2008 Southern Region Oireachtas

Just pointing out that I've added the blog for the 2008 Southern Region Oireachtas to the list of those I'm following (see below as well).

Hard to believe it's just over 3 weeks away. Ack! :)

M's attended two previous to this one.

In 2006, the Southern Region Oireachtas was held in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. It was actually closer to me than M's dance studio is, but my mother got her and M a room, and I commuted back and forth for the dog's sake and some sense of sanity. M was in a figures team that year. I highly recommend that anyone who may compete in an Oireachtas anytime, to visit one if possible, as you learn so much. Or, if just interested in Irish stepdancing and an Oireachtas, NANs, or Worlds, is held close by you, to visit and watch some truly amazing dancing.

Last year, 2007, M competed in figures, and in figures choreography (which she got to go onstage for at awards as her figures choreography team got 3rd place). She was not yet a preliminary champion dancer in her feising, so TCRG debated M competing in solo's. Admittedly, her strongest dances were not the ones she'd have competed in at last year's Oireachtas. This time, the Southern Region Oireachtas was in Atlanta. It really felt as if we were going somewhere. We typically travel north, but obviously all of our regions Oireachtasi will be held someplace warmer, or near our temperatures. It was fun, intense, and overall good. Going away helped us feel as if we were really part of the experience, yet staying in the overflow hotel allowed us some breather room, or, at least me. She didn't want any ha.

This year, 2008, the Southern Region Oireachtas (SRO) will be held in Orlando, Florida. M will compete in two figures teams, a 4-hand, and an 8-hand, in dance drama (which should be a lot of fun, and just before awards the last day so a large audience), and gulp, she's earned this, solo competitions. I'm glad we waited; she is a lot more ready this year. I hope she gets sufficient practice time in, and actually learns her non-traditional set dance in case she does recall. M's certainly excited, and explains it to her non-dancing friends as "regionals." I worry a bit that she's in four events, yet her solo's are first, anyway, plus the TCRG's want the dancers to focus on solo's if there's a conflict, so I suspect it'll all work out as it should, whatever that may be. Ack!

2008 Southern Region Oireachtas