The Shoe Shine Contest

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Most all of you know my affinity for well polished dance shoes. I feel so strongly, I have even written a blog post on how I do my daughters shoes, because, you know, I can rock a can of Kiwi.

Well, in the spirit of competition, fun, and to help motivate you guys into putting a little more effort into the shoe shine, and I mean more than using that squeezy tube stuff or spray painting them (and yes, it pains me to say I know someone who did that), I have teamed up with the Irish Dance TShirt Company to create the What The Feis Shoe Shine Contest. read more

2015 24 Days of Irish Dance Business List

Just wanted to post the entire 2015 business list from the 24 Days of Irish Dance Businesses in case you missed one, or as an easy reference when you shop with these fine people again (especially #24, no pressure ;) ).

Hang in There Creations: http://www.Facebook.com/hangintherecreations and http://www.hangintherecreations.com. Used Solo Dresses: https://www.facebook.com/usedsolodresses and https://www.usedsolodresses.com/ Ghillie Quick: https://www.facebook.com/GhillieQuick and http://GhillieQuick.etsy.com Sammie Swan Yoga: https://www.facebook.com/thesoarmethod and

http://www.sammieswanyoga.com/ read more

Cincinnati Feis 2015 PC/OC Review

Be sure to take a look at the previous posts. I am streamlining this one a bit so as not to get to repetitive.

Before I get to the review, I want to give props to the Cincinnati Feis Committee. Not only did they read and comment on last years review, but before the feis this year, when I commented on the What The Feis facebook page, a member of the Cincinnati Feis facebook page commented that they had addressed the concerns from last year. Way to be proactive!

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The 32nd Annual Cincinnati Feis was held on November 15, 2015 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, KY. We have attended this feis a number of time, and this is the first year at the Open Champion level. read more

Where have all the feis reviews gone?

In a recent comment, a Facebook reader mentioned that she liked it better when I was doing more feis reviews and less of the sarcasm and humor (I am paraphrasing). I have to say, I kind of agree, not with the sarcasm and humor part, that comes easy for me, but about the feis reviews.

I have done fewer reviews, mostly because I go to the same feiseanna over and over, and I felt like I was getting repetitive. Plus, they take time, sometimes a lot of time, and I have had less time to dedicate to them. read more

Building an Irish Dance Practice Stage…

…by someone who sits on his butt in front of a computer most days.

I can be handy. I have done handy stuff, but lately I have focused more on easier projects like light fixtures, ceiling fans, adding door locks and dimmer switches, replacing toilets and their parts, putting prefab shelves together, etc… I have done bigger projects, remodeled a kitchen (with help), built an entire wall of shelving in a garage, and some others, but it has been a while. Anyway, I figured this dance floor thing should be a no brainer. I was mostly right, but kinda wrong. read more

An open letter to Irish dancers, from a dance dad…

My latest post for my Feis Dad gig out on Antonio Pacelli.

A recent situation between my dancer and I made me realize a few things, and I am probably not the only one that feels this way, so I wanted to share. If you can get your dancer to read it (more power to you), maybe they will realize we aren’t that bad after all ;)

You can find it at https://www.antoniopacelli.com/community/article/an-open-letter-to-irish-dancers

American Pride Feis 2015 PC/OC Review

4-231x300Feis Info

The 3rd Annual American Pride Feis was held Saturday, September 12th, 2015, at the Franklin Field House in Franklin, Tennessee. This review covers some of the general info, but is slated more for the PC/OC levels since that is where we spent most of our time.

Venue

Afraid I didn’t make it to this feis last year when it was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort Convention Center, but the grumbling in the crowd indicated to me that the Franklin Field House was not quite on the same par as the Gaylord. read more

Glass City Inaugural Feis Review 2015

final.gcf2015Feis Info

The Inaugural Glass City Feis was held Sunday July 26th at the Seagate Center in Toledo OH. It was held back to back with the Great Lakes Feis. This review is for grade comps only.

Venue

It was a typical convention center feis. Parking wasn’t bad (especially because it was Sunday); stages were a bit bouncing, but were mopped several times; the room for camping was REALLY SMALL and the traffic flow within the hall was cramped.

Score: 7

Judges

The judges were plentiful and rotated. My OPW dancer was seen by three judges in five dances. read more

Is my dancer really learning life lessons from Irish dance?

llI am not actually sure if I am learning life lessons by watching TGC as she grows during dance, or if she is learning them, or both. For my next Antonio Pacelli post, I collected the lessons I think we are taking away from this Irish dance madness.

If you have a minute, give it a read and see if you agree, or have more to add: https://www.antoniopacelli.com/community/article/is-my-dancer-really-learning-life-lessons-from-irish-dance