Day 12 of 17 Days of Irish and we’re still dancing.
Created by GoodGran on Zazzle.
After learning the beginner’s jig, the next dance to be mastered is the reel. Somehow Miss A started to learn the Slip Jig first (which is often called the ballet of Irish dance and is very pretty and delicate), but this semester she got around to learning the reel. Miss A loves the reel, in fact, just a few weeks ago she cried after practice one day when she didn’t get a chance to dance it (I’m not kidding, girl has her own fair share of drama). I can understand why she likes it so much – it’s fun to dance! There is more movement and twirling and the music is very lively…most Irish music inspires toe tapping and hand clapping – but reel music really gets you itching to get up and dance too.
Created by Sallbergs on Zazzle
I found this video of a beginner’s reel from a Feis in Moscow. Irish Dancing in Russia? Who knew! And what’s a Feis? Come back tomorrow for day 13 and I’ll tell you!
Day 11 of 17 Days of Irish and it’s time to dance!
The seeds of Irish Step dancing as we see and know it today were planted over one hundred years ago, just around the turn of the 19th century. Of course, Irish dance has a much longer, deeper history than that – but the style and nature of Irish dance as we enjoy it now took shape around 1900…and really kicked into full gear in the 1970’s (and exploded with Riverdance in the 90’s).
Miss A’s dance school began in the 70’s and her teacher is is accredited by An Coimisiun, the Irish Dance Commission in Dublin – which means the best dancers in the school can qualify to compete in the World Irish Dance Championships (I have no aspirations or expectations for Miss A to get that far, but would never say no to a trip to Dublin!).
I love this picture, Miss A looks so serious!
During the summer, the dancers wear parade clothes (a troupe t shirt and skort) and usually as they march in the parade will attempt to stop at various points along the route and perform steps of the jig (one of the easier dances to try and perform while walking).
The first dance every new performer learns is the Beginner Jig – and it’s so cute to see all the little tiny dancers come out to perform for their first time.
Here a little dancer tries to follow Miss A's feet.It's wonderful to see how the older dancers help Miss A, and she in turn helps the ones younger than her...soon it will be Lil G's turn up there too!
The following is Miss A and several of the other young dancers at a recent performance. Often, at a show, they will break the dance up and assign each dancers a step or two, which is why you see some standing still while others are dancing. Check out the girl to Miss A’s right, she has awesome high kicks!
1. It’s Friday! So that means Giveaways Ahoy! Here are my favorites this week:
– Kim of TomKat Studios is celebrating reaching 20,000 FaceBook fans with an incredible Giveaway: a personalized customized party package! I asked Miss A what theme she’d like if she could hire someone to create it for her – she said Rainbow Magic Fairies. (So, I know what I’ll be making if I don’t win).
– Bird’s Party found a really cool website that puts together packages of sample items from all sorts of crafty companies selling lovely hand-made items. Called My Dream Sample Box, I think it is a genius idea and a great way to help small companies spread the word about their products! I think I’m going to have to order one of the kid’s boxes…how cool for Miss A and Lil’ G to open up a package of stuff just for them? Today, Bird’s Party is giving away 2 prize packages from MDSB full of the best offerings from their sponsors.
2: Earlier this week I mentioned author Erica O’Rourke, and guess what? She’s hosting an awesome giveaway of her own right now. For a chance to win a whole bunch of lovely gifts, visit her website and simply tell her whether you’d prefer to spend Mardi Gras in New Orleans or St. Paddy’s Day in Ireland (I decided I would prefer Mardi Gras in Temple Bar, how’s that?) Contest closes on St. Patrick’s Day – if you comment, let her know I sent you over! 🙂
3: Recently I mentioned trying Zumba for the first time, and I am so hooked. There are lots of fun songs and routines, but I think so far, my favorite routine to do is to the song Jai Ho (made famous by movie Slumdog Millionaire). The husband and I watched this movie not long after he returned from a business trip to India, so it was especially interesting. The movie really is a must see, it’s not the most happy movie overall, but powerful, and I’d say the ending still qualifies as a good one.
