Archive for the 'Dance' Category

Robin Hood

Check out the press release for the upcoming performance of Robin Hood, directed by Emily Oleson, featuring the Shenandoah Irish Dance Ensemble and artists including dancer Matthew Olwell, musician Aran Olwell, musician Cleek Schrey, soprano Amanda Balestrieri, and yours truly.

Come, show your support, and enjoy the show! All involved have (and still are) putting in loads of time and effort, and it promises to be a fun and exciting performance.

16 September, 2 PM and 7 PM, Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, VA
17 September, 7 PM, Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, VA
More details

Wearin’ of the Green

St. Patrick’s Day festivities last weekend were wild–we danced at O’Neil’s on the UVA Corner for one of our most animated audiences ever. We kept it informal, did some casual reels, jigs, hornpipes, and even got people on stage for a couple of polkas. We had a bodhrán and two fiddles, and later in the evening some bagpipes. We went home with smiles, crampy calves, post-performance glows, and beer-sticky shoes.

We also had a small performance at Lindsay’s church on Sunday for their International Lunch. We had bodhrán/whistle player accompany us and we kept it simple–reel, slip jig, traditional sets, and ending with treble reel as always. They were an appreciative audience, but quite tame compared to Friday night’s crowd.

My sodabread loaves turned out well, but my colcannon was an even bigger hit (at least I thought so). You just can’t go wrong with mashed potatoes and melted butter. Oh, and parsnips–I saw, bought, and ate my first parsnip for this dish. Legendary.

Short course cancelled

Sadly, this semester’s short course was cancelled due to low enrollment. The good news, however, is that I’ll be giving group lessons on weekends for anyone in the area who is preparing for springtime feisanna, especially the 28 May Emmitsburg Feis.

Things have been dull lately. With these dreary winter days, there hasn’t been much for me to practice my photography skills (or lack thereof) on. I’m in the middle of a web design project for MDC that’s progressing slowly. I’ve spent the past two weeks heavily involved in watching the 2006 Torino Games and doing a lot of Irish dancing practice for my own steps. I’m working on my new set dances, Piper Through the Meadow Strayin’ and Planxty Drury, both of which I composed myself based on hornpipe and treble jig steps I learned at various workshops.

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and a group of us is trying to get permission to dance at O’Neil’s on The Corner. I’m also looking for a new apartment, with less than five months left in my current place.

Laundry dancing

Yesterday was the last Irish dancing short course of the semester and we ended on a creative note–the class collaborated on making up a new, unique ceili dance. Every student contributed an idea or even a full figure, we pieced it together, and ended up with a very energetic and very visually awesome dance! Most importantly, the process involved a lot of laughter
I realized that, strangely, each of the figures was like doing laundry–soak cycle, rinse cycle, wringing out the clothes/swishing them around, the spin cycle, and finally hanging them up to dry. How is this possible in an Irish dance? Well, it’s all the side steps (rinsing), the spins and swings and turns (wringing out/swishing), the ultra-fast spinning group circle, and finally the line-up at the end.

The Laundry Dance

I was very pleased with the product and very proud of my students. Now I’m considering submitting the choreography to An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (Irish Dance Commision) to add to the official Ár Rince Foirne
Well, you can at least count on us performing it somewhere in Charlottesville this St. Patrick’s Day.

Gone with the Wind

And winter comes rushing in…it’s eerily windy and overcast today. Mid-November, 11 months.

Last weekend I saw ‘Gone with the Wind’ for the first time at the Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall. Overdramatic, yes, but it was so epic.

This weekend I’m going to Raleigh, NC to see my good friend Nick perform with Riverdance! He’s living his dream and, actually, he’s living mine too

Greenwood Ceili

Last night was the Irish ceili in Greenwood. Most of the short course students came out, plus some of their friends, plus some VA Irish kids. It was a good group.

We did the Bridge of Athlone, Siege of Ennis, and Haymaker’s Jig. Then we did a small impromptu performance during the intermission–we performed our reel step and some solos for those who knew them. Plus, we had some BRIMS girls join us–Marina, Becca, and Phoebe.

All this was followed up with 2 set dances–