Reminiscing on the International Festival

Yesterday Gaelic Fusion performed at the Overture Center’s International Festival. This was my third time performing at the festival and my second time introducing the show. This time, however, I introduced our piece in Gàidhlig, which was a fun change of pace. (I may be trying to infiltrate the company with Scottish Gaelic. Shhh…)

The show went really well, if you ask me. It was the best that I had seen us do. It is really great to be able to watch the progress my fellow dancers—and the company as a whole—throughout the years. We have all grown so much since beginning Highland dance, and I am very lucky to have the chance to perform with the others.

The company prior to the performance

For perhaps the first time, I was truthfully very pleased with my performance pieces. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely things that I could have done better, but all and all, they turned out really well. I did a duet with Carrie entitled “High Step” and I was also part of our six-person sword dance, which I helped title “An Cogadh”. [Videos listed below]

What pleased me most was the progress that I had made over the years. I have been doing Highland dance now for three years, and, this year in particular, you can really see how much I have improved. Here are some video examples of my progress:

International Festival 2011

This was the first show that I did with Gaelic Fusion. I attempt to do a step from the Highland Jig—I’m not sure it worked out so well, though. I also did a sword dance this year, but I unfortunately do not have a video for that.

International Festival 2012

This is my second year at the International Festival. The first video is the Broadsword. I was fairly happy with this dance—well, until I saw it on video and realized how much I needed to work on my technique, that is. Nevertheless, it is a really fun dance to do.

The second video is a rendition of the Highland Fling. I really liked doing this dance, and it was right when I had begun working on my Fling technique. I was still a little shaky on my feet, but I think that it turned out well--even if my double-shakes were obnoxiously high.

The final video is a piece that I choreographed for the 2012 International Festival. It is a fusion of the Highland Jig and an Irish jig. It was a great piece to work on; though if I were to do it again, there are a few things that I’d do differently.

International Festival 2013

Finally, these are the videos from my performance this year. The first the duet with Carrie, named “High Step”. I really enjoyed working on this dance. I felt very honored to be selected for a duet and, beyond that, I was really excited to learn some of the steps for the “Barracks, Johnny?”.   There were some shortcomings in the dance that I could feel while I was up on stage, but these didn’t seem to come through to the audience.

The second video was our finale from yesterday. It is a rendition of the Jacobite, which I helped to name “An Cogadh”, meaning “The War[fare]” in both Gàidhlig and Gaeilge. The dance itself was a bit trying to learn because of all the minute details, but it really came together. My only problem was that I could not get my sporran to stay put due to all of the turning pas-de-bas. I always ended up with a satchel by the end of the dance.

As I think is well evinced by the videos, I have really progressed in the last three years. This makes me very excited to start competing this year. I know that I am not the best dancer, but holy crap, I am getting much better.

The whole video playlist of the Gaelic Fusion performance at the 2013 International Festival can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMipah6nUBu3Q8yZUKpTu5RkZzDkxEmnW.

Online Shopping Spree

It’s winter break, which means that I should ardently working on my senior thesis. Yeah, that’s what I should be doing. But I’m not; well, not yet…

So far, I have spent quite a bit of my break relaxing and perusing online shops. Seriously, the amount of stuff I have ordered has been insane. I have packages coming in the mail everyday. At the same time, though, it’s not like I am frivolously spending money—well, not completely frivolously. Most of the things I have ordered so far I have need or had a genuine use for. For example, I ordered the things that I needed to complete my Highland wardrobe prior to the January show, including a vest, bow tie, sporran, and cap badge.

The style of my new cap badge. It matches my sporran.

I have also ordered a good amount of books on the Gaelics. Thanks to my boyfriend’s copious amounts of gift cards—he doesn’t believe in using them, so he gives them to me—I have bought two books on Gàidhlig, one on Gaelg, and a textbook on Sengoídelc. I think I may have a problem…

My new books!

Whilst doing all of this online shopping, I have become slight obsessed with the idea of adding more kilts and plaid to my small collection. They’d be wonderful for dancing and other formal occasions. I totally need to start a ‘Kilt and Accessories’ budget.

I am particularly obsessed with this kilt from Sport Kilt:

I really, really, really want one of these for Irish dance. Only I would have Kelley green in the pleats, and for extra security, I’d opt for the buckle option. I think that I may get this as a birthday present for myself, in about three months of course. I envision wearing it with a black dress shirt, black vest, matching green tie, and black hose. I really like the black with a shock of color idea.

After looking into my ancestry towards the beginning of break, I have realized that, while I have no detectable Gaelic blood in me, I do have a fair amount of Cornish ancestry. This of course has led me to discover Cornish tartans, and there’s a nice little store in Cornwall that supplies Cornish kilts: www.cornish-tartans.co.uk.

[As far as I can tell, a Cornish kilt is just a regular kilt in a Cornish tartan.]

Cornish tartans

If I ever get a new, or second, dance kilt, I think that I would get it in the St. Piran dress tartan—it’s one of the Cornish national tartans:

I really like the white and black dress tartans. I know they don’t stand out like the colored ones do, but with a black doublet, especially a Montrose jacket, I think black and white tartans can look quite dapper.

For now, though, I think that I will settle my desire for Cornish tartans with a Cornish national cummerbund and bow tie. They’d look nice with my black dress pants and a white tuxedo shirt.

Cornish National cummerbund from Cornovi

Also, if I ever get to choreographing something of Manx influence, I think that I’d really like a vest one of the Manx tartans. As I am discovering, you can never have too much plaid!

Isle of Man Cornaa tartan

 I have been doing some shopping on iTunes as well—thanks to an iTunes gift card from my mom. Thus far I have managed to find a couple of Manx and Cornish songs and tunes. I leave you, then, with a song from the Cornish group, Dalla:

Dean Younk a Gernow -- Dalla