Updates from today

Updates:

Class was good. Hornpipe remains solid. Reel is still good, when I remember what I am doing. Worked some more on the slip jig, but it continues to elude me. Treble Jig wasn't even touched so I don't want to think how rusty THAT is. On the social end, one little munchkin seemed more then a touch critical because I still do the "easy" light jig steps and the one little boy asked me for help tying his reel shoes. I was just glad they are starting to talk to me.

After class was better. Got a chance to catch up with TC, re: my upcoming competitions. She doesn't have any preference on what new hard shoes I get, as long as they help, rather then impede my dancing.As far as dresses go - there aren't any school rentals that would even remotely fit on me, so she gave me the go-ahead to just sew up something on my own. Kind of excited about that. I think she recommended black, but since she would rather see me in tights over poodle socks, I am going to see if she minds if I make it in school colours.  Got it sketched up and everything. YEAH! Can't wait.

Decided to play with my wig tonight, trying to figure out how to make it look better. I've been looking at old pictures and it clearly looks like it was put on by a beginer - well, cause it was. I've suspected for a while that it was because I've been putting it to far forward on my head. The problem with trying to fix that is that the length of my hair makes creating an anchor spot difficult. It either is too far forward or to far back. So tonight I experimented with pulling the hair back into the "too far" position, making sure it's tight, and then putting bobby pins in a nice middle spot, and then hooked the wig's comb into the bobby pins. I also made sure to keep some of my bangs out, and kept them pinned to the side, in kind of an Irish Dance emo-swoop kind of way, so I'm not all forehead and then *POOF* EXPLOSION OF CURLS!

This . .. .

Was the end result. Still needs a bit more work, mainly just to make sure it won't go flying off the top of my head whilst in motion. But yeah, I think it is looking better. It has also inspired my newest "Adult Irish Dance win". . .

Cause sometimes, I feel like it looks like these little girl's necks are going to buckle under the weight of the hair. And it's the same wig that looks reasonable on a teen/adult dancer, but put it on a  10 year old, and they might as well be a bobble head. If a child tried wearing my wig, even though it's shorter, and not terribly full, I am not even sure how it would stay on her head. And sometimes, after wearing it a while, even I begin to feel like my head is being consumed by a small, ravenous animal that has been cunningly strapped to my head with combs and bobby pins.


So anyway, projects for this week include trying to score some fabric, trim some of the frizzies off my scalp-poodle, drill on my turn out and keeping on my toes and in general, not panicing about the double header of doom feis weekend being a little less then 2 months away, and attempting to be proactive instead.

Until next time,

~Meara

On surviving Saint Patrick's Month, my first wig, a class with the youngsters, and the 17 day countdown to my first Feis

So . . . been a while since I posted here. Alot has happened, both in dance and the reality I am forced to live in whilst not obsessing over all things dance related.

The month of March flew by faster then it had any right too. It's been said that, for an Irish dancer, the month of March is like trial by fire, and that you can't truely boast about being a dancer until you've survived the multiple performance, etc. Well I did. Not saying I was any good, but I survived. Here is the break down;
- Mall Food Court Performance - Skipping over the fun highway conversations en route, and circling the parking garage for 20 minutes, the performance itself was . . . interesting. I learned alot. Like I need to pin my skirt to my shorts or else it rides way up. Also, that I need to wear shorts, cause otherwise it looks like my butt is eating my leotard, but that might just be TMI. Needless to say, it is gloriously unfair. I'm sure the 8 year olds don't have these problems. The dancing itself was ok. A few basic flubs I mostly managed to cover. There was of course that one though, sliding on the slick floor and nearly wiping the entire four hand out. But hey, our audience was mall employees, disinterested lawyers and this one flock of Indian business men who seemed befuddled by our shenanigans, so really, it was ok.

-Capital Parade and Pub Show - first of all, let me just take a moment to say, whenever I am worried about getting lost or not being able to find parking, remind me to temper that with a fear of being the only person from my group there. Girls from one of the other schools kept giving me the stank eye, like I didn't belong there. Can we say awkwaaard . . .  Secondly, if it's warm and sunny and still in the little valley of apartment buildings I  live in, it most likely is sunny, warmish but with an arctic breeze running through the streets of the capital. Dance shorts and leotard with no coat is not considered ok for warmth. Despite this all, it was strangely fun. Pub show was a blast. Crowded, loud and dancing down aisles and trying not to kick beers off tables. Just the way I've always imagined dancing. Indulged in what I considered a well deserved drink with some classmates after we were done dancing. Thats one of the perks of being an adult dancer. :D After that was the long lonely haul home.

The next week there was a retirement home performance. The highlights of which were completely forgetting my second slip jig AND second reel step, actually interacting with people I don't know, and the gentleman falling asleep in his front row seat. The last performance of the month going out with a snore instead of a bang.

