My excuse? I was bored.

Boredom=new treble reel. The only unfortunate thing about this is that my shins are killing me, and I was only dancing for about half an hour. Not good.

Goals: Save my shins!

Days till worlds: 58

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

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

Treble Jig Time!

Here's my last of four dances (phew):

This is also a dance I'm going to do at the Oireachtas this December. I've got a non-traditional set dance to learn eventually, just in case I get a recall, which is what I'm gunning for. Anywho, lets get on with the critiquing!
Good stuff: Nice slices
Needs work: Hitting all my clicks (though this is better than my hornpipe I think), kicking my butt, especially on travel pieces, getting all trebles, holding arms back (sometimes I kick them on cuts), and turnout (of course).

I'm going to give myself a rest tomorrow before the feis to make my shins happy. All this dancing, even with my Jubilee floor, and they really do hate me. I've had these for about four years now, thanks to tumbling on a cheer floor for high school gymnastics. They mostly go away with rest. For the year and half between gymnastics and Irish dance, they went away, and everything was dandy. Three months into Irish, though, and they were back. Now, they like to travel between both of my legs (I originally had them only in my right leg, but now they're mostly in my left).

What do I practice when I can't dance?
I like to go through everything in my head, imagining myself doing it perfectly. I "hand dance" to music. I make sure and stretch, and do shin exercises. I will do low stress cardio (stationary bike), and leg/core stengthening.

Goals: Do shin exercises every day, get prepared for Old Dominion feis
Days till Os: 169

No Slips in This Jig

OW. My %$&*#!@ shin splints hurt. But because I love everyone who reads this blog, here is my slip jig:

Now, this is one of the dances I'll be doing at the Oireachtas this year. I don't think I'll do these exact steps, I'm already learning a new lead, which I almost have on my right foot. :] I'll post that when I get it down pat, I've got the summer to work on it. So for this video:
Whats good: Leaps, kicks, and I've got bicycles down on my right leg, yay!
Needs work: Crickets, double pumps in the back, kicking my butt on hops, flutters, bicycles on the left leg, and turnout (always).

Saturday is feis day! My school is hosting the Old Dominion feis, and I am going to help run the green stage all day, except for when I'm dancing on it. I'm excited and not excited about helping. I have to be there god-awful early in the morning, but hey, I get to hang out with dancers all day! Vive la danse! Woohoo.

Goals: TJ video, practice for Old Dominion, go to gym
Days till Os: 170