Just read this and see if you agree. A musician’s view on the state of Irish dance… http://ryandunssj.blogspot.com/2012/02/has-irish-dancing-lost-its-luster.html
Awkward…..
So this morning after church, we went to a local Mom and Pop place for breakfast. As we sat waiting for our food, I recognized one of the gentlemen at the front door of the restaurant.
That is a feis dad, I thought to myself. The GC thought she recognized him too. We are at a small place in the middle of nowhere, no Irish Dance schools for literally miles, and yet, there are other dance parents a few tables away.
So, after I ate, I stopped by their table to say hi. The man had reconized me also so we made quick small talk. ‘What school’ I asked, and here comes the awkward part…
So far, so good and sideways smiles…
Well, we have had two classes at the new school and I am very impressed with things so far. The GC likes it and is learning new things already. They seem very organized and, as we say in the Navy, ‘hit the deckplates running.’ On the second night of class, the teacher gave us a school decal window sticker for the car… I know, you are saying, so what’s the big deal? We were with the other school for four years, never had the opportunity to buy, never mind have given to us, any logo gear for the school. I offered to make the old school a website and they said no, the new school has one already, and did I tell you they have only been open for about 2 weeks? This is not a slam, at least not intentionally, on the old school, just a positive endorsement for the new. We have only had 2 classes.
A Feis Mom, a can of worms and me….
For those of you who read Confeissions of a feis Mom, a recent post referred to a feis Mom in southern Ohio who was facing a can of worms. Truth be told, I am that Mom, except I am not a Mom, or a woman for that matter, and the author was trying to protect my anonymity in a time of decision.
We were debating about changing dance schools, and this past weekend, we took the plunge. We heard there was a new school opening in our area, an opportunity that had never presented itself, and we were intrigued. I won’t say we were disappointed with the school we were attending, and no, I will not name names, at least not intentionally, but there were things that my OCD side had less patience for, lets just put it that way.
Akron Feis Review
OK, short and sweet, this was the second year I attended the Akron Feis and it is the second year I didn’t like it.
Lets lay it out, the performances are in a barn, unless you are champion level, then you get the AC room. Sure, its a cement floor big barn, but its a barn. It was hot, and a bit smelly and I think it wore on the dancers. On the positive, the camping was adequate.
Concessions – I have to give them a thumbs up. Prices were good and the people were friendly. If there is any downside, it is that it was fair food, but who doesn’t like fair food?
An idea… buying and selling solo dresses
I am working on an idea designed to help when buying and selling solo dresses.
I know, I know, there are A LOT of dress selling sites, but I have not found anything where a buyer could list what they are looking for so that a seller search easily and then could contact the buyer.
If such a site existed, would you, as a buyer post what you are looking for, OR, as a seller, appreciate the fact that they could search a wish list to hopefully find a buyer faster? Oh, and did I mention listing and searching would be FREE.
Buckeye Feis Review
I decided that reviewing the most recent feis I attended may be good subject matter for this site. I planned on covering what I thought about the Buckeye Feis this past weekend, including the food, parking, dresses, etc…. but it appears that @IrishDanceMom02 beat me too it. For a great review of the 3rd Annual Buckeye Feis, see her blog post.
There were a few things I was interested in that @IrishDanceMom02 didn’t mention that I thought I would briefly cover. First, the judging. The judges changed frequently which is good. If a judge stays on one stage too long it can harm (or help) a dancers chances for scoring well if the judge happens to have particular style they look for. I know, I have seen it happen. I liked the fact that for the six dances the girl child did, there were 3 different judges, giving all the dancers more even odds.
I need your opinion….
Seems like there are A LOT of Irish Dance websites out there, so am I spinning my wheels, or would that be reels? :)
This could really go lots of ways, my first thought would be a resource for parents, maybe describe the dances, the history, how feis’ work etc….
I also thought a community might be nice, a place for schools to have forums on feis topics, a member section where school members could interact with other schools, and maybe even give an area for parents to blog.
Or maybe I could be the directory for all things Irish Dance and instead, group links to all the other good info that is already out there into a usable searchable format, kind of like the Google of Irish Dance… OK, I know that Google already is that but it might just work anyway.
About What The Feis
As of right now, March 13th, 2011, What The Feis (WTF for you people in the know) is just a concept. My original idea was to have it be a guide for new Feis Parents but my blue-sky idea is having it be the ultimate reference for everything Irish Dance.
In addition to a history lesson, a reference, a glossary, a list of schools, a schedule and a community, my goal is to have links, discussions, classifieds, member sections etc… kind of like a Feis Facebook Plus.
Here is where you come in. To make this work, I need help from people who know things about Irish Dance. I am getting there but as a Feis Dad I am way behind the power curve. So, if you want to help, contact me at any of the below:
Looking For What The Feis TShirts?
