O'Rourke Feis Recap

It's been well over a month since the O'Rourke Feis, but unfortunately life (job, classes, business trips, etc.) kind of got in the way of writing, so here we are.

In terms of the feis itself, I enjoyed it. They had a really interesting setup for three of the stages. In the auditorium at SUNY Purchase's performing arts center (where the feis was held), they divided the stage into three smaller (although still pretty decent-sized) dance stages, using the same musician for all three stages. As weird as it sounds describing it, it actually worked really well. It was definitely a unique set-up, but I think it helped with efficiency, running multiple competitions at the same time. At least this way you don't have to worry about the next stage's music distracting you!

There was a bit of a bottleneck getting in and out of the auditorium, but I'm not sure if that's entirely the fault of the feis organization or the architect of the building. Granted, the architect probably had not been planning on the place hosting hordes of teen and pre-teen girls for a competition like this.

As for my competitions: well, quite frankly I didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped. While I came in third place for my reel and slip jig, there were ties in those competitions so third place was last place. To be fair, I totally screwed up my first and second reel steps on the right foot. I thought my slip jig was ok, but getting my notes back on it ("watch upper body") made me think, "Oh yeah, I do jerk around my upper body, that's totally something I need to work on." I was pleasantly surprised coming in first in my light jig, since I have had issues with that one since I was a kid (even now I can hear my old teacher, Ann, yelling at me to keep my legs together) and nowadays I always feel like my knees are going to give out on me whenever I do it. Hooray for small victories!

I did significantly better with my hardshoe dances, coming in second place in both my (fast) treble jig and hornpipe. I was a bit shocked with the hornpipe, seeing as how I was competing in the advanced category with women doing much more complex steps, but I guess nailing simple steps is better than doing more complex steps not perfectly. I'm happy for my next feis to be moving onto the slow treble jig and working on more complex steps, and working at them until I can nail them perfectly as well.

Beyond me, though, the rest of the adult dancers from my school did great, especially my classmate Caitlin who rocked every single dance (firsts across the board for her!), and two others who placed in the championship round. Caitlin and I both wished we had signed up for the championship, and I know I will definitely be doing it next year.

So overall, am I a bit disappointed in my results (and really, myself)? Yes, absolutely. Does this make me motivated to work harder and do better next time? Definitely. I'm already looking forward to my next feis (Big Apple), which I will be attempting to prepare for in the midst of a million St. Patrick's Day shows (speaking hyperbolically).