I’m going to Ireland
tomorrow! Well, Thursday really. But still! Everything seems so much more real
now that I am packing and getting all of the final odds and ends in order. It
all kind of feels like a dream, but that could also be due to this nasty head
cold that I am currently pushing through.
I am unbelievably exciting and grateful for the opportunity
to go study in Ireland.
At the same time, though, I am a bit sad to have to leave for a month. I mean,
we just got a new house! Plus a month with no dance classes and no Josh will be
challenging. But, realistically, I know that this is an incredible opportunity
for me, and I could really not be happier.
Josh will be dropping me off tomorrow morning at the Chazen
so that I can catch the Van Galder at 8:30am. The bus will take me right to the
international gate at O’Hare. My first flight leaves at 2:00pm. I will fly to Newark and then have a
three hour layover. Then it’s off to Ireland! If all goes well, I will
come into Ireland
at 7:00am on Thursday morning. After arriving in Ireland,
I will take Bus Éireann from the ShannonAirport to Galway
city. Then I’m sure that I’ll be off to the hostel for some sleep!
The first day is going to be a long one! But I am thinking
that it won’t be too bad seeing as I am flying overnight. Hopefully I will be
able to get some sleep. Also, I’ll hopefully be able to post a quick update on
how things are going once I get to the hostel.
We have internet at the house! Woohoo! Honestly, it was kind
of nice to have a break from technology for a bit. It gave me enough time to
get all of my stuff moved in and to get the house set up—well, the downstairs
of the house, that is. Nevertheless, I am glad to be able to connect with
people again, especially as I prepare to leave for Ireland in under 48 hours!
Josh and I closed on the house on Monday. I was able to move
everything in on Tuesday thanks to Jourdyn’s help. My old apartment is cleared
out and cleaned. All I have to do now is drop off the last month’s rent, the
keys, and an address for where they can send the security deposit. I really
loved having an apartment to myself this last year and a half, and I am sure
that there will be times when I miss having absolute privacy. Still, I could
not be happier with the house, and I am really looking forward to fully
settling in once I get back from Ireland.
Speaking of the house, here are some quick pictures. Not
everything is quite set up, but I think it’s a good start.
Our entryway. I love the runner we got from Josh's parents.
Our makeshift living room. Eventually we will get matching furniture.
Kitchen.
Dining room, complete with a beautiful table gifted to us by Josh's parents.
Downstairs bathroom. I wasn't sure how I felt about the blue, but the brown accents it nicely.
Master bedroom.
Master bathroom.
Deck and part of the backyard. This is quickly becoming my favorite place at the house
It has been one heck of a week. Moving took a lot out of me,
just in time for a weekend full of dance. On Saturday, I traveled to Minnesota to dance with
the Guthrie School of Dance at the Hopkins Art Festival and the Burnsville
International Festival. It was a very long day considering that I drove to and
from Minnesota,
but it was well worth it. The shows went great, and I made some new friends.
Besides, it was wonderful to do some dancing before heading off abroad.
Shuffling through the Triubhas.
Sword dance.
And a mass Fling to finish.
And, did I mention that I got adjustable hilt practice swords?!
Sunday I had a video shoot of Gaelic Fusion. We are putting
together some promo videos for the company. I think that the shoot went well.
Now I just need to figure out how to edit the videos properly. My computer is
doing funny things to the video format. Hrm…Oh well, I suppose that is what
downtime in an Irish hostel is for!
I leave for Ireland
in less than two days! How unbelievable is that?! Now that everything is moved
into the house and the weekend dancing is done, it’s finally starting to register
that I will leaving. I have dreamed of going to Ireland my whole life, and this is
such an exciting opportunity. Of course, I am planning to keep everyone updated
via this blog, and I’ll be sure to include plenty of pictures.
And naturally, a song to end. Cá bhfuil mé ag dul? Bhuel,
siar go Conamara, ar ndóigh!
I've decided to revive this blog. Why? Well, on the one hand, since graduating college, I have been a bit bored and in need of a hobby other than dance--there is only so much time in a day that your body will let you practice pas de basques. I figure that writing is a good way to keep me busy. Plus I rather enjoy blogging, even if I'm not always the best at keeping it going.