“Greek Yogurt? Oh my God, Greek Yogurt. Greek yogurt. Oh my God.” Regular yogurt really has never done it for me – and I had read of how wonderful Greek Yogurt was over and over in all kinds of magazines, but it just sounded, well, gross. Then I finally tried it and YUM! Low to no fat, high in protein, rich and creamy – it is awesome. I have it for breakfast almost every day, either mixed with a bit of granola or on top of oatmeal. I’m sticking to my under 300 calories for breakfast goal, and still feel totally full. If you’ve been hesitant to try it – go for it, it really is good! Greek Yogurt in all kinds of flavors from all kinds of brands seems to have exploded onto grocery store shelves, so everybody else must have figured out the same thing I did.
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My little Irish dancer came home from school sick with a fever yesterday, so I never got a chance to post Day 9 of 17 Days of Irish…however, it all works out – since a sick kid at home knocks my schedule into the trash I can sit here, drink a mug of coffee as big as my head, and do a combo Day 9 & 10 post! Miss A is recuperating in her pj’s and a tiara, playing Lego Star Wars on her DS, and Lil’ G is harassing me with a jack-in-the-box (well, actually it’s a bunny-in-the-box, but still…).
Now that you have a complete picture of the view from my world, let’s move on to the topic du jour: Irish dance shoes and costumes.
All dancers begin learning soft shoe dances first. Called “Ghillies” what makes Irish dance shoes different from a basic ballet shoe are the fact they are laced from toe to ankle, and do not use eyelets, but loops in the leather. Boys Irish dance soft shoes look a lot like your basic jazz shoe (in fact, Miss A often dances in a pair of jazz shoes to practice in so she doesn’t wear out her ghillies).
Oh…and here’s a dancer secret: to keep those poodle socks in place while dancing, the girls use something called sock glue:
Some dancers buy the fancy stuff, but Miss A has found that this works just as well:
Another tip…after over a year of struggling to help Miss A tie up her shoes before class, before a performance, etc; I took the advice of some other dance moms and bought elastic to re-lace her shoes…it has saved us a lot of time and energy!
For hard shoe dances, the shoe looks like a tap shoe – but bulkier (and, in my opinion, louder).
Hard shoe dances are so much fun to watch, and guarantee to get an audience going, especially as the dancer starts to move faster and faster (Miss A was in a show this past weekend, and I am always amazed at how fast some of those girls get their feet going!)Miss A hasn’t begun to learn hard shoe yet…maybe in another year. Oddly enough, the first hard shoe dance her troupe learns is called St. Patrick’s Day!
How many dances a dancer knows equates to what level she is dancing at – at the highest level, a dancer can qualify for a solo costume – those beautiful, gorgeous confections of velvet and lace and satin and silk and all sorts of glittery things. These costumes are hand made, unique, and – of course expensive. Many dancers will sell their costumes to another dancer once they grow out of it. To take a look at some of these incredible dresses (and to get an idea of why I need to start an extra savings account) visit Dance Again, a site where dancers can list dresses for sale.
Before they can get to that level though, first a dancer starts out with a basic costume. For Miss A’s dance school, it is a skirt and vest:
This is Miss A about a year ago, you can really see how much she's grown! The vest and skirt are the first costume a dancer wears before moving up to the "class" costume.
After progressing a bit, and performing in several shows – a dancer can qualify for a “class costume” which is a standard dress for that particular school of Irish dance.
Miss A is currently in one of the rental class costumes. If she continues to dance, I will probably buy her the fancier, more elegant version of the class costume (and, obviously, more expensive).
Speaking of expensive, while I dread how much one of those solo costumes are going to cost. If Miss A sticks with it and continues to progress, I look forward to helping her choose a dress she likes, and can’t wait to see her dance in it!
Those things are like eye candy, and one of my favorite parts of a show, it’s always fun to see the combination of colors and patterns a designer puts together!
