Wednesday evening I'm sitting in the lobby of our Irish dance studio talking with a friend when our teacher comes up to me:
"Can you be here Tuesday at 6pm to help fit shoes on our new beginner class?"
I'm one of Shoe Committee Chairpeople so of course I said yes. Then she added with smile,
"We're starting an adult beginner dance class Monday night"
Stunned I replied "Which Monday night?"
"This Monday night at 8pm."
Apparently she started to spread the world and a few adults came forward saying they would do it. It just so happened that the friend I was talking to at the time was one of the adult dancers who talked me into this in the first place and overheard the whole conversation. A coinkydink? I think not. So now panic has set in......I haven't had a formal dance lesson in years and I'm a little nervous. Of course what I need to do is not take myself so seriously after all I'm not planning to compete. This is just for fun right? Of course it is. I'm also hoping taking lessons is going to help me coach my daughter - who is not amused by this in the least! She's afraid I'm going to start feising. Of course a friend of mine took great pleasuring in messing her yesterday telling her that I was looking at the Cleveland feis and how we could have matching solo dresses. She just groaned and rolled her eyes. I have a feeling though that I'm going to be the one groaning after class Monday night! I'll let you know as soon as I get out of the oxygen tent...Til next time! Slainte!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
North Coast Feis 2012
I know it seems a little strange to be talking about a feis that was just held a month ago and is still a year away but the planning for the 2012 North Coast feis has begun! Since I was nominated Corresponding Secretary at last night's meeting - I thought I would take my job seriously and correspond updates as the year goes on. I came into the feis committee late last year so this will be an interesting experience seeing how a feis is put together from start to finish. I won't bore you with every little detail but somethings are worth sharing.
Format: The feis will remain a one day feis (Saturday) and will maintain the same cap of 850.
Payment: The suggestion was made to accept online payments only next year.
Judges/Musicians: The committee is considering eliminating 2 musicians in order to afford inviting an overseas judge - possibly Ireland.
Stages: Last year's stages were the minimum size allowed and were deemed too small. They will enlarged for the 2012 feis. The possibility of moving the stages to the perimeter of floor and having the camping area in the middle was discussed. This would help to keep the music from "bleeding" through from another stage.
Venue: The feis will remain at the I-X Center for next year.
Cost: There was some discussion of raising the price of the competitions and possibly going to an admission charge rather than a family fee. Nothing was decided.
Overall comments from various message boards and the FeisWorx survey were positive with a few concerns here and there - mostly about the size of the stages and conditions of the parking lots at the hotel and venue. So there you have it! Our meetings are held monthly and I'll update this blog as the year goes on and more information becomes available. Til next time - Slainte!
Format: The feis will remain a one day feis (Saturday) and will maintain the same cap of 850.
Payment: The suggestion was made to accept online payments only next year.
Judges/Musicians: The committee is considering eliminating 2 musicians in order to afford inviting an overseas judge - possibly Ireland.
Stages: Last year's stages were the minimum size allowed and were deemed too small. They will enlarged for the 2012 feis. The possibility of moving the stages to the perimeter of floor and having the camping area in the middle was discussed. This would help to keep the music from "bleeding" through from another stage.
Venue: The feis will remain at the I-X Center for next year.
Cost: There was some discussion of raising the price of the competitions and possibly going to an admission charge rather than a family fee. Nothing was decided.
Overall comments from various message boards and the FeisWorx survey were positive with a few concerns here and there - mostly about the size of the stages and conditions of the parking lots at the hotel and venue. So there you have it! Our meetings are held monthly and I'll update this blog as the year goes on and more information becomes available. Til next time - Slainte!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Because - I'm a Dancer!
I hate to exercise! Sorry I'm just not one of those people who can get up and run for miles in the snow, cold or rain. I also find the treadmill and elliptical boring. So when I woke up and realized that I'm overweight and out of shape and knew I had to do something about it, I had a hard time figuring out what I needed to do. Alright, I knew what I needed to do but what type of exercise program was going to hold my interest long enough to get results?
