This is M in her new dress, lined up to dance her hardshoe at the Culkin Feis held at Mount St. Mary's gymnasium the first Sunday of most Novembers. They danced two at a time, thankfully. Three at a time is too much for this age, IMHO, even if allowed if the stage is of sufficient size.
She did very well in her hornpipe (hardshoe dance). She also danced a reel in her ghillies (softshoe dance). Reel had always been her best and favorite dance, even treble reel went well (done in hardshoe). I'm not sure if it's the concentration on hardshoe to improve it, or all the percussion and hardshoe work in the performing troupe, or what, but her reel now, comparatively, needs more oomph or something. Still beautiful, however; it'd be difficult to say that any dancer at the preliminary champion level doesn't dance wonderfully for any dance.
Honestly, if a dancer has joy on his or her face, like the girls in their beginner school jumpers at a fundraiser last Sunday who were dancing their reels and slipjigs in time to a live band for the fun of it, not as their performance, it's all good.
Both TCRG and "FiguresTeacher" said that M was showing off her dress. It's not the dresses, really, it's how a dancer feels IN the dress (or costume, some dancers are boys and while they rarely wear kilts for competitions, they don't wear these fru fru dresses and "Shirley Temple" hair, i.e., wigs). The confidence, the joy, can carry over into how a dancer dances, combined with the technique and timing and hard work and natural ability, yadda yadda.
Unfortunately, photos aren't allowed to be taken while a dancer is in motion during a competition. A friend took this one of the line up. Note the other styles of dresses -- they get fancier and "more modern" as the levels get higher. (The girl in the red dress got 1st. Most of them become friends, or at least friendly, with each other. One girl shown is M's bestest dance friend, L, who placed right next to M; their results can be all over the place yet they're still super supportive of each other.)
Updating: Official feis photographer, Zebadiah Beaugard, took a great shot of three of my favorite dancers, during their treble reel. And, don't they look happy? (I couldn't get it to post anywhere but on top, first. Yes, he takes some great photos.) Thanks, Z&B! See a link to his blog on my site here.
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