It’s day 8, and for the next couple of 17 Days of Irish I will be taking a look at the various elements that make up an Irish dancer. I have a budding one at home, you see – and am learning the ropes from the ground up. After several years of watching the fun at various festivals, at the age of 6, Miss A decided she wanted to be the one on the stage. So our journey began.
Miss A has been dancing for almost two years now, and recently we took a big step…we bought Miss A her first wig.
She's a strawberry blonde, and it wasn't easy to find a good match - but I think this looks fairly decent.
I can still remember the shock I felt one year at an Irish Fest, when I stepped into the bathroom to discover a dancer taking her wig off. You mean those curls aren’t REAL?!? I felt cheated, lied to….and kind of stupid…because really – if I had taken the time to actually look closely – the curls on those dancers are just too perfect and bouncy and, well perfect!
So yes, I will let the cat out of the bag for you. It’s a wig. Sorry if you didn’t know.
In Miss A’s troupe, they recommend dancers wait to get the wig until around age 8 and then only a bun wig (like the kind you see Miss A wearing). The fuller wigs are better suited to older dancers. I agree with this for two reasons:
1 – the bun wigs are cheaper than the full, and I’d rather take my time moving up the scale of cost (it’s all rather expensive, if you haven’t guessed). It gives Miss A something to work for. In this case, she had to completely master her jig and reel before I would get her the wig.
2 – it just looks better – I have seen younger dancers wearing a full wig, and it looks, well…ridiculous. No offense, but something about it just looks down right silly.
So for now, Miss A will happily jig and reel with her bun wig and I can hold off dropping the cash on a full wig for a few more years. She has a lot more dances to learn before then.
And I have to admit I’m crossing my fingers that Lil’ G – who has crazy curly hair – might not need a wig at all.
She starts dancing in the fall, so we’ll see.
Come back for days 9, 10, and 11 – when we discuss an Irish dancer’s shoes, costume, and see Miss A in action as we learn a little background on the jig and reel.
It’s day 7 of the 17 Days of All Things Irish. St. Patrick’s Day is still more than a week away, and tonight many are preparing to celebrate Mardi Gras tomorrow and go to all kinds of excess in preparation for the deprivation of Lent.
If you’re looking for something extra decadent and wicked, then I have just the thing: home made from scratch Irish Brownies so rich and sinful they would send you right back in for a second confession.
I had my first encounter with these brownies while I was a high school English teacher, and subject to the variety of treats and goodies left all over the teacher’s communal office. I don’t like cake, and can say no to most cookies, but man am I a sucker for a brownie…add mint to the mix and my willpower disappears faster than (insert your favorite metaphor here).
A sweet lady named Jill brought these brownies in for Christmas, I think – and after one bite I hunted her down and demanded she give me the recipe.
It’s been almost eight years since I had a desk piled with papers to grade, but I’ve been making Jill’s Mint Brownies on St. Patrick’s Day ever since. I only make them the one time each year, and now you can too.
This year I’m trying something a bit different with MM. Aside from being more realistic and setting a once a month post goal vs. once a week, I am also going to try and make the MM posts more in-depth. Before, I’d find a mama/artist on the interwebs I found inspiring, let y’all know what it was I liked about her, and that was it. I’d send a little note along to the featured muse letting her know she’d been the subject of my post, and pretty much every single one was kind enough to stop by and say thanks. I decided maybe instead of letting them know after the fact, I’d get in touch with the women I find inspiring and, A: ask their permission to post about them first (wouldn’t hurt to do that) and B: find out a little more about them and in doing so, provide better insight to how it is they do what they do, which is kind of the fundamental point of MM anyway.
So when I contacted Susanna and asked her if she’d mind being a Monday Muse, I also asked if she would take a few moments to answer some questions as well. Lucky for us, she graciously said yes to both.
Photo courtesy of SavannaIves.com
So here’s the low down: Susanna is a mom to (in her words) “fabulous, brilliant, gorgeous children.” She writes, and her novel, Rakes & Radishes, was released by Carina Press in September of 2010. She also designs web pages and, lucky girl, gets to travel quite a bit.
