and hit the last pose, the ROAR of the audience. WE were on the receiving end of the most thunderous applause imaginable. WE were given a standing ovation as we bowed and walked off. It was a completely exhilarating moment. And did I mention, WE BECAME A TEAM.

A WINNING team.

Goals: Turn out. Learn how to do it.

Days till . . . Wait. What am I counting down to?

Huge Update, Part 1: Nationals

Well well well, looks like I haven't been around here in a while. Life as a college senior is getting to me. I'm going to update in three parts: nationals, feiseanna, and Oireachtas prep.

My experience at the national championships was quite an experience. Overall, it was one of the best learning opportunities I've had dance-wise in my life. Being able to watch people from all over the world dance, especially the top three placers in my age group was something else. It it really obvious the time and effort and passion they have invested in this sport. Gorgeous.

Day by day:

July 3rd: Marked my arrival in Disney World with my sorority big sister. It was good we got there a day early. The Swan and Dolphin venue took a few hours to get used to, just because of the sheer size of it. I did get some good practice time in that evening though, on the stage I was dancing on the next day. Don't know if that was exactly allowed, but no one told me not too...

July 4th: Solo day. I'm honestly going to say that I wasn't too nervous for solos this day. I wasn't expecting myself to do fantastically well, I was planning on fainting if I recalled. My goal for the day: not get last place, which I achieved, placing 60th out of 70 with 2.5 points. I was basically happy with how I performed that day, minus a stumble in my hornpipe round because of an almost-collision. It was, like I said before, a neat experience to talk to and dance with people from around the world. The girl who danced with me was from British Colombia, and the dancer after me from Australia. My favorite part of the day came when I finished my two rounds and recalls were announced (I did hold my breath and pray, but no luck): pool/pina colada time. Although Florida is generally called the sunshine state, it rained every single day we were there, but that didn't stop us from utilizing the pool and the bar. After that (that evening), we seriously had a THREE HOUR figure practice. Most definitely something you want to do the day before you compete for a national title. (Don't even get me started...) My big and I did make up for it by celebrating our Independence Day night, not with fireworks, which we could've seen from our hotel, but by going to Steak N Shake for delicious steak burgers and shakes, which is (sadly) not found in our home state.

July 5th: Ah, the figure... It can be quite hectic to herd around 16 dancers, especially if they are older. I believe we had a two hour practice in the morning, and were given a lunch break before we had to be back for be-wigging and beautifying (makeup). It was all fine and dandy until crunch time, when our mixed 8 hand ran very close to the time the figures were scheduled to run. Talk about running around like chickens with our heads cut off! This was also not aided by the fact that when we walked into the competition room, the guy who choreographed our figure was giving another team a pep talk. Did we get one? Nope. The figure competition was...interesting. Our dance, and much to our chagrin, about three other school's dances, were all choreographed by the same guy, and all essentially had the same elements, but in different orders. Two of the winning teams that placed, and I think the team that won, had costume malfunctions (wigs coming off). I'm not going to say it was a disaster, but well... As for our go round, we certainly danced the figure the best I have ever seen it (I can only hope we do it as well at the SRO this year). After we figured out we did not medal (to our chagrin, given the other performances of the afternoon), my big, the other over 21 dancer and myself decided to go see what Downtown Disney was all about. Of course it down poured while we were out walking, but that did not stop us from wandering around the largest Disney store in the world, and it certainly didn't deter us from our dinner choice: the Irish pub on Disney property! (In case we haven't had enough Irish the past few days.) We ate, drank, hassled the musicians to play certain songs, and critiqued the dancers. All in good fun...

July 6th: Was spent in Magic Kingdom. My big and I pretended to be princesses, and in general has a fantastic time reliving our childhood memories with all the Disney magic. The most magical part was this special thing we did for fireworks. For a price of $25, we got all you can eat desserts, and one of the best viewing areas for the most fantastic fireworks I have ever seen.

Goals: Do my homework. Really.

Days till Os: 15

Dear feis gods...

Right now is the time when I start praying to the feis gods to PLEASE let me make it through my hornpipe at the feis Sunday... Sure, I can make it through, but everytime I do it in class, I am so dead by the end of my second step, and therefore my half step is not pretty. And there is that possibility that maybe I'm just so tired by the time we get to hard shoe at class on Wednesday nights, because by then, we have done the figure a few times, as well as reels... Luckily at feiseanna, we do hard shoe first, so I'm banking on that... Hopefully, what I lack in hornpipe is made up in my reel. Today, it felt so good, like I was flying, which is how my slip jig felt before the Oireachtas last December.

And I also have to wonder if it would be acceptable to wear concealer on my legs... I have perpetual bruises on my knees from kneeling in the figure, and they most certainly will not disappear by Sunday...

Upcoming:
CCE feis report
Riverdance performance (June 3rd)

Goals: Stamina
Days till NANs: 38 (ARGH, wtf!)

General Updates...

Finals are over! I can concentrate on dance now!

Today was just not a hornpipe day. I have started running recently to work on stamina, but it just wasn't happening today. And my back trebles. Oh, my back trebles...
I'm reelly excited for my reel (bahaha, couldn't resist). My second step now has this nice spinning move a la Ciara Sexton. Here's to hoping I don't fall on my face at a feis...
My new set would be coming along, had I not decided finals were more important... :] Now that I am done, I think I can actually focus on learning it for real, and not just having to remember parts of it when I get to class.
Oh, and I have also learned my umpteenth spot in the figure. This is mine for real now (or at least until nationals). There is something about this new place I'm doing that just seems...easier for me than the spot I was doing prior to it. I like it.

A few weeks ago I went to see Lord of the Dance at UVA. It most certainly was a once in a lifetime thing in a not-so-good way. I don't think I will ever go see it again live, I will just stick to my DVD of one of the original performances. Don't get me wrong, the dancers were good. The show just pisses me off because so much of it is pre-recorded, and it's so obvious. I can't wait to go see Riverdance in June to erase this bad memory from my mind...

Goals: Remember Drunken Gauger, back trebles
Days till NANs: 52

I'm not dead, I swear...

...this semester has just been too hectic for me to concentrate on dance until the end is near (when I realized nationals is about three months away). Between the Snowmageddon, kidney stone, and my boyfriend of two years ending things, I haven't had mych time to focus on dance.

Reel and hornpipe steps are really agreeing with me. I love the quickness and sharpness of the reel (although sometimes I get carried away with the running steps). My favorite part of the hornpipe is that is seems slower than the treble jig. I am not rushing around, and I get to do lots of pretty moves on my toes. I am learning a new set to go with this pair, Drunken Gauger. It's treble jig timing, so when I do well at the Oireachtas this year and qualify for worlds (hehe), I don't have to learn and perfect a contrasting set in a couple months. That is assuming senior ladies keep reel and hornpipe from nationals. Don't even get me started with that...

Maple Academy recital and St. Patrick's Day Month
(because I have actually been dancing things in my absence...)
St. Patty's Month was quite eventful for me. My boyfriend ended things two weeks before St. Patrick's Day, and I'm quite glad that was the busiest time dance-wise for me. I didn't spend those first two weekends alone. The first was devoted to our school's dance recital, the second to Shamrockfest and two other performances (all in one day), and the third to one more random performance.
Shamrockfest was very wet and rainy. We didn't dance at our scheduled time, and after I left for another performance we ended up making up for it by dancing with the band Carbon Leaf.
I didn't do anything special on the actual St. Patrick's Day, other than go to my normal dance class. There were two performances at a pub in DC, but being that I was in class, it was rather impossible to attend.

I'm actually doing this in between doing back treble drills, my "resting" period so to say.

2010 feis preview:
CCE feis, May 30th (registered)
Old Dominion feis, June 19th (registered)
NANs, July 4th and 5th
Nation's Capital, July 24th
Delaware feis, August 8th
Baltimore feis, September 18th
Rhythm of Ireland feis, October 16th
Feis Culkin, November 7th
SROs, December 3rd-5th

Goals: Finish learning Drunken Gauger, perfect back trebles
Days till NANs: 69

Oireachtas Workshop, Days 3 & 4

Day 3:
This was at the Falls Church location, and I could go on and on about how much I hate dancing on that floor. My shin splints are back, thanks to my friends linoleum and concrete. I also thought I had pulled a muscle in my quad doing a lift for my slip jig. Turns out, it's just a very sore muscle. I learned a new third step for my treble jig, which just needs practice getting it to music. We also practiced the large figure dance from the workshop this past June, and phew! we remembered most of it. I can't wait till it's all put together and perfect like it was at the workshop. It's going to be awesome.

Day 4:
I was very suprised when I woke up in the morning and could walk! Dancing wasn't so bad either. Just some fine tuning for slip jig, and trying to get my third treble jig to music, as well as keeping up with my set. We also practiced the figure again today, and I filled in for one of the boys. Basically I got dragged along for five minutes, and it was apparently very funny to watch. It helps when I'm about half of the other two guys dancing...

I've got all my stuff learned for the solo portion on the Oireachtas, and I'm feeling pretty confident about it all. I'm so excited. I also think I'm going to be the only one who will miss dancing every night for four hours. Geek.

Goals: Videos of SJ, TJ, and Hunt
Days till Os: 105

Oireachtas Workshop, Day 2

I now have everything learned for the Oireachtas. My set is awesome, my slip jig is amazing, and my treble jig is. . . well, it's still the same (But getting better). I even learned a four hand in two hours, and although it's full of simple moves, I always have trouble remembering what's coming up next. I will post videos of my slip jig and set as soon as I recover from this week.

We spent over an hour doing drills this evening, which I really don't mind because I know it will help me better myself. What irks me is when others moan and groan whenever a new drill starts. Sometimes I just wanna shake them and ask, 'DON'T YOU WANT TO GET BETTER?' Except everyone's so chatty, I don't think they'd hear me.

Ailments:
Sore calfs and quads (you can't even imagine), blister on my 4th toe on the left, sore calluses on the balls of my feet and tips of my toes, bruises on the top of my feet.
And I still have two more days left. . .

Goals: Videos of SJ and The Hunt
Days till Os: 107

Workshop review and possibly Texas?

Just finished up my first ever dance workshop a week ago. What did I learn?

• Team dances are more than just having people dance sevens here and clap there. There are stories of ancient kings and new princesses, the hours of practice (and still I only know the first quarter of the dance), the bruised knees and blisters. There are smiles when you nail it, tears when it's frustrating, and disappointment and guilt when you disrespect the choreographer.
  
• Patience and courtesy are key.
  
• My soft shoe sucks apparently. Well, it's not as strong as my heavy shoe dances. That explains the results at Old Dominion...
  
• It is possible to alternate working for two hours, and dancing for two hours for twelve hours straight.
  
• Its also possible to survive a four hour ceili workshop on three hours of sleep.
  
• It can take an hour to drive to Vienna.
  
• People are likely to give you strange looks when you limp into CVS, only until you buy more Ace bandages and Advil, then they sympathize, even though they think "Riverdancing" is just a few hops and cuts.

And thank God, my parents have finally said they're getting started on travel plans and stuff for Texas. The one monkey wrench in the situation is that my dad may be going out of town that weekend (of course) so mom would have to stay home and watch my sisters, meaning I will be at home too, since I am just a few years shy of being able to get a hotel room and rent-a-car by myself. Grr.

Goals: practice soft shoe for Nat Cap
Days till Os: 151