One Conclusion Means Anouther Beginning

I’m comparing my dance journey to books...

…tomorrow I start the final chapter of a wonderful debut novel.

Tuesday I begin the six month wait for the much anticipated, even better sequel. :)

So many things to be proud of and excited for!

This is what I wrote on my Tumblr yesterday as my dance journey is changing in wonderful and exciting ways! I had the Hartford Feis, I was deciding when to transfer to learn new steps for camp and to be potentially feising in December instead of January. Well, prepare yourself for a really great (and most likely long) post about my last week as an "adult" dancer.

After a lot of thought, I decided that if I was going to spend what I'm spending on Camp Rince Ceol that it would make more sense for me to have three weeks to work on new steps instead of one or two. It would be bittersweet to leave behind the place that I found my passion, but this is my journey and the only way I will get to the Oireachtas, or Worlds or anywhere I want to go, is to take a leap of faith. So I emailed my new TC and told her to mail out my transfer forms on June 8th. That is tomorrow because I was already registered for the Hartford Feis (Which was today, more on that later) I finished the week with old TC and wrote him a very nice email explaining why I wasn't coming back. I have not heard anything back yet, but we'll see. I do feel bad that I didn't say goodbye to any of the girls, especially the one girl that always competes at the same feisanna that I attend, but I figured it would be that much more difficult. I am assuring myself that it will be worth it in the long run.

So now that it's official (well it will be by Tuesday at least) I will be a student at Scoil Rince Luimni as an advanced beginner. We discussed that technique is one of the most important things at my new TC's school so she wants to teach me the basics and make sure they are flawless before she starts Novice work with me. She also assured me that I will be learning Novice steps in no time. Tuesday at 5 the fun starts. Look for a post!

Okay okay, now for the fun part! You all know that I was a bit let down with how The McGough Feis went last weekend. Because of that, and the fact that this was going to be my last feis until least December, I went into today with low expectations. I was going to have fun, I was going to smile and act confident. If nothing else I was going to spend a day doing something I love. If it turned out better than that, great, but If I had another day where I did mediocre, I was starting fresh with a new school and new steps the following Tuesday. It also helped that it rained a lot this week and I didn't get outside to practice because while I think that practicing has really helped me with my confidence and certain technique things, it was killing my legs so I was much less sore today than I was at McGough. 

I tried a few things differently this time. Firstly, I didn't wear my dress. It was an outdoor feis and it ended up being warm (I have a sunburned face) I wore a leotard and skater skirt and was dressed far more similarly to what the other adult dancers were wearing. It also worked out because one of my judges was the same as I had the week before ( I think I've had him 3 out of 5 competitions now and I'm starting to think I should like introduce myself hahah NOT) and I was concerned he'd be like "Oh it's that St. Patrick's Day girl. *Proceeds to put me in last for every dance* I know the odds of that happening are really slim, but I wanted to experiment just in case. The second little change I did was wear ankle socks under my tights and it helped prevent blisters! The third and final thing was that I got a pedicure yesterday. HAHA. It was relaxing. Maybe a good luck charm? Keep reading, you'll see.

It was really ironic they had the adults dancing on the stage with the Pre-Beginners. So in between our dances we got to watch little babes do super adorable light jigs and reels. I also talked to all the ladies I was dancing with (or I knew them in the case of Kasey) so it's was far less stressful. We only danced two at a time. I tried to be as energetic as I could be without sacrificing technique and I felt confident. There was a timing issue (because there is always a timing issue it seems), BUT IT WASN'T HORNPIPE FOR A CHANGE! I actually nailed my hornpipe this feis, like I stamped the ground so hard at end because I was so happy that Man-judge-who-i-always-get-but-was-just-watching-while-other-judge-actually-judged gave me an approving nod. Alas, it was the slip jig that gave me problems. The musician played this really cool elaborate slip jig, but for the life of me I could not find the beat. The girl I danced with and I missed our entrance and then I was still off so I kind of shuffled around until I finally found the beat and did my second step. Oh well. I hated that blasted slip jig step and I don't know if I ever did it properly. Oh well. New slip jig is in my future.

By the time I packed up and put my sneakers back on they only had light jig posted. I came in second. I was pleased by this, and when I got my marks I found out I was 1 point away from first place. Then we waited for a while so I decided to go to the bathroom. In the time that I was gone, they put up the results for reel. The other girl from my old school (oh wow that's weird!) who competes screams: "KAY YOU CAME IN FIRST!" I'm telling you I didn't believe her. I had to actually walk to the results board and see my number in first before I started freaking out. Me. First place. In reel. I was not dancing by myself. I got a teeny bit emotional I'm not going to lie. After how I felt last week, plus how much I love reel. What a reward! 

I was 174!

A few minutes later they put up the results for slip jig. Not surprisingly I came in third as there were only three of us in that dance. However, I was once again surprised when they wrote me down for SECOND in both treble jig and hornpipe! I'm sorry? Aren't I the girl who SUCKS at hard shoe? The girl that came in first did slow tempos for her dances and she was crazy good, hit every click, etc. But the sheer fact that I was not that far behind her, blows my mind. Apparently I need to have low expectations every feis!

Okay, I'm so exhausted I can no longer make logical sentences so...what a way to go out and I AM SO EXCITED for what is to come! 

To new and exciting ventures,

Kay