Feis

Yesterday was a Feis day.  I say it like this because it is quite the ordeal!  (mostly in a good way...)  Ella couldn't get to sleep she was so excited.  We woke early to get breakfasted, hair done (all the dancers in her school are required to wear it the same way) and up there to have her dancing by 8am.  We didn't finish until almost 2.  Phew!  Ella LOVES these things.  And she was especially excited because this is her first feis with the team dress. 

For those of you who don't know:  you pronouce Feis "Fesh".  It is a chance to show your dances.  And a chance to move up in "categories" toward becoming a championship dancer.  I have no idea if it'll go that far with Ella but for now she really loves it.  She likes the competition and hanging out with her friends backstage.  For her it's all fun.  And it's fun for us to watch because we really have no clue (as opposed to their music lessons where we probably know too much).

Ella danced: 

In Ghillies (soft shoes):

Reel

Slip Jig

Single Jig

Light Jig--she placed 5th

Slip Jig Special

In hard shoes:

Treble Jig

Hornpipe--she placed 2nd

St. Patrick's Day--she placed 3rd

Slip Jig Special

With two other dancers--they dance patterns:

Three-Hand Reel--her team placed 3rd

We're not really supposed to take photos---according to the national rule book, I think----hence the fuzziness.

She is on the left.  There is a judge way out in front (out of the shot) and tape on the floor that they're not supposed to go over.  There is a musician playing and 4 floors of dancers all in a row---see, she's on floor C for this one---just to the left is floor B and to the right floor D.  In other words----lots of chaos!  They go out usually two at a time and dance.  Which means they need to be aware of the other dancer on the floor so they don't crash into each other. There is no break between dancers---meaning that they need to start their dance while the previous dancers are finishing, so timing is quite important.  All the steps are meticulously choreographed and practiced at class every week.  Dancers from different schools dance different steps.  It takes a lot of concentration.

And then there's the ordeal of sitting in the bleachers for over 5 hours.  Ahh, the boys did great.  We had playmobil and cars set up.  Books.  And treats from the concession stand (aka:  junk).

We started getting loopy after awhile