Riverdance, Finally

We had an evening four years in the making on Saturday.  Four years ago we had tickets to go see Riverdance, something I've wanted to go to for years.  Heber's Grandma unexpectedly passed away and we had to travel out to California and missed the show.  Heber tried to get tickets in another city but they stopped touring.  It was literally the last show in North America ever.

Last year they rebooted the show again and started touring.  I was so excited to see that they were coming to Virginia but never expected to be able to go.   Heber surprised me with tickets for Mother's Day to see it at Wolf Trap.

It was such a good show.  They've added some other genres of dance to it, flamenco dancing, traditional tap.  It made me all nostalgic for my Logan dancing days.  How many hours did I spend dancing in the Wittier Center with Inishfre?  So many good memories. 

Irish Dancing Part 2

I went to a meeting last night at the Whittier Center.  My beloved dance company is merging with another and it feels like it's going to be fundamentally different.

I started Irish Dancing in my mid 20s.  What I loved about Inishfre was that the majority of their students were adults.  The adult classes, 3 at the time, were packed and I got to learn how to jig with some of the funnest women.  This is rare for a dance company to have such a thriving adult program.  Most companies have an adult class that you can attend with the 14 year old girls.  As a mom and 30 now, I just don't seem to fit into that group.  But at Inishfre we adult women were there dancing together because we loved it. 

The focus was not on competing, it was people who loved Irish dancing and wanted to share with others.  We danced because we loved the music, the steps, the community. 

My class this year has been small so I guess I should have seen it coming but it's still sad to see the changes happening.  I'm going to miss going to the grand old Whittier Center with it's sweeping staircases and wood floors.  I think that I'll keep taking a class but it's just not the same.

Here's a couple pictures from back in the day.  I don't have have that many pictures but so many good memories.

The Ballet

I took a trip to the Kennedy Center on Friday.  A friend and I went in to see the ballet (do you really think I'd talk Heber into going?).  It was a collection of ballet companies from across the US who had produced original works.  We saw the North Carolina Ballet, Ballet Austin and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. 

It's been ages since I've seen something live.  Part of me forgot how powerful live performances can be.  Watching the dancers (who you know have trained their whole life to be in that moment), listening to the live orchestra (which was one of the highlights), it was just so uplifting.  I may have gotten a little teary eyed, at the ballet.

I think we got spoiled in Logan.  There was always a show going on or live music, the festival opera or Lyric Theatre.  I could go down to the tabernacle every day in the summer and see something live.  Perhaps it's having Leo or how spread apart things are but it's much more challenging to catch a performance.  There is an energy that is just so unique live. 

We capped off the evening with a stop at Starbucks.  I had to order a hot chocolate off the kids menu.  There was literally no non-coffee adult drinks.  Ah, living in DC. 

Dancing Again

This last week, I dusted off my dance shoes and have been practicing again.  I've missed dancing and it's been fun to practice some of the old routines. 

A few weeks ago, in a moment of weakness, I may have signed up to perform in our ward talent show. Turns out that I'm one of 13 acts.  One of only 2 dance numbers, the other being a group of youth.  Um, perhaps this isn't the best idea.  

Why am I doing this?  Well, I've wondered that too. Rationalized ways to get out of it (all of them good reasons, by the way), asked some friends what they thought (all of them thought I'd be wearing a curly wig, um, gross), worried what people will think about a 29 year old mom dancing (sans wig, I assure you).

And then I threw them all out the window and decided to go through with it.  I spent years dancing and isn't it so fun to have a place to perform.  

At one of my meetings this week, someone said, "are you really dancing?"  Of course. Life is about putting yourself out there.  Every once in a while I need to do things that scare me, that pull me out of my comfort zone.  Now this is definitely one of them.  

If your in the area, you should come out and watch.  It's at 6:30 on Saturday at our church house on Sydenstricker.  Depending on how it all turns out (I mean, it could end in embarrassment), you can enjoy the performance or laugh with me afterward, "what was that old mom doing dancing?" 