I asked Susanna to name three things that help her find time to devote to her passion (ie: writing). She responds, “Laundry, dishes, and cleaning. The avoidance of these three things really helps me find time to devote to my passions.” Her answer cracked me up, I was looking for some awesome secret tricks – and, bless her, she gave me honesty, and a reality that hits close to home. How often have I put my writing off to start or finish a load of laundry, sweep the floor, or take care of the pile of dishes in the sink? Way more times than I care to count. So perhaps that IS the secret: Write Now and Clean Later. (I may make that my new motto).
I’ll step back now and let you get to know Susanna a little better with the rest of the “interview”
What are some of the biggest obstacles/challenges you face to get that time?(to write) Actually, I now have more time than I once did. Both my children are in school. But, back when I was homeschooling my son and my daughter was a toddler, I really don’t know how I found time. Just scraps here and there. Sometimes, I would take my children to a drop-off daycare center, stay there, and write. I even manage to write in noisy jump centers or in the passenger seat in the car on long journeys.
If there was an extra day each week just for you, let’s call it “Meday,” how would you spend it? If there was a Meday and I had a mere extra $400.00 a week (now we really are in a fantasy world), I would spend Meday at a spa getting massages, facials, pedicures, rubs, etc.
When you write, do you do it in a linear fashion – or in bits and pieces all over the place, as the story comes to you? Linear. If I do bits and pieces, I end up rewriting those bits and pieces because the emotional continuity between scenes isn’t correct.
What is one thing you think you do a damn fine job at as a writer? Dialogue.
What element of writing do you really struggle with? Description.
So many authors describe a scene or a moment, a character or a conversation – that became the impetus for a book – do you have something like that for Rakes & Radishes? (“What was it” is the implied question here) 😉 Not really. Rakes and Radishes was written to be a farce. Somehow, during the course of its creation, it went in the opposite direction. But I think the old theater farces like The Importance of Being Ernest, Charley’s Aunt, and Arsenic and Old Lace were early influences.
Favorite place to be when you write? Tea houses and gardens. I like being around people even if I am not interacting with them.
Aside from writing, other passions / artistic outlets you like to indulge: I’ve been known to sing in choirs. I also play around in Photoshop and design web pages. That said, I really, really need to redesign my own web page. It’s looking like a twinkling Christmas Tree at the moment.
Wine: red or white? Depends on my mood.
Chocolate: milk or dark? Again, depends on my mood and if I am feeling health conscious that day.
3 of your favorite authors: Aside from my talented friends, James Lee Burke, Michael Ondaatje, Joan Smith
3 books you hope to read this year: Unbroken – Lauren Hillenbrand Pillars of the Earth – Ken Folliet Lady Wicked – Delle Jacobs How to Knit a Heart Back Home – Rachael Herron Lady in the Mist – Laurie Alice Eakes That’s three, right?
What song would probably have the biggest play count on your ipod (or comparable listening device)?
Can’t answer this one. I have a massive music collection, and I listen to so much music.
E-readers: love ’em, hate ’em, or meh? Love ‘em, but I’m a geek.
Quality you admire in yourself: Imagination
Quality you wish you had: Patience
1 goal for 2011: Achieve enlightenment
So there you have it, Susanna is, like so many of us, a mom trying to find the time to do it all. A woman who wishes she could spend more time at the spa and has been known to squeeze writing time in at jump places (oddly enough, several times I have brought my laptop along to a jump place with the hope of getting writing done, but I never seem to accomplish any actual writing!)
I love that Rakes & Radishes started out as something else, but when it changed on her, she stuck with it and let it become the book it needed to be. That takes courage, and is very inspiring! I had planned to include a review of R&R with today’s post – but I just have too much on my own mama plate today – and will have to save it for later this week.
Tell you what, if you haven’t done so yet, check out Rakes & Radishes, at under $6 it’s less than a venti mocha and scone at Sbux, but the indulgence will last longer (and you won’t have to waste a few hours at the gym burning it off).
*Note – I don’t get any kind of compensation for recommending this book to you – I liked the book, really liked Susanna – and wanted to share with you!
