First (two!) competition(s) back: I did fine. I'm pleased with my results--got dead last in my trad set on Saturday but there were some, er, extenuating circumstances that makes me okay with that (i.e., the musician not knowing my dance and having to play it off an iPod at the wrong speed. Yikes). Sunday I placed 2nd, which made me feel much more confident. I also won my light jig on Saturday--it seems Russell Beaton just luuuhs my dancing, whether it's 2003 or 2013. I got great comments from the adjudicator who judged my single jig on Sunday; I was the only one in the competition so I'm going to count that as a win. :D
I'm really glad I was able to try out my dance on stage before the O's, because there was definitely some rust I needed to shake off around competing in general. I know Jockey well enough that I can start to have fun with it. I'm going to channel that nervous energy into a great dance. I saw the Western Region gave out sashes and crystal for their traditional set competition--I'm hoping the Southern Region has made similar purchases.
I'm ready for the regionals but I'm not putting as much pressure on myself now. I want to do well, mostly for my teammates and my school and teachers, but the big changes start after Oireachtas. I'm going to be learning new material that will take me all the way to Champs (fingers crossed) and I'm going to be back with a full slate of dances in February.
Next stop, New Orleans!
'sup ATL?
holycrapIcompeteonSaturday
...and counting to my return to competition. Eeep! I feel like I'm perpetually playing catch-up because there's still so much to work on, but I suppose if you feel like you're ever done perfecting your technique in Irish dancing, you're doing it wrong.
Jumper has been borrowed. I'll look like I'm at the height of Irish dance fashion if it was 1994, but I don't caaare! Makeup and some sparkly socks will help modernize me, I think. (Oh, Irish dance. Only you.)
Guess who was the six week winner at boot camp and is $50 richer?! Ten pounds and ten inches, baby. Let's see if I can do it again before the new year.
Ohhh my glutes. We did a lot of squats and lunges at boot camp on Saturday and I am still feeling it!
Last but not least, I'm still convinced the champ class is the best group of girls our school has ever had. Full stop, the end.
Okay, now that I'm not hurting so bad from the feis (after champs on Saturday I sat down and literally didn't know what to do because I was so used to people asking me for things and keeping the feis moving), I can talk about some of the positive things that happened. Namely, my dance family.
I've heard that phase before about a thousand times--"dance family"--but haven't really felt it, or understood what it meant, until recently. I always got along with people at the school, and liked them a lot, but I never felt like I really "belonged", and didn't really feel like I had really found my place yet. That's completely changed over the past few months.
Being feis chair and lead on the fundraiser is part of it; I can actually help in ways I couldn't as a teen. Being feis chauffeur is part of it; I love being back on the feis circuit even if I haven't officially returned to competition (though that changes in less than two weeks, eep). I absolutely love all the girls in the championship class right now; they're awesome people and it's been fun getting to know them better. Assistant teaching is part of it too. It's a little weird, still being in this mentor-student relationship, but closer to peers.
It all kind of culminated on Saturday at the feis. I just felt so proud, seeing our girls up on the podium, two of them at the top of the box for their prelims. I held one mother's hand during the results and cried with her when her daughter got first. I was so excited when another dancer finally placed in Prelims, which was her goal before the Oireachtas. The whole school had a really good day, and I was so proud to be part of such an amazing organization. We're doing it. We're doing what we always wanted to do.
So then there's the traditional set competition. It may not mean much, but it's my end goal this year, and I really want to win this. Not for myself, but for us. For all the people who doubted us because we're not a huge school that workshops with big-name teachers. For all the hours my teachers have put in to give us their expertise. For my classmates, who have improved and sweated and worked their butts off to win through sheer will. For my dance family, who have supported me and were excited for me when I said I wanted to come back, even though I wasn't in a place where that even seemed feasible yet.
I'm having a hard time putting it into words, but I just want to say that I'm so incredibly thankful for the people who are around me, and that it inspires me to do better, because I want to make them proud too. I've never wanted success for myself so badly for other people, but I know what that feels like now. And it's a great feeling, and I'm going to hold tightly onto it and let it fuel me for the next 24 days.
So I co-chaired a feis over the weekend. That was a thing. Feeling like I should feel more relieved now that the feis is over, but still on edge because Oireachtas is just around the corner, and Atlanta is now less than 2 weeks away.
I'm 95% sure I have a costume to borrow; just ordered kickpants for it. After the new year, I'll order my own team dress. Preliminary, for-real return-to-competition with ALL THE DANCES date is February 2.
Tomorrow I'll find out my final measurements / weight for this session. Hoping I win that 50 bucks because goldarnit I've earned it. Shooting for another 10 pounds down before the new year.
Argh. I feel like my brain melted out my ears this weekend. The words, I haven't any. At least my back has (partially) recovered from standing all day on Saturday.
