thepiper76 reblogged
thepiper76 reblogged
What To Expect Day Of
This is a little walk through of my experience and what will happen when you go to take the exam. Remember, the specifics of each exam will be listed in other posts, I'll link that here.
The first time you take the exams, you might not know what to expect. I'll start with what it will be like for your first few exams and then get a little more specific for some of the later exams.
The process is far less formal than a feis. You should still be polite and professional, but you can talk with your examiner and others there.
Make sure you arrive early so you can warm yourself up (especially for later exams). Bring your shoes and a water bottle. If you are on any exam other than the first, bring your previous exam certificates AND marking sheets!
When it's time to go in, you'll walk into the room and they'll usually provide a place for you to sit. I find they generally go in alphabetical order? (Aka I've had to go first every single time xD.)
They'll likely talk to you about what their general plan of action is. Each examiner will have their own way they want to do things and I have done it multiple ways. But each dancer will dance one at a time.
Once I had an examiner do all the light shoes from all the exams, then all the hard shoes, then all the sets, then the Céilí's. Another time, we did each exam individually. Again, it will just depend on your examiner. They will give you the game plan, and don't be scared to ask for clarification!
Céilí: When you start having the Céilí included in your exams, it will be orally examed. I'll make a more in-depth post, but make sure you know the exact names of the movements in order and understand the fundamentals of how it moves. Typically the examiner will go down the line asking various questions about how to set up the dance, the order of the movements, and how to execute the movements. I've never had to dance any of them at an exam, but knowing how to dance it personally helps me memorize them better.
Modern (Non-Traditional) Sets: In total, you will have to know eleven separate sets, but you will only end up dancing 8. Truth be told, I did move around the rules a tiny bit, by using the same choreography with different music, but only for two dances in the last exam, which I didn't even end up dancing. For the TCRG, you will have to know and dance 9 set dances. Pro-tip: I noticed with my examiners and my friend noticed the same thing regarding hers for Grade 11 and 12. That is, that they picked the longest set dances we offered. If you're able, I would try to get the longest sets you know out of the way early on, but break it up in a way that makes sense for you! GRADE 11 & 12 ONLY: Since you submit a list of five sets for them to choose from, they will let you know at the beginning which dances you will do, and ask what speed you will require.
At the end, they will inform you whether you take home your certificate that day or not. The only time I did not take it home the same day was for Grade 11 & 12, as they have to go over your results and do some mailing around.
Other quick notes: If you are taking an exam outside of your usual region, make sure the examiner knows!!!
Is anyone left on Irish dance tumblr
thepiper76 reblogged
@clrg
From now on, everyone going to an American Feis has to recite the Gettysburg Address to get their competitor number.
thepiper76 reblogged
behindthezenes-deactivated20210
Anonymous asked:
Hi! Congrats on dancing at Worlds, that's such an amazing accomplishment! I've read in your previous posts that you started doing wind sprints to help with your stamina and I was wondering how you go about doing that because I would like to start to help my stamina. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much! The trick with running is to make sure you’re covering two important parts: fast and slow twitch movements. So while sprints are important, also keep in mind that distance running is just as important. I rotate between the two, as well as combine them in intervals. When I first started sprinting, I began with a minimum number of laps. When you start at that number, you must always do the same number or more in the future. The rule is to NEVER do less - otherwise you won’t progress if you quit before hitting the minimum you did last time. I would start at the bend of the track and sprint as fast as I could until I reached the ½ or ¾ mark. I stayed at the ½ way mark when my legs were fatigued and pushed to the ¾ mark when I wanted to challenge myself. Then walk back to your starting point. If my legs need to stay warm between the laps, I will usually skip rope for about a minute before starting my next lap.On my off season, I currently start at 7 laps. When I first began integrating sprints, I started at 4 laps and worked my way up. As I train for a major, that number will usually increase by one lap as each week passes. The most important thing is that you want your body to learn how to do burst of power and movement without experiencing that mental wall of thinking “I’m too tired.” :)Hope this helps! Sorry that it took so long to respond, but it’s been busy balancing training, running, dancing and working. haha Best of luck!
Hey y'all! To expand on to this, sprints may or may not work for you. I ran cross country in high school and it did not help one iota, the only thing that I found to help ME was plyometrics! I know people who benefit from running, or yoga, or swimming, etc. I’m not convinced that it’s all about the type of cross training you do so much as how your BODY (& mind) responds to it.
HOWEVER, I do agree with @behindthezenes in that your mind is 1,000,000 times more powerful than you will ever realize!!!! The major take away from this post is not that you must DO more than everyone else, but rather the INTENSITY at which you do your dancing and cross training must gradually increase over time.
Hope that makes sense! 😋
@ashleighhopkins08 So which plyometrics do you enjoy doing? Are there some easy to do at home without special equipment?
