My dancing week

My week looks like this:

• Go to dancing on Monday (done) and have another practice in the week as well.
• Lilt all the ceili tunes out loud without prompting, and start trying to say the steps at the same time as singing. (started, Humours)
• Practise lilting the trad set tunes in case I need to teach them
• Work on hornpipe set dances (I've already made up a cracking little solo step) - decide what's staying and going and come up with fixes if needed.
• Pick five ceilis at random to write out without the book (having a friend pick them for me)

I've got the rest of the week plus the long weekend. Do-able!

Edit to add the five ceilis picked by my pal:

1. Harvest-Time Jig
2. St Patricks Day
3. An Rince Mor
4. Waves of Tory
5. Gates of Derry

Three Sea Captains

I uploaded some grabs of the Olive dvd for the TCRG Voy Board so I thought I'd post them here too. I think this one could be my favourite:





I'd seriously recommend buying these DVDs. I got mine from Antonio Pacelli - along with the ceili DVDs, these have been a lifesaver.

Hornpipes. Help.

I think the only thing I'm really concentrating on at the moment is the hornpipe. The blasted hornpipe.

In my first life as a competitive dancer, I'd been working my way through the grades with jig for months before we started working on a hornpipe. I remember going to one feis with a knee injury and just wanting to get it out of the way, so I only danced the primary 'pipe and trophy, for the first time, and won both. Can't remember the steps. I think that was my last feis in Life One.

In Life Two I learnt a hornpipe for grades, then started competing in open and was jig/hornpipe set. Can't remember any of those steps. I then had a second hornpipe set when I progressed a little - can remember a few of the combinations from it, but not enough that I'd be able to dance it.

I'd NEVER choreographed hornpipe before attempting the TCRG exam.

I have NO repertoire when it comes to hornpipes at all. I have no back catalogue of steps to draw on, no little treble combinations that you can slip in here and there to up the difficulty or change the rhythm like I do in the jig.

Hornpipe is my nemesis dance. I love watching it, but when it comes to choreographing something more difficult than prelim level I just strop and think this music is not suitable for Irish dancing!!!

I'm trying SO hard on this. I've done so much choreography over the last few days, only to realise it just doesn't work in practice like it does in my head. I've made a few breakthroughs by learning a few of the aforementioned combinations, but when choreographing I just can't break out from my bitty style - nothing flows. It's like here's this combination, then I'll stamp or pause, now here's another combination, stamp, here's another, stamp, clicky sequence, stamp, done. It needs to come together more cohesively.

Anybody got any inspiring hornpipe videos from YouTube they can share? Sets, steps, step-abouts, any level. Give me ALL the hornpipes!