Growing up I wasn't active in sports. I didn't play tennis regularly or run track. The only thing I did was dance and I was a competitive dancer - jazz to be exact. I think it was Madonna who said "Only when I'm dancin' can I feel this free....." OK - so I'm not Madonna (although I have been known to sing and dance around the house in my underwear) but when I really sat and thought about pursuing an exercise routine my heart and mind kept going back to my dancin' days and how in shape I was back then. So last summer when a group of moms started talking about taking a beginner Irish dance class I jumped at the chance to join in. I bought a pair of gillies, wrote out the check and was about to turn in my registration form when one by one all the other moms backed out. They didn't have time, didn't have the money, blah, blah, blah. Well I didn't want to be the only beginner going into an established adult class so I did the mature thing and backed out too. I placed the shoes I bought into the used shoe sale at our school and tore up the check I had written. Was I disappointed? Yes. Not only was I looking forward to getting back to dancing but I was also looking forward to the camaraderie that such a class offered. I didn't want to compete - I just wanted to have fun. So I let it go - but not completely. I started noticing how many adults were taking Irish dance and started asking them questions - when did they start, why did they dance, do they compete, etc, etc, etc. Well naturally it wasn't long before I was being encouraged by a few of those dancers to talk to our teacher about taking private lessons or join the class. I stalled and stalled but after marching in the St. Patrick's Day and having a lot of fun I finally got up the courage to talk to Sheila about it - only to find out that one of those friends had already approached her about me dancing. We discussed the possibility of private or semi-private lessons and while I was hoping to get started now (while I still have my courage) it was decided that perhaps a summer adult class was the way to go. So I'll have to wait but I'm determined I'm going to do this and it's the push I've needed to get back into shape - basically so I can have the stamina to get through a dance class without falling over. So I'm back to my old routine of swimming, yoga, Pilates and ballet exercises and even if this adult Irish dance class doesn't materialize at least I'm finally doing something to get me arse and the rest of my body moving again. If it does - then I'll have plenty of things to blog about. Til next time - Slainte!
Growing up I wasn't active in sports. I didn't play tennis regularly or run track. The only thing I did was dance and I was a competitive dancer - jazz to be exact. I think it was Madonna who said "Only when I'm dancin' can I feel this free....." OK - so I'm not Madonna (although I have been known to sing and dance around the house in my underwear) but when I really sat and thought about pursuing an exercise routine my heart and mind kept going back to my dancin' days and how in shape I was back then. So last summer when a group of moms started talking about taking a beginner Irish dance class I jumped at the chance to join in. I bought a pair of gillies, wrote out the check and was about to turn in my registration form when one by one all the other moms backed out. They didn't have time, didn't have the money, blah, blah, blah. Well I didn't want to be the only beginner going into an established adult class so I did the mature thing and backed out too. I placed the shoes I bought into the used shoe sale at our school and tore up the check I had written. Was I disappointed? Yes. Not only was I looking forward to getting back to dancing but I was also looking forward to the camaraderie that such a class offered. I didn't want to compete - I just wanted to have fun. So I let it go - but not completely. I started noticing how many adults were taking Irish dance and started asking them questions - when did they start, why did they dance, do they compete, etc, etc, etc. Well naturally it wasn't long before I was being encouraged by a few of those dancers to talk to our teacher about taking private lessons or join the class. I stalled and stalled but after marching in the St. Patrick's Day and having a lot of fun I finally got up the courage to talk to Sheila about it - only to find out that one of those friends had already approached her about me dancing. We discussed the possibility of private or semi-private lessons and while I was hoping to get started now (while I still have my courage) it was decided that perhaps a summer adult class was the way to go. So I'll have to wait but I'm determined I'm going to do this and it's the push I've needed to get back into shape - basically so I can have the stamina to get through a dance class without falling over. So I'm back to my old routine of swimming, yoga, Pilates and ballet exercises and even if this adult Irish dance class doesn't materialize at least I'm finally doing something to get me arse and the rest of my body moving again. If it does - then I'll have plenty of things to blog about. Til next time - Slainte!
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