A whole new world...sort of

I love this quote by Martha Graham, "Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire.  Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired."  I especially like the last sentence.  I can't remember exactly, but I believe my first competition was when I was six or seven years old.  It was an ice-skating competition.  Since that time, I competed pretty regularly in ice-skating and dance competitions until I was probably 15 years old.  After that, I stepped out of the competitive arena and enjoyed performing without receiving a judge's marks.  Until yesterday, that is.  Yes, I stepped back into the world of competitive dance last night to compete in my first Irish Feisanna, or Feis (pronounced "fesh").  Despite my nerves, after a 10 year vacation from this kind of stuff, it was really fun.  I was horrified when I learned what I would have to wear though.  I didn't want to spend lots of money on this competition since I decided to do it at the last minute (the VERY last minute! I learned my final dance on Wednesday night that I had to compete in on Friday.  Smart.), so I wore a plain white button-up shirt, a black skirt, and black tights along with my ghillies.  So what's the problem?  I felt like a cheerleader!  The skirt was much shorter than the mission-length standard for skirts that I've become accustomed to over the last three years.  Ha!  It's funny how much this affected me, and even though it wasn't THAT short, I still felt scandalous.  This is why no personal photos are being posted.  Haha!  I am, however, including some pics below of some irish solo dresses to give you a frame of reference for the costume length requirements.  Apparently, the judges feel like they need to be able to see your entire knee and then some, to make sure that they are always crossed and turned out.  Right.  On this note, I much prefer wearing a Scottish kilt.  Yeah, it flips up a bit while I dance, but still, I fancy the pretty plaid material that extends all the way to my knee.  Another reason I didn't go for the fancy schmancy irish costume is that they cost a fortune.  It is a serious investment to buy a solo competition dress.  The average figure for a dress like the ones seen below is $1,300 - $1,500.  And lastly, I just have to say, they are the funniest looking costumes I've ever seen.

Overall, it was a really good experience.  I proved to myself that I can still pull off dance competitions and do pretty well.  It was a good feeling to know that after starting classes in April, I pulled off a competition in June.  With every style of dance, I always manage to pick a favorite.  I competed in the reel, light jig, slip jig, and single jig categories.  My favorite was definitely the light jig.  I don't have any videos or pics to post of the actual competition from Friday night, but the following pictures will hopefully introduce you to the wonderful world of Irish dance competitions...

Do you see what I mean when I say the skirts are a wee bit short?!?!?  Luckily, all the adult competitors get to wear black tights instead of the funny socks.

Irish hard shoes....SO MUCH FUN!!!  You feel really funny wearing them though, because your heel is raised, as well as your toes.  You basically walk on the balls of your feet.

These are random models - I got this picture from an Irish website, but it gives you a taste of what Irish dancers look like at these feis competitions - lots of crazy color combinations, sequins, tiaras, and ridiculously tights curls (they're wigs, in case you couldn't tell).

As funny as most of the costumes look, some of the celtic designs are cool...

A girl from the Crawford School competed in this dress, which is why I included it in this post.  It's one official representation of what Friday night looked like.