Sometime this week, I can’t promise when, I’ll post my review of the book. I’d love it if you came back and added your thoughts as well!
I wish Susanna all the best with whatever WIP she is currently avoiding dishes and laundry to finish – and may she achieve her lofty goal of enlightenment. (Compared to that, my goals look pretty easy!) 🙂
My “meeting” of tomorrow’s Monday Muse – the first and I certainly hope not last – of 2011, occurred on FaceBook. It all came about in a rather crazy way, and it just goes to show you how things can kind of just happen.
Flipping through my local newspaper one day last spring, I caught a blurb about the RWA Chicago North Spring Fling. As of yet I have not joined RWA (Romance Writers of America) but may do so in the near future (I go to my first “trial” meeting next week actually.) Anyways, I saw that Sarah Wendell (of SmartBitches fame) was to be a speaker at the event. I love SB Sarah – she is made of awesome, as I learned while participating in an e-reader test drive she coordinated for Sony a few summers back. So I did the logical thing – I got in touch with her and we set up a little meet n’ greet while she was in town.
When I met up with Sarah in the hotel lobby she was mid-conversation with Carrie Lofty, who was there promoting her new book, Song of Seduction, that was going to be part of the initial launching of Carina Press. The three of us sat and chatted for a bit and traded mommy stories (We are all multi-tasking-mavens! Mamas who do it all! The whole reason for Monday Muse to exist! Enough with the exclamation points!). And later when I got home I looked up Carina Press and even liked them on FaceBook – why not, right? This is all part of my craft and the world I hope to be taking by storm very soon, so it never hurts to stay connected. (Also, Carrie will be speaking at the RWA National conference in New York this November, I won’t be able to go – but if you are, and you attend her workshop: The Pitch Witch, please be sure to tell me all about it!)
Just before Sarah and I headed out the door to grab some breakfast, Erica O’Rourke stopped us to let Sarah know how much she enjoyed her presentation. A bit of chatting and Erica and I realized we live in the same town (she is going to be the arm I cling to next Monday at my first RWA meeting). It’s crazy, because since our chance meeting that morning last spring, I run into her almost every week where I teach some of my theatre classes. Erica has had some wonderful success since we met nearly a year ago – her novel, Unchosen, won the RWA Golden Heart award for best Young Adult manuscript and her book, Torn, comes out through K teen/Kensington in July of this year.
Yes, I am hoping some of their good fortune rubs itself all over me.
So Sarah and I finally went off and had a lovely breakfast and a great talk – and I made her sign my copy of Bosoms.
Back to my original point (I did have one) – having “liked” Carina Press on FB I now get fun little tid bits, such as: when a book gets released, Carina will post some of the author’s favorite quotes from her work. They will also post the first line or two of the novel. While reading one of the latter I nearly snorted with laughter, it was just so ridiculous. An English Lit major with a strong focus in Victorian era work, the sheer Gothicness of the quoted lines caught my attention and I couldn’t help but add a comment. The thing was, Carina also included a plot summary that I found intriguing, but feared the outrageous prose would prove too much for me. Well, imagine my surprise when the author herself comments right back with a polite (I am paraphrasing here) “Um, just to let you know, the first lines in the book are actually not “my story” but lines from a novel the heroine is reading.”
OK, now I was hooked. So I bought the book, and then I looked up the author’s personal blog and liked what I found – and so again, I did the logical thing – I asked the author if she wanted to friend me on FB (I was sure to tell her I wasn’t a lunatic). She must have believed me about the lunatic thing – because she did friend me, and it’s been fun to get a glimpse into her world and get a taste of her thoughts and ideas when I happen to catch them over at FB. “Talking” to her some more I find that we really have quite a bit in common, aside from the desire to write. We both have a strong background in theatre, and we both started our children out in homeschool and chose to continue their education in a non-public school environment.
The author I am referring to is Susanna Ives, and I can’t wait for you to meet her tomorrow when I introduce her to you as the Monday Muse for March.
The book that lured me in was Rakes and Radishes. Available from Carina Press. I will include a review of R&R tomorrow as well, because, as I’ve said before, I’m a multi-tasker.
