#western region oireachtas

[rithmeres]

i still cant believe ronan was an irish dancer it’s like finding out your favorite celebrity graduated from your local high school

[ariesgrrrl]

christ i haven't been on here consistently in forever. life update time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

moved to california in 2022 (with a shitty ex, more on that later)

adopted a cat! the love of my life!!!

made some new friends!

got back into writing, joined a writing community, and had a few poems published

got really depressed for a while. like sleeping 16 hours a day depressed

joined an irish dance school and started learning irish dance!

finally cut aforementioned shitty insane ex out of my life

watched one of my childhood best friends get married

went to italy for the first time!

started working on italian dual citizenship and learning italian

competed at the western region oireachtas with my team

got back into movies

reconnected with old friends from back home

started dating someone very lovely and wonderful who makes life feel very bright and makes me feel most like myself :')

made some more friends

started writing my first screenplays

aaaaaaaaaand moving back to oregon (literally this weekend)

that's show biz baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[steps-and-solodresses]

The Western Region Oireachtas 2017 Parade of Champions from Sunday, November 19th! Congrats to everyone who competed!

[ultimateirishdancer]

About Me:

For now, you may call me Veronica. I'm 23 years old and I've danced for fourteen years in the Western Region US. My favorite aspects are performing and teaching, but I do enjoy competing teams as well.

I started taking the grade exams in 2017 and passed all twelve grade exams as of February 2021. I got all A's and B's and didn't need to retake any exams. I did take off one year, but otherwise, consistently work at it. I am currently preparing to take the TCRG in 2022.

I've taught for my teacher for the past three years and assisted with classes for even longer. I was the first in my school alongside my friend to complete the Grade Exams.

I've helped several students prepare to take the exams but wanted to make a source for my students and any other students who need it. So here I am compiling it. I might make a website instead of a Tumblr in the future, but given how familiar I am with Tumblr I decided to start here.

I don't have a big name in competitive irish, I only recalled at Oireachtas twice: once as a teenager in the Traditional Set competition (10th out of 50+), once as an adult (and took 12th out of 14 iirc?) So you probably wouldn't know me even if I shared my actual name. But that isn't my concern. I just want to help you prepare since I had to learn all of this myself as I went. I hope I'm able to help y'all prepare or answer your questions. I promise I don't bite! Unless you are a donut. Then I will bite.

[brightcopperpenny]

The end of 2018 means the end of my fourth year of Irish dance! Some highlights and memories from this year:

9th place in trad set at Oireachtas!!! I cracked the top 10! This was a very different competition compared to previous years, because we finally got an age split in the Western region. I was in the Under-40 category, and the level of competition was so high! Lots of people who hadn’t come to Oireachtas in the last few years, lots of people who used to dance as kids, lots of amazing dancing going on. And as always, lots of mutual support and friendship, because the Western region adults are so fabulous. I was just happy to recall, and to be top 10 was SUPER exciting! There were 4 of us from my school in our competition, and we placed 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th. We were really happy.

I GOT A SOLO DRESS FINALLY!!!!! I love it with my whole heart. It’s exactly what I wanted, and it’s beautiful and flattering and I glued eighteen million rhinestones to it so I sparkle like a rainbow disco ball. 

I FINALLY won Novice single jig! I almost cried when I saw the results, seriously. That just leaves hornpipe as my only Novice dance. I won it once this year, but there were only 4 people, and the other times I wasn’t even close. But part of the reason might be...

I switched to competing both slow hornpipe and treble jig starting in June. This was rather a scary leap to make, but I felt like they looked decent enough to compete, and I wanted to feel more challenged. I really love slow hardshoe and it’s fun to see the progress I’ve made with it. 

I hurt my left calf over the summer-- the same place I tore it in 2015. It sucked, but I worked with an awesome physical therapist who showed me where I had serious muscle imbalances and how that was impacting my dancing, and helped me figure out how to activate other muscles when I dance so I’m not putting so much strain on my calves. It means a lot of work to retrain my muscle memory, but it’ll be worth it if it helps prevent injury. I pretty much had to skip all 3 fall feises other than teams, my novice dances, and the specials, and that sucked! I want to compete!!!

