Homework

I set myself some homework for this week.

• Finally finish writing out all my dances on flashcards to go into my pretty and colour co-ordinated box.
• Come up with a first and second step for my beginner heavy jig - one of my girls has got the lead round and is chomping at the bit for more!
• Another practise exam.
• Come up with a primary level reel, or at least a lead round for R.
• Practise outside of class - really need to get these fitness levels up.

Most of it is done! My box is complete although really I don't know why I bothered, I very rarely have a problem remembering the order of the movements for each dance, it's the actual content I sometimes mis-remember.

A heavy jig step came to me in two parts - the first four bars while daydreaming at work on Friday, and the second half while unable to sleep yesterday morning. All my own work as well; not too much trad set plagiarising!

I've actually done not one but three practice exams since my last update. My personal best is 97% (I KNOW!!!) so I was disappointed to score something like 81%, 91% and 86% on them. A pass is a pass and I really should know which order the couples pass under each other's arches in Trip to the Cottage (first figure) by now. Second tops under first tops' arch, then under own arch, first tops under own arch then under second tops' arch. Right? :-/

I came up with a reel lead round while stuck in traffic on the way to work this morning which is quite nice though I do say so myself.

Did I practise? A few run-throughs of the new heavy jig step and one random run-through of St Patrick's Day to get the faster speed into my head. I'm still not used to fast heavy jigs as I never danced a beginner level one myself (I'd done "show" heavy dancing before learning jigs and hornpipes so they put me straight in at a higher level).

Homework for this week is to finally finish learning the Blackbird which I haven't touched since my little meltdown, to PRACTISE, and to start looking at/listening to the music again. Started to neglect that again.

Looking forward to class tonight. I now have four dancers so if they all come I can step out of the four-hand reel and maybe move them on to some other ceilis. And I've had a couple of enquiries from prospective students, one of whom even wants to compete eventually. That's made me think. Should I be a bit harder on them? At my most recent class the teachers were very easy on us. So long as you did the dance it was fine; no mention of turnout or posture, no corrections. Most people were there for fun. But I think with a little work I could get them up to competition standard ready for when I pass - R has already said she's never won a medal at anything in her life so she'd love to give it a go. Maybe I could even do ceili club.

But that would mean me being much harder on them. I'm not sure if that's what they're there for.