Also, I will be heading to Ireland in a few weeks. Maintaining a blog while in Ireland seems like a great way to stay in touch with people, as well as a nice way to practice my written Irish. (Oh yeah, you totally know that Irish posts are coming.) This way I can let friends know what I am up to without having to rely on obsessive Facebook messaging or a phone, which I won't have.
It's been quite a few months since I last posted, and so a quick updated is probably in order. In May, I graduated from undergrad with a B.A. in Religious Studies and a certificate in Celtic Studies. I am now taking a few years off before grad school in order to explore dance and acquire some other skills, like learning Gàidhlig. In February I became a competitive Highland Dancer as I competed in the Chicago Spring Fling. Since then I have done four other competitions; so, five in total. I am doing well for a beginner, and I have won the trophy for my category at all of my competitions and have taken first in all of my dances at my last three competitions. It's very gratifying to know that hard work does pay off, and I am really enjoying being even more involved in Highland Dance.
I won an award to attend NUI Galway's International Summer School program for the Irish language. I will be in An Cheathrú Rua (English: Carraroe) from July 18th to August 18th. I am very grateful for the opportunity to study Irish in a communal context. I am also incredibly excited to finally go to Ireland. I can't even imagine what an awesome experience it will be.
Josh and I--okay, really Josh--bought a house on the southwest side of Madison. We will be moving in starting the 8th of July. I cannot wait to have a house and to be 'settled'. Given that I am a homebody, it will be so nice to come home to a space that is uniquely mine [and Josh's]. I also look forward to living with Josh. I'm sure that it will be challenging for a variety of reasons, but I really love that man, and this is such an incredible step in our relationship.
And now that we're all caught up, here is a video of Mànran's cover of the Runrig song, Tillidh Mi:
Yesterday Gaelic Fusion performed at the OvertureCenter’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.
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:
Well, I
survived another season of finals. This one actually wasn't too bad. My
assignments and exams were spaced out well; so, I didn't really need to stress
too much. Still, it is great to have another semester behind me. Only one more
to go and then I graduate. How exciting!
Now I am onto winter break, which,
of course, means that I will have plenty of time to relax, read, strengthen my
ankle, and, hopefully, to write my senior thesis. I have been working on
gathering data for my thesis all last semester, and I think that I am finally
ready to begin writing. The thesis itself is the capstone to my Religious
Studies program, but it also deals quite a bit with Celtic Studies. I am
arguing that, while many scholars render the Irish literary figure of Danu as
an aquatic figure/goddess, in early Irish literature, Danu actually has more
terrestrial than aquatic associations.
I am actually really looking
forward to writing this thesis. I get to interact with a variety of sources,
such as writings of modern Celticists, Irish mythological texts, and even
Sanskrit writings. I already know that it will be a lot of work to write and to
put together most coherently, but I am excited to work on it.
In other news, my wonderful boyfriend got me an Amazon gift
card for Christmas, which I used to buy myself the Teach Yourself Complete
Gaelic as well as a nice vest for my Highland
dance outfit. I am super excited about this.
I also finally found and bought a sporran.
My new sporran
It was a cheap buy, but it looks really nice. I am hoping
that it can stand up to being slung about as I pas-de-basque to and fro.
Now all I need is a bowtie to complete my temporary dance
outfit. Then I’ll be set for the show at the end of January!
Also, I have been on a Gaelg kick lately. For some reason,
the Isle of Man excites me an unreasonable
amount. I think it’s because the Isle of Man
is so often forgotten or overlooked amongst the Gaelic nations that I feel a
peculiar draw to it.
To help pacify my Gaelg kick, I boughtBarrule Trio’s CD.
They are a Manx group, and a couple of their recordings are
in Gaelg. The rest of the album consists of renditions of traditional Manx
tunes, including Mylecharane’s March, which is has an amazing dance that goes
along with it.
The CD is awesome. I really need to find more groups that do
modern renditions of traditional Manx Gaelic songs. Perhaps that will be my New Year's resolution this year...
As part of my final assignments for the semester, I had to write a short term paper for my Irish language class. I decided to writing about the naming of the characters of the beithe-luis-nin alphabet, more commonly known as the ogham. It was a quick and easy paper, as it was designed to be. Still, I find this topic incredible interesting and wish that I had the time to do more research on it. Oh well, maybe someday in the future I will find a moment for this musing.
For now, I have finished my term paper, and have posted it here. Like I said, it's a short treatment of the topic but still an interesting introduction.