@theshinybuckles mainly just squat jumps, switch lunges, burpess (blehhh), etc. I personally like to follow the @fitformuladance plyo workouts, I have been doing them for years now and they have always worked for me. Or you can just google plyometric workouts for beginners or anything similar. The most important thing is to get your heart rate up to about where it is during a full dance and maintain for 1-2 minutes. consistently doing that will automatically improve your fitness. I have an apple watch (my sister worked at apple, thankfully) which really helps me keep track of my heart rate/calories burned to keep my training as consistent as possible. (I am not a doctor or workout specialist, this is just works for me)
Also of special note, I JUST FIGURED THIS ALL OUT. I have been dancing for 17 years now and it has never made any sense to me nor could I figure out what more I could do. Give it time and be willing to try new things, you never know what will or will not work for you!
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behindthezenes-deactivated20210
Anonymous asked:
When going to the gym what are some good things to do to help dance stamina?
The best way to increase your stamina is to run through your dances as many times as possible until failure. I would recommend doing this as much as possible during your training in the studio. If your teacher has the music playing and no one is running through their steps, jump in and take advantage of the time and critiques.
I use my workouts in the gym as secondary training to assist with the aforementioned dance practices. I usually focus on low impact stamina exercises to give me knees and ankles as much of a break as I can.
Here are some exercises you can do in the gym to increase stamina:
Incline Walking
For this one, I recommend doing about 30-60 minutes of walking on a treadmill. However, you do this at about a speed of 3.0-3.2 on an incline of about 12-13%. It may not seem like much of a workout on paper, but it does a wicked job. It works your stamina and help tone your legs.
Stepper Machine
I would recommend doing this until failure — but not to the point where your legs are going to give out as it is moving.
Side Steps
Side steps are another great way to work on your stamina. I usually throw these into my leg day routines and do them until failure. I would recommend having some music while doing these since they can get a bit repetitive at times.
Personally, I think these are a great exercise to do since we can do them on the road or at home.
Weighted Box Walk Ups
You get the best of both worlds with these exercise — cardio and legs. You choose the height of the step and the weight being used. I usually do these with dumb bells onto a bench or a box jump.
These are just some of the exercises that I do. I’m not a trainer, but I find that doing some research online is a great tool when it comes to finding ways to increase stamina or find harder exercises.
As I mentioned earlier, I would highly recommend you do this alongside stamina training in the studio. While these are great secondary exercises, I have never found anything that works my stamina as well as dance has!
I hope this answered your question!
-Christina
thepiper76 reblogged
SOLES produced by Mark Howard & the Trinity Irish Dance Company! Dedicated to Michael Howard. The full-length piece can be found at the @trinityirishdancecompany FB page 👌 #irishdance #trinityirishdancecompany #fusionfighters #fusiondancefest #createnothate (at The Joyce Theater)
thepiper76 reblogged
When it’s a drab cold winter day, you chase away the winter blues with dance! 😊
The Winter Blues Dancer ft. Julia O'Rourke for Rince & Repeat’s #WhereWeDance.
My photo series Where We Dance is all about celebrating the fact that as dancers we never stop dancing, no matter where we are or what we are doing! Dance is life!
View the full series here: rinceandrepeat.com/wherewedance
Anonymous asked:
🦌🦌 da dogs are out 🦌🦌
HO ho ho
Anonymous asked:
🌚🌚🌚🌚 it Sean O’Brien creeping on your tumblr again
YO I saw u from a *distance* at the orienchatas....glad u noticed me 💗
Anonymous asked:
Why don't they want you to go home? Seems like a pretty intense intro to uni life! I hope it all goes well for you :)
They don’t say that explicitly, it’s just easier for new students to get involved if they spend their weekends on campus. Thank you!
Anonymous asked:
Your college doesn't let first years have cars and you have to live on campus? Are they normal rules in America? I'm from Australia and that seems very strange!
It depends on your school! My college requires first year students to live on campus and they cannot apply for parking permits. I think they do it to encourage students to not go home for the weekends and because we don’t have a lot of parking since our campus is in the city
Anonymous asked:
Are you going to keep competing while at Loyola? Are you practicing with another school? I JW because I'm thinking about Loyola too.
I am dancing with the Trinity Irish Dance Company, but not competing. There are a few Loyola students who go to the Trinity Academy and still compete, but they have to take the train to class since Freshmen aren’t allowed to have cars. If you go here we can practice together!! We also have an irish dance club :)
Anonymous asked:
Are you dancing at the Oireachtas this year?
no but i will be there Sunday since I live in Chicago!
Anonymous asked:
Do you need to be in oc to get in to young arts, would it be likely I would get in if I'm in pc? Also, what do you do at young arts and does it cost money to attend, if so how much? Finally, do you have tips for sharpness and clear rhythms? Sorry to have thrown a bunch of questions at you at once.
It’s a performing arts thing so they don’t take into account what level you are competitively. The application costs money but if you are chosen, you get a scholarship of at least $1,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Young Arts Week in Miami. I would definitely send in an application, since they don’t get too many irish dance applicants!! Try to learn boy steps and showpieces through videos to improve on your rhythms. Once I started learning TIDC steps, my sharpness improved SOOO much!
Anonymous asked:
i might have to move to a different school soon. what's clark like?
Its honestly the best. Mary Jo is a very talented teacher who truly values her students and gives them her all. She is basically my second mom haha. I’ve known most of the students for years and I never had any problems with any of them, they have all become my best friends! Its kinda hard to explain because I grew up in the studio, but I definitely encourage you to try out a class or talk to MJ!!