Life Lists

One of my little quirks is that I have a list of things I'd like to do in my life.  It's pretty informal and I've never really written it down but it has things on it like:

Have a baby (Love the little Leo man)
Go to grad school (I happily checked that one off.)
Visit Paris, oh and the Greek Isles (I'm crossing my fingers for that some day)
Visit Antarctica (Why? Well, you can't visit all 7 continents without making your way there)
Live out of state (check, out here in the VA)
Study abroad (I did visit Europe with Mom L and Loni)
Participate in a community musical (this one will probably have to wait a while)
etc. etc.
 One of the big ones was to: Sing in front of a big crowd. 

I'd taken lessons in my undergrad but hadn't really had the opportunity to sing in a large setting.  And then, when you become an adult, the opportunities to perform become less and less (I think that's why I enjoyed pageants so much because you got to prepare, put on a costume and perform).  

Why did I go off on this tangent? Well, it was Celtic Night in Logan last weekend.  I heard it was a heck of a show and they even got to perform with Leaping Lulus (an awesome Celtic band).  I realized that I never wrote about Celtic Night last year.  I was a little busy with grad school and the beginnings of pregnancy (blah), so you get a post one year late.  That's right, I'm doing it. 

At Celtic Night last year, I got to sing.  I can't say whether or not it was really good but I felt happy with it.  Laura (a fellow dancer) and I sang two songs in the show. Hooray for checking things off our life lists!

As a side, I was looking through pictures from back then and ran onto this one.

 It's Heb's Grandpa TJ.  He passed away in the fall of last year and we miss him.  It's sad little Leo was never able to meet this dynamic person.  What touched me about this picture was that they all made the effort to come up to my show, almost 2 hours from their home.  They started asking when the show was taking place more than a month before. 

Some others who came out to support me.  

 Grandma Barbara and Mom L

Tami and Katie

What's on your life goal list? 

Dancing at Snow

I spent the weekend in Ephraim at Snow College dancing with Inishfre. I had the best time. I think I laughed for hours. In all of that, I did not take one picture. Figures.

We performed in the new Eccles performing arts center in a hall with acustics that made our shoes loud and clear along with the Leaping Lulu's band. It was my first performance for several new dances which meant the first with multiple costume changes.

The gig had booked us a large house for all of us to stay in together and of course we stayed up way too late, I told pagent stories (good ones) and woke up laughing about how wild our hair was.

While sitting in church today, I was thinking about these women that I dance with. We all support each other through the good and the bad. I need this so much.

One of the gal's new boyfriend joined us for the event. He said, it's not just because you like dancing, really its all the rest - the fun we have together, the listening, the friendship. And he was right.

A Member, For Real

The big news around here is that I am now an official member of the Inishfre Dancers!! Yeah! I have been doing some performing with them this year but it's different when you really are one of the group. They asked me just a week or so ago.

I really love this. I love looking back and thinking about all the things I've learned and what I can do now. I love pounding my frustrations away and the killer calves (yes, I'm bragging, they really are awesome).

And just for fun, I'm throwing on a video of one of our performances. It's my favorite move. I'm the one filming. I've never posted a video before, but this just seems to merit it.

Irish Dancing

I have a new passion, Irish dancing. Yes, I know that I am an adult now and that dance classes are for little girls but I can't help myself. I think it was all the years of ballet, jazz and folk, I just couldn't give it all up. Perhaps this love of dance was in my genes. All of my sisters, mom, many cousins, and several aunts share this love and have danced for years and years. And we can't forget Grandma Barbara who loves to watch us dance, the greatest supporter of us all.

Why Irish dance, you ask? Well, it's the best parts of ballet, the fast paced jumping and doing choreography and you don't have to wear a leotard and tights. There is something so gratifying in putting on hard shoes and pounding away while mastering a new step. All of this while dancing to Celtic music, I love it. I liked classical music in ballet but there is something so expressive in Celtic music.

This is one of the many things I have picked up in the last year. I have been on this great journey to finding contentment and I have to say, I have been happier than I have ever been, not just because of dance but I have found things I love that bring that little bit of joy to life.

I dance everywhere now, in the living room, the store and even on walks. I haven't gone crazy, I just can't get enough Irish Dance. Those of you with dance in your blood will understand.