Okay, I had chosen to post the clip of hornpipe yesterday mostly because I knew a friend wanted to see it.
But then when KM's daughter enjoyed watching it so much I thought maybe I should include a couple of more of the videos I took.
Here's Thalia dancing Job of Journeywork:
Upon watching it last night her first comment was that she really, really needed to point her toes. And that's part of what happens at this rehearsal -- the school makes videos (from a centered, elevated vantage point) and shows them to the kids along with the judges' comments -- there were 3 adjudicators sitting at tables right in front of the stage, just as will be at Oireachtas. The judges took notes on everything -- even their impressions of hair and makeup . Then the kids and teachers review all of this to see what they need to work on in the next month.
Here's Annabeth's team dancing High Cauled Cap. After the walk-on (which is part of what they'll be judged on) there's a 30 second pause while the judges complete their notes and then finally give the signal that they can start to dance. I think this is blurred out enough that no one is particularly recognizable -- Annabeth was watching the video and kept mistaking herself for another girl who isn't even on their team, for pete's sake..
As you can see, it's sort of like an elaborate square dance.
Thalia's ceili team disbanded. Now she's a sub on a couple of the older teams. Ceili's are grouped by age -- everyone on Annabeth's team, for example, was less than 10 years old on January 1, 2009, so they are an "Under 10" team. Thalia subs on teams that are Under 14 or older. Those teams dance a different dance, by the way.
3 comments:
Great videos! I have a U11 prelim in the western region, and I love to read your blog. Good luck at Oireachtas! And that's a great idea your school has to do a full rehearsal on stage before the O.
These made the day of a runny nosed, coughing little girl who has watched them over and over. She taught herself to hit replay on my laptop. I do wonder if she'll start asking about Irish Dancing classes for herself. She loves the sound of it all.
Last weekend we were at a local restaurant, Tapps. It's a brewery (thus the name Tapps) but really well known for their fish. On the way home, she said the dinner was great, but she missed seeing the girls who did the "tap-tap" dancing. ;0)
It's really amazing to watch! It's evident that an awful lot of work goes into learning and performing the dances. My guess is that you'd have to love it to do it... because it *is* work.
Wow.
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