One practice in July, Rori asked us what we wanted to work on, and Bethany said “I want to do a birdie!” and I said “I want to do an axel!” pretty much completely out of the blue. Rori kind of blinked at us, but she put them into our reels and slip jigs so we could try them out. I LOVE AXELS SO MUCH. Because of my injury I didn’t compete soft shoe this fall, so I’m excited to debut the steps with axels added at our feis in February!

A bunch of the adult team members went to Ulta together to get a makeup lesson on how to do our team makeup this year. It was really fun and a bit silly and definitely pretty extra, but if you get the chance to have a former ballroom dancer named TylerRyan show you how to do fabulous dramatic eyes, take that chance!

We switched to a new 8-hand this year- we had done Trip to the Cottage for the past 3 years, since I first started dancing, and now we are doing the 8-hand reel. It was a fun challenge to learn it, and I got to keep my top gent spot. We got 2nd at Oireachtas (out of 3) which was exactly what we deserved, and more importantly we danced it the best we could and I had a really great time onstage. It made up for the 4-hand, where I got a cramp in my toe right as the music started, and we ended up 4th of 8. :(

Oireachtas as a whole was really fun. A lot of the other adults went wine tasting (it was in Portland), but Bethany and I basically lived in the convention center for 3 days and watched as much dancing as we possibly could. One of our U15s recalled for the first time after many years of competing, and it was so exciting to be there for her and support her as she danced her set.  

Even with all the missed competitions, I had great solo results overall this year! I won a special for the first time (reel) and placed top 3 in 4 others, plus I had 5 Prizewinner first places!

And oh yeah, not related to Irish dance competitions, but a bunch of us from my school did a Doctor Who Irish dance entry for the San Diego Comic-Con Masquerade called Time Lord of the Dance and we won a bunch of awards and got a standing ovation. Best performance experience ever. 

And now goals for 2019!

Learn a new trad set- after 4 years of competing St Pat’s, I think it’s time. Multiple people have told me I need to be dancing Garden of Daisies with my dress, so maybe? It’s a pretty one. 

Become a full prizewinner! Moving Novice hornpipe up is going to be difficult since there’s such tough competition in that dance for some reason, but hopefully at our feis and the St Ambroses, we can get at least 5 people and I can actually perform hornpipe the way I know I can.

Place in the top 10 again in trad set at Oireachtas, or, if we get an adult championship and my teachers approve, I would like to compete in the championship. 

Continue working on technique (turnout/cross/straight legs/pointy feet) and also work to keep my core and posterior chain engaged during dance, not leaving my calves to do all the work. 

Work on flexibility, hopefully to include flexibility class at the circus center, with the end goal of improving my clicks. 

Practice at home twice a week.

Get back to the gym for strength and cardio training at least twice a week, or find some videos I can do at home.

[wearethesparkk]

I've seen some people go "really? The Southern US Region Oireachtas logo is a bunch of oil drills? Really?" But hooooo buddy lemme tell you....

My dance teacher is an official in Western Region, and they sent her a prototype of the logo for the Oir in Portland this year for approval.

I don't have the file but lemme do a rough black and white no text re-creation:

They said no but can you imagine.

[bunnyofgrace]

Oireachtas Rince Uldah (Ulster): November 3,4,5

Mainland European Oireachtas: November 4,5

Eastern Canada Oireachtas: November 10,11,12

Western Canada Oireachtas: November 10,11,12

Southern UK Oireachtas: November 16,17,18,19

New England Oireachtas: November 17,18,19

Western USA Oireachtas: November 17,18,19

Oireachtas na Mumhan (Munster): November 23,24,25,26

Midlands UK Oireachtas: November 24,25,26

Mid-America Oireachtas: November 24,25,26

Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas: November 24,25,26

Oireachtas Rince Laighean (Leinster): November 24,25,26

Northwest UK Oireachtas: December 1,2,3

Southern USA Oireachtas: December 1,2,3

(Couldn't find a few regions, and Australia already had theirs)

[fusionfighters]

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Western Region Parade of Champions 🏆🙌 video from @celticsteps #irishdance #Oireachtas #WesternRegion #paradeofchampions #ffvideofeature #celticsteps

[risingstarsofirishdance-blog]

Congratulations to our next rising star of Irish dance: Mary Wick!

Mary is in u16 and dances for the Wick-Hegarty School in New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic Region.

At the 2014 Oireachtas, Mary came in 54. The next year, she propelled up to 23rd in 2015 and missing WQ by four. 2016, Mary jumped 20 places, landing herself on the podium and in 3rd place! (51 places in only three years! Talk about progress!)