Next in this tale, dear readers, was yet another installation in the should I/shouldn't I in the wig saga. There was a wig for sale. It was the right colour. It was the right price. It was used (which oddly enough was something I wanted, go figure). And even though it was a full wig, it wasn't one of those terribly popular styles that looks like a poodle died on your head, or, even worse, looks like it was styled by Fran Drescher!  So, after looking at my perfect set of soft spike curlers with longing (but knowing in my heart that my hair is just not long enough yet to curl), I sent the check. I am not going to say that I am in love. I still exponentially LOVE the look of real curls. But in the end, having experimented with both sides, I have to say the benefits of wigging it are lovely. And even though I used to hate how much wig curls bounced, I now love wearing my wig and skipping up and down the hallway so I can feel it swish and bounce. Go figure.

This month, I am making up four classes I've missed over the winter. This means taking a class with the wee ones. Luckily there was a gangly teen boy so I wasn't the tallest person in the class. That actually means alot. It was amazing though. Some advice one of you, my lovely readers, gave me was put into action. When kids dance, they just do it. They don't over think it, and just so I didn't get run over, I had to do the same. Just shut the brain up and move it. There weren't five million water breaks. There wasn't as much dying for breath. There was just dance. It was kind of priceless. I'll be doing a second class again this week and I'm strangely looking forward to it. It was like their energy was contagious. I have since been trying to carry that mentally into my adult class, and it's been going pretty well. But I'm doing another make up class this week, so hopefully that will help too.

And now, having survived parking lot escapades, road trips and freezing breezes,  forgotten steps and fake curls, I am facing the biggest, scariest challenge yet. My first feis. We're at about the 2 week mark, and I don't feel nearly ready, but more on that later .. .

Trying to sum this all up barely does justice to the barely contained chaos it felt like while getting through it. Everyday I do something dance related the question breifly crosses my mind - 'what am I getting into here'. In a bad economy, I decide to pick up an incredibly expensive hobby. A girl who spent her entire life up to her early twenties not allowed to do more then five minutes of cardo at a time is now spending 1.5 hours at a time pushing every limit physically. I, every day, realize that I can't recapture my youth. I look at the kids at my school and I envy them the friendships and team spirit they are building. I didn't get to belong to anything at their age. While I can feel the achievement and fraternity of dance, its not going to be what they feel, and that has its bittersweet moments. But here's the thing, when I get to honestly say to people "I am an irish dancer", peace washes over me. When I am tapping a treble jig under my desk at work and the rhythm is coming out just right. . . .  Dancing hurts, physically. Muscles ache, knees click, ankles roll, shins are kicked. That's the cross every adult dancer has to bear. But, for me at least, it hurts my spirit not to dance. And that wins against every challenge

Sorry for the ramble. To much to say, and too little time. Til later, people,
~Slan

Curls

So, I've stated this many times, but let me put it out there in written word, on the internet - I hate wigs.

I will grant you, I've seen some nicer ones and that some people look ok in them, but for the most part I regard them as one of the worst things to ever hit the irish dance scene. I won't argue the "they don't look natural" case, cause even though they don't, neither does hair that has been curled and has so much product in it that the Ozone is thinking of a nice vacation to mars. I will venture to say, cosmetically altered hair does look more legit then a wig that is so shiney (since it's made out of nylon) that if the sun hits it the wrong way it could blind the audience. My main argument is that they are ugly. Sorry, wig-fans. I think the things are atrocious. On my more maliced filled days, I can come up with all sorts of crazy analogies for what they look for, but such pontificating would be moot.I just don't like them. Just my opinon. Whatev.

But, as an adult dancer, I don't have a parent who will gladly sit for two hours and put my hair in soft spikes. And while I trust The Boy with my life, I don't know if I trust him with my hair. A wig would be the most common solution, but y'know me - can't do things the easy way.

My solution; A spiral perm.

It worked really well. When they were done rinsing me and my hair dried, I looked like I was ready to go do a slip jig. My hair couldn't get more poodle like and curly. Even after a few weeks and it started to relax some, all I need to do was scrunch up my hair with some Curls-Up gel, and voila! I didn't even mind having feis head on a daily basis. I've always longed for ringlets, despite my hair being like corn-silk - limp and straighter then straight. Having body in my hair actually worked for a daily kind of life.

But now, two months later, my perm is almost at it's end. I can actually brush my hair again. And I'm starting to realize - I kinda miss my straight hair. The Boy has said that he misses my straight hair. So, I'm honestly thinking of not re-perming. At least not for now.

But now is the early start of Feis season. Saint Paddy's is right around the corner. NOW is when I need the curls. So, I'm back to square 1. I prefer the look of curled hair, but I don't have the resources to get it curled every time I perform or compete.

So I guess my final question is, to wig or not to wig.