Where I'm at

March already?! I've no idea where this year has gone so far but it really needs to slow down as I've got a lot to do. I'm confirmed for an exam at the end of the year, and as you'll probably have guessed by all this talk of set dances - I applied for the TCRG exam rather than the TMRF. Teacher, friends and family all thought my TMRF idea was a waste of money and I just needed some more confidence in myself, so I followed their advice. I certainly don't feel as desperate as I did at the very start of the year, when I had very little solo material under my belt.

Here's what I have so far:

Reels - plenty of grade level dances for the teaching part, plus enough steps for the dancing exam
Hop and light jigs - plenty of steps for the teaching
Slip jig - grade versions for teaching and a full dance for the dancing part
Heavy jig - beginner steps for teaching, a solid step for dancing
Hornpipe - beginner dance for teaching, two steps for dancing
Trad sets - Paddy's Day, Blackbird and Job
Sets - two! White Blankets and Fiddler Round the Fairy Tree in full.

So I still need:

Reels - a boys' reel! Maybe another step to be sure as well.
Slip jig - My dancing version is prelim level so I'll need a more open-level step for teaching
Heavy jig - primary and intermediate level steps for teaching, plus another step for dancing which will need to be a bit harder than the one I have
Hornpipe - again, grade level steps for teaching, and a boys step for teaching would be good too as the ones I have are nice and girly
Trad sets - just Garden
Sets - seven!

It's shaping up quite nicely I think. I could do with picking up another solo class per week but it's difficult with work and so on, as it's further away than the Monday class and starts earlier too!

For the writtens, I'm regularly scoring 100% on music which is my target for the exam. Ceili written is where I'm falling behind a touch - I still remember all the movements, formations, music notes etc for each dance, I'm just slipping on being able to write them out in full. Still, I know they're in the locker and I can brush up on them any time - dancing is the priority for the moment. I will make the effort to write a couple of dances out this weekend though, as our class is cancelled. I'm still regularly dancing ceili, too.

I can't tell you how proud I am of myself. They might be meagre little achievements in anybody else's book but I've learned two hornpipe steps in one class after not dancing it for years, and I've choreographed two sets all by myself. I've still got 7 or 8 months to go, too, so the straits are not yet dire.

Physio has prescribed me some gym time (my hips need loosening, a lot) so I'll be getting fitter and more able to practise for longer.

I can't wait to be a teacher :)