In addition to winning many OC feiseanna, Mary placed 21 in the 2016 NAIDC. With her stellar placements, Mary is certainly one to watch out for in the future!

Fun fact - talent must run in the Wick family, because Mary is cousins with Western Region Champion Marisa Wick!

[feistan]

Feistan At Home for Western, Mid America and Southern Regional Oireachtas. Spray tanning at the MARO. www.Feistan.com

[jigawig]

Sketches from oireachtas awards tonight feat. cute little Friday champ who was clapping for every single person. ❤️

[brightcopperpenny]

2017 was a pretty great year for me, Irish dance-wise. I started learning Irish dance in the first week of January 2015 (at age 33), so this is the end of my third year of dancing. Some highlights and memories:

I got 11th place in adult trad set at Oireachtas! Out of 52 competitors, and with at least five ex-champs ahead of me. I worked my ass off to improve my St. Patrick’s Day-- I had a bad result at the last feis before WRO, and I used that to push me to practice and polish all the little bits of the dance. And it paid off!

I survived being top gent in our 8-hand. You guys, I was terrified of being top gent. The same person has been top gent for our team for ages but she couldn’t do teams this year, and when the teachers told us our positions I was so freaked out that I would screw up and let the team down. I definitely messed up a lot at first but I kept practicing and trying to give 100% at every practice. And not only did I survive…

...WE WON THE 8-HAND AT OIREACHTAS! This has been our goal for so, so long. We never beat Cleary and this year we beat them twice, once at a feis (which won us a giant perpetual trophy) and once at WRO. It was the most amazing feeling. I’m so happy that the Western region listened and finally split the adult teams by age (average age U40/40&O), because it gave a level playing field-- the teams of ex-champs who are now adults competed against each other, and the teams of people who started as adults competed against each other. It was awesome. Our 4-hand also got 2nd out of 8 teams!

I moved up reel and slip jig to PW, leaving only single jig and hornpipe in Novice. I’m consistently placing in the top 4-5 in all my PW dances now, and I got my first PW first place (in reel) out of 14 competitors! Also I won my first sash at a feis, in a treble reel special!

I learned my first slow treble jig and slow hornpipe. And I learned the prizewinner reel and slip jig for my school-- the same ones the kids do. They need serious clean-up, but I know the steps! I also learned Jockey to the Fair and started on Three Sea Captains.

I worked a lot on my technique-- straight legs, crossed knees, pointy feet. I found out there were a couple things I’d been doing wrong basically since I started, so I’m working to undo those bad habits.

My fitness level is finally getting back to pre-baby levels. At the 2016 Oireachtas I barely made it through our 8-hand and there was no way I could’ve done double run-throughs. This year I was ready to dance it through as many times as we needed.

Goals for 2018!

FITNESS. Strength training 2-3 times per week consistently, drilling steps at home (waiting on my new practice pad!), and start working on flexibility.

Keep working on technique. When I watch the kids do my steps, I know what they can look like. I don’t want to look like an adult Irish dancer. I want to look like an Irish dancer, period.

Compete the 2-hand and 3-hand I learned this month at our feis in February!

Get hornpipe and single jig to PW! This is really dependent on getting 5 people at a feis, but when we do, it’s time for first place! No more Novice seconds!

Get my slow HP and TJ to a level where I feel comfortable competing them. Right now they’re messy as heck. Given the choice between a clean, simpler dance and a messy, harder dance, I’ll do the simple one every time...but what I really want is to do a clean, harder dance.

Podium in trad set at WRO 2018!!! My best dance friend did it this year, and she’s only been dancing a year longer than me. Maybe with a new set, maybe not. I’ve done SPD for three years now and I love it. See above re: clean, simpler dances.

And...finally get a solo dress! I have way too many ideas and I need to just pick one and go with it.

[arya-snark]

Western Regional Oireachtas Parade of Champions 2014 Friday

[dance-stagram-blog]

Western Region Oireachtas

[madelinethemadlion]

So I dyed my hair before the O, and I think it’ll look super cute with a flower crown, so if you’re going to the Oireachtas and want to make/give me a flower crown I will be working at the Emerald Key booth in the mornings.

[jigawig]

A few sketches from the oireachtas yesterday including hand dancing side stage and my favorite musician, Sean O'Brien.