the shorter version (SRO 08)

The shorter, cleaned-up version of my last post entry (sorry, all, but blogpost isn't letting me edit well, nor cut and paste, or anything.....):
"We are so proud of you," said M's TCRG, and "Figures Teacher," aka, FT, after M had danced her Round 2 (reel).

Yes, me, too:) No matter how M placed, or even if she recalled, I was so proud of her for having danced so well for herself.

For the dancing competitions, M had to dance a hornpipe for her Round 1, hardshoe. She was nervous for this. Then, she danced a reel for her Round 2, softshoe competition. She recalled!!!! the last competitor # called for recalls, which meant that she had to go on to Round 3, or, I should say, she got the honor of going on to Round 3. That took forever; M danced third to last out of the 62 dancers who recalled and then danced their set dance one at a time. (She had three different judges for each of her, ultimately, three rounds, for nine scores total.)

Unfortunately, her good dance friend, L, did NOT recall. So often, they place very close together in their competitions, so this was not expected that one girl would place / recall, and the other would not. (This means that L had six scores total, as she danced only the first two rounds.)

Ultimately, M placed 43rd out of 124 competitors (134 dancers were registered, but, for example, one of their dance friends had a stress fracture and could not compete, one dancer competed only in Round 1, and not Round 2, etc.) This is fantastic for a first time solo Oireachtas competitor.

Their 8-hand team, dancing Trip to the Cottage, well, it looked real good and was danced cleanly. No recall.

Their 4-hand team, dancing Humours of Bandon, WOW! The four girls (M, L, and two others) were so excited, bouncing up and down, arms linked, while team numbers were being called, and theirs was not. They danced up in age group as one girl is older, with a total of I think 44 teams. (I believe 46 teams were registered). They actually got 4th place. That is awesome:)

Their dance drama accomplished what TCRG had hoped for -- a great team feeling to end the Oireachtas with, and good show entertainment for the audience. It was good, and it was fun, for the audience and for all of the dancers. Unfortunately, a technicality had them placing third out of three dance drama teams, but oh well. They all proudly and happily went onstage for their earned third-place medals.

Ultimately, it's all good (except wishing L had recalled, also). And, if you see a teenage girl with the word Oireachtas going down the leg of her sweatpants, and a 4 and a 3 on her backside, that's my dancer. 43rd, 4th, and 3rd. LOL!