And come to think of it, Sarah, Erica, and Carrie could all qualify as Monday Muses too – so don’t be surprised if you see them featured here at some point. I’m not one to waste resources.
Aside from green, the one color that goes with St. Patrick’s Day is, well, all of them. I’m talking rainbows! Why are rainbows such a part of St. Paddy’s Day? Is it because of the legendary pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Or the fact that the crazy March weather with its combo of sun and rain (and for us MidWesterners, snow) often leads to rainbows? Or is it perhaps, that Ireland’s misty weather creates an abundance of gorgeous rainbows?
Whatever the reason, rainbows are as much a part of St. Patrick’s Day as shamrocks and leprechauns and the jig.
There are all sorts of rainbow-y crafts and treats to create, Tip Junkie has put together an entire mini-website devoted to them – check it out:
But the rainbow I am here to share with you today for Day 6 of our 17 Days of Irish is a lovely piece of jewelry called the Rainbow of Ireland.
Recently I mentioned working in an Irish Import Store. For my 15th birthday (yes, I started working there when I was 14) the owners told me to pick any item I wished from the jewelry case. I had always wanted a Claddagh ring, so I selected a simple elegant 14k Claddagh that I wore just about every single day for the next 15 years. Then, on my 30th birthday, my husband surprised me with a wonderful party and this:
Mine is actually in gold, but I think you get the idea.
It was a lovely present, and I don’t think he even realized how perfect…seeing as it was such great timing in reference to when I received my first Claddagh.
Now I have to wonder – what will he do for my 45th?
Come back tomorrow for Day 7 and the most incredible Irish Brownie recipe you can imagine. (Well, that I can imagine anyway).
Welcome to day 5 of 17 days of Irish. Today we get a bit of a history lesson.
Many Americans “become” Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, and some (like me) have anywhere from a jigger to a pint of Irish blood in us, yet celebrate like we are the full keg.
As Americans, I guess we tend do that a bit; sift through all the ingredients in our melting pot and, for one reason or another, choose to focus on certain aspects of our heritage more than others.
Maybe it’s because, since I was little, people see me and ask “You must be Irish, huh?” or, “I bet there’s some Irish in you somewhere.” or some such similar comment. What is it about red hair that makes people think Ireland? To answer this question, I consulted the mighty Google, which then took me to that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia (you need to see the reference photos on the side – they’re pretty funny).
Turns out, the assumption is mostly true – while it’s Scotland that has the highest percentage of red heads, Ireland comes in at number two. The funny thing is, I get my red hair from my maternal great-grandmother, who immigrated from Lithuania. (My maternal grandfather – the one who provided me with the most Irish blood, had dark hair and dark eyes). Wiki explains that as well, noting that, prior to the 20th century – red hair was most often seen as a stereotypically Jewish trait – notably among Jews living in places like – you guessed it – Lithuania.
So anyways, back to my point – maybe it was all those inferences that I must have Irish in me that made me curious. I found myself drawn to Celtic myths and legends, and when I came across this book while browsing shelves one day, I bought it on impulse:
The story of Irish legend and hero Cuchulain, this book was amazing. I adored it. I went on to buy every book I could find from author Morgan Llywelyn, which is how I discovered her Irish Century series.
From 1916 and the Easter Rebellion to 1999 and the struggles Ireland and Northern Ireland face today, Llweyln has constructed a rich tale – informative and fascinating. It is full of details and facts, yes, but also rich with a cast of remarkably memorable characters. I highly HIGHLY recommend this series!
I thought I owned every single book she has put out – but while putting this post together I discovered she released a book last year about legendary Irish navigator and Saint, Brendan of Clonfert.
Not that I usually receive gifts for St. Paddy’s day…but this wouldn’t be a bad idea if someone decided they were going to surprise me. (I am shameless when it comes to presents, if you haven’t figured that out yet).
See you tomorrow for day 6…when we’ll continue with the theme of presents…and something you may be adding to your own wish list!
Melonie Johnson 
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