Happy New Year! ...back on it

I suppose like most people (except the LA candidates...good luck people!) I've done less TCRGing and more overeating over the New Year period. So it's time to get a little bit stricter with myself - my plan is to put in for the first possible exam in 2012, and if that ends up being January I have just one year. Considering my dancing is so very rusty, that isn't actually very long. I wish I'd just taken the thing as soon as I retired from competitions like everybody else does! Sadly all of those sets and steps are long since forgotten and all conditioning woefully lost.

Here are my New Year's Resolutions, dance wise:

1. Open a ceili class
Practice in teaching them will be invaluable for the practical element of the exam of course, but being able to visualise dances is helping me to remember them. When I write them out I never, ever forget the ceilis I've danced, so teaching them will help create a stronger memory come written exam time.

2. Learn the rest of the trads
I've left this one shamefully long. I haven't touched them since April (!) and gave up in a huff - see here and here. I focused on the ceilis, and then got too ill to dance. Thankfully I will have help with this and won't have to rely solely on Olive to get me up to speed. I'm just praying I take the exam before they put the 'new' traditionals on the syllabus; four is quite enough for me thank you! I'll learn the others in my own time, afterwards.

3. Sort the sets
This is HUGE. I never really choreographed any of my own hard shoe material, and I'm not really sure how to go about it. Luckily I never struggled with rhythm (one of the few things I didn't fight with!) so I'll be able to manage a mix of jigs and hornpipes, but you can bet your ass I'm picking the short sets. White Blankets yes, Blackthorn stick NO NO NO. I have help with this as well in the form of a fellow candidate/sucker for punishment. I've completely neglected the "own dancing" element of the exam and with my current level of fitness after illness, that just won't do. I actually do think it'll take me a year to get everything back up to a level. It's just been so long!

4. Work
On everything...

So here's my start at number 4 (typical, starting with the booksmarts!) - I just can't live without my lists and charts.

I am SO chuffed with my 86% today because I made a complete hash of one of the 10-pointers and scored no points at all. The question was "Describe in detail the movement which follows 'Full Chain' in the Cross Reel". I steamed in and described Back to Back almost perfectly...only it's not Back to Back, is it? It's Gentlemen Interlace which to be honest I'd completely forgotten. I could have been into the 90s there if I'd described the right movement. D'oh! Read the question thoroughly before diving in with your answer!