For those not Feis/Irish dance knowledgeable lol the way it works is.... You start out as a beginner 1 and you learn 4 dances : Reel, Light Jig, Slip Jig and Single Jig. When you compete at a feis you have to place 1st, 2nd or 3rd out of at least 5 dancers to move to beginner 2 . Once in beginner 2 you have to place 1st or 2nd( pending amount in the competition) to move to novice and it gets harder from there. You also start hard shoe dances - Double Jigs, Hornpipe and Saint Patricks Day. Once you have 4 dances at a novice level you can earn a solo dress( the fancy sparkly dresses) from there you go to prizewinner then pre-lim champ then open champ. Each dance is done by age level so "most "of the time Keelie dances with kids close to her age. ( I'm typing via cell phone so excuse any errors in info)
It was very random the amount of kids in each of Keelie's dances. So some of them had enough to move up if she placed well and others didn't. Her first dance was the reel and she rocked it!. She looked so good, arms and all I thought for sure at least top 3( 7 dancers total) we were so excited to see she got first- it was one of those I'm going to cry moments we were so proud of her. This dance was her first placement into a novice level dance Then her light jig- she rocked it too! A few things she could have done better to earn that top spot but hey we will take 2nd, this dance has been her soft shoe nemesis!!This placement moved her from beginner 1 to beginner 2! Keelie kind of seemed to lose steam and focus at this point... she is only 5..... her slip jig wasn't the best but she got out there and did it and earned a 3rd place, however not enough dancers to move up. The last soft shoe dance was her single jig and it looked pretty good- this dance has lots of leaps- something her little butt has to work a lot on! But she earned herself a 4th place and a lunch break! I initially dreaded this lunch break but it was heaven sent. Keelie badly needed a break. Refueled and focus back on Keelie rocked her Treble Jig and Saint Patricks' day...... her hornpipe on the other hand has become her hard shoe nemesis. No matter how many times she practices it right she always forgets the second step while performing it. She placed 3rd in the first two and no placement in the hornpipe, none of these dances had enough kids to move up except the hornpipe. Due to the lower number of participants at this feis all of Keelie's competitions were combined with older age groups. So as a 5 year she competed in the U9 group for all her hard shoe dances and to get 3rd with kids 2,3 & 4 years older then her I think makes her our rock star! We all had fun this weekend, it was a great short family trip even Deklan behaved very well, especially considering the hours we had to wait for results! So 2 more dances closer to her pretty dress and we are looking forward to the upcoming Saint Patricks' events and 2 more out of town Feis's!
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