I was reminded today that I haven't posted anything for awhile and I guess that's right! Life - sometimes it does get in the way of what's really important - talking about Irish dance. So instead of going to my Irish dance class I decided to crack open a cold one - Killians, the closest thing I have to Irish beer and catch everyone to speed.
When we last left our hero she had just returned from watching the Royal wedding and the Central New York Feis. Since that time she's attended a 3 hour and 40 minute board meeting for the dance school, been to another feis and gotten herself appointed co-chair of the school's annual bus trip. Not to mention taxi-ing her daughter to Murphys 5 times a week for classes, private lessons, team practice for the Cleveland Feis and tattoo practice. No - I'm not practicing getting a tattoo but if I was it might look like a Scottish thistle, ghillies or some other Gaelic symbol but I digress. Where was I? Oh right - returning from a feis, Queen City in Cincinnati, Ohio to be exact.
Friends went to this feis last year and had several good things to say so I decided to sign my daughter up for it expecting a nice time. I can't put my finger on it exactly but the vibe wasn't right. The venue was the Duke Energy Center in downtown Cincy and it had all the right qualities - spacious, clean, seating for lunch and more than enough room to camp. The stages were large and well run, the judges rotated in a timely fashion but to me the pace was slow. The feis started on time at 8:30 and moved along but at one point I looked at my watch and was surprised to find it was only 12:30. It felt like 2:30 or 3 and my daughter still had two dances to go!
The nice touch was this feis broke all the stages for lunch at approximately the same time. Lunch was followed by the Treble Reel - which I wish they would run in the morning after figures but that's just my opinion - I could be wrong - and the grade stages pretty much wrapped up by 3pm. Still it was a long day. Results were posted at moderate pace (my daughter got 2nd in her Novice Slip Jig so I can't complain) however, we were told not to expect judges comments for 7 - 10 days! Really? Why so long? In that time I could show her teacher the comments and work on making corrections to her SJ so she can get into Prizewinner. (Her SJ is the last dance she needs to be in all Prizewinner). Blankets, chairs and coolers were permitted and that's always a good thing because the gang needed a beer with lunch. There were very, very few vendors which doesn't bother me because I try to spend as little money as possible at a feis but some of my friends complained. I didn't purchase any food so I can't comment on the prices or quality but there was a Starbucks cart in the lobby and I partook of that. So I guess it really wasn't bad - I just expected something different - what I'm not sure.
The hotel was a different story. We stayed at the feis hotel across the street from the venue which was nice. They offered a feis rate of $104 which is great for a Hyatt but they nickled and dimed everything else! You had to use their valet parking at $23 or find a surface lot for $15. We could not take a luggage cart we had to employ the services of the valet if we wanted one and they would not bring the car in the morning so we could get our sleeping bag out and put the luggage in. They insisted that we check our bags and walked me to my car in the deck (which was a block away) to get my sleeping bag. When the bill came in the morning it was for $168! I was told there was a deposit figured into the price and that would be taken off in 2 - 3 days. I'm watching my credit card closely. The pool area was nice but it didn't make up for everything else. If we decide to try the Queen City Feis again you can be sure we won't be staying at the Hyatt.
As far as the feis is concerned I'd give it a B+ the fact that the "vibe" wasn't right could have a lot to do with the fact that I didn't sleep well thanks to my daughter doing somersaults and dancing the jig next to me all night and not the feis itself. So this is the start of a very busy feis season. Next up Akron, Cleveland, Buffalo and Louisville not to mention the Cleveland Peacekeepers' Tattoo, overnight dance camp and my maiden voyage as tour director for the school's bus trip. Hope you all will be laughing with me! Til next tine - Slainte!
