Ghillie Giveaway Winner!

And the moment you have been waiting for...

Drumroll please...

By random drawing, the winner of the UK size 4.5 Hullachan 3 ghillie giveaway is Jenny L! I will be in contact with you via email shortly!

Thank you to all who entered and spread the word of my giveaway. I hope to bring you another giveaway in the near future!

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Interested in sponsoring a giveaway on Rince go Bragh? Click here to find my contact information!

Goals: Stay healthy
Days till Os: 18

Ghillie Giveaway

Dearest Rince go Bragh readers, both old and new, today is a special day! I have a giveaway for you! I will be giving away a brand new pair of UK size 4.5 Hullachan 3 ghillies. Yes, just the one size.

These are the new Hullachan Reds that premiered at this years worlds. I have been dancing in my own pair for a little over a month now and have nothing but good things to say about these shoes! The leather is super soft and formed to my feet very quickly. The padding is sublime. Seriously though, it helps my bunion pain. The deeper heel means that I don't worry about the shoe slipping off my foot while I'm dancing. And can I just take a moment to talk about the new lacing system? Because my arch is not my best dancing feature, but when I put these shoes on, bam, arch!

So what are you waiting for? Enter my giveaway now before it closes! You can earn entries in many different ways, so hop to it!

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Goals: Don't overdo it.
Days till Os: 24

Irish dancer Christmas gifts!

I was on the receiving end of a handful of Irish dance-themes Christmas gifts this year, which I thought I'd share because they are so cute and thoughtful!

The first gift was from my little sister's boyfriend.  He bought me these lovely shamrock socks that I have already worn to dance practice in lieu of my normal poodle socks.  Ironically I have a second pair of these socks that go up to my knees in this exact pattern.  I can mix and match for crazy sock days at my schools!

From my mom, I received my own pair of FeisFeet slippers!  Now I have ghillies that are always super comfy and warm!

Finally, to for myself, I am in the works of buying an Elevations Design dress.  I can't wait till it arrives in time for nationals this summer!

Goals: Hornpipe 2nd and 3rd

Days till NANs: 176

Blog Challenge: I am grateful for...

1. Physical therapists.
2. Athletic tape and ankle braces and Advil.
3. The TCs who take time out of their day to help us choreograph steps, improve our dancing, and make dance class a fun place to be.
4. Happy and positive team members.
5. Tanning salons to receive that "natural glow" in the middle of fall.
6. Wigs that make hairdos a snap.
7. Sock glue.
8. Duct tape.
9. Padded ghillies, and...
10. Supportive dance friends who cheer each other on, despite being each other's competition come Oireachtas day.

Goals: Stamina tonight, rest my legs the next three days.
Days till Os: 10

Feis-ionable shoes

I first saw colored ghillies at the 2010 Oireachtas and told myself I'd only buy them if I was ever in the position to participate in a parade of champions.  At that time, seeing dancers with colored shoes was extremely rare, and I'm not really one to be labeled as a 'trend setter' in the Irish dance world.  Two years later, colored ghillies are still not commonplace, but are seen at more awards ceremonies, especially at this years NANs.

In May, as a back-to-dance present to myself, I bought red ghillies to match my solo.  I love them, even though I haven't worn them except for a handful picture purposes.  The only extreme downside to these shoes is that they cannot be worn in actual competition.  As dancing shoes go, they are not very practical.  Why spend $80 for shoes you really only wear while accepting awards?

Colored shoes that can be worn in competition have been all the rage in the Irish dance world, especially at this year's world championships with the release of the Iconic whites by John Carey.  Seeing white on heavies is the first of many major changes that Irish dancers have seen in years to this type of shoe.  Now, almost all Irish dancing shoe companies offer their version of black and white heavies.

Despite these shoes being extremely popular, I'm not one to jump on this particular trend.  This mainly has to do that I despise breaking in new heavies.  I would prefer new shoes that are wearable out of the box (which I have yet to find), or my old trusty heavies.

Getting back to topic... Yes, I may tape the strap of my heavy shoe, but I do not see the point of making my already tiny foot look tinier.  Some dancers claim it accentuates turnout and the line of your foot.  It could just be that the dancers at the forefront of this trend have good turnout and great feet regardless of the white.  I say that you can achieve that look for much less with white electrical tape.  Plus, white electrical tape is easier to clean than white leather: just remove and replace it!

Love 'em or hate 'em, colored shoes seem to be here to stay.

Goals: Ab exercises
Days till Os: 88

Mini update

Injury recovery

• May 16th was a big day for me.  After 98 days of injury recovery, I went to dance class, put on my hard shoes, and danced.  I can only do hard shoe dances at the moment due to not being able to jump/land on my bad foot without it hurting, but at least I can dance!
• I am still going to physical therapy, and am halfway through my second round of six weeks.  I will go back to the podiatrist at the end of June and hopefully he will graduate me from PT!

CCE Feis

• I kicked off the summer feising season by going to cheer on and watch my fellow 18&O champ dancers.  Congrats to them, and good luck as they continue preparing for nationals!
• In honor of being able to dance again, I also purchased some killer red ghillies to match my dress for award ceremonies and other fun things.

Old Dominion Feis

• This is my dance school's feis, so you can guarantee I will be there helping in one way or another.  (When I know what I'll be doing, I'll post it here so you can come say hi!)
• Old Dominion Feis also marks the start of my fifth year of feising!

Irish Dance How-tos:

• I did not do one for May.  I confess, my schedule is uber busy teaching full time.  Do not despair because there will be two in the month of June!  I am planning to have the first up on my blog and ready for you on June 6th.

Other things

• Curious as to what is my dance bag? (Come on, I know you secretly are.)  Check out Moira's blog, On My Toes to see a little collaboration post I did there!  Also, check out her latest post on joining the 'Mad Abs June' challenge!
• I'm going to go see Riverdance at Wolftrap on June 17th!
• If you're a regular reader, you may have noticed I changed the banner at the top of my blog just for fun.  What do you think?
• My school year is done June 15th.  Bear with me for minimal posts two more weeks as I finish teaching.  I'm already getting geared up with blog post ideas for this summer!
• On May 18th, I attended my own graduation ceremony since my college doesn't hold one in December.  Despite receiving my diploma in the mail in February, my graduation is officially official now!

Goals: PT exercises and stamina
Days till Os: 181

Fie on you treble jig

I think my new treble jig is going to be the death of me, if not by making my feet combust from friction from all the trebling I'm doing, then by me beating my head aganist the wall because my lower half just cannot seem to get it. I know the steps perfectly fine in my brain (and hands), turn off the music and I got it (mostly). I know what it is I want my legs to do, they just don't respond in the way I want them to. I hate not being in control.

I also dislike when the suede sole on my ghillies starts to pull away from the other leather. I'm going to go plead with them to not let this hole get any bigger until I can afford new ones.

In other news, I still love slip jig (but it needs work of course).

Goals: RHYTHM WTF, how to pay for new ghillies?
Days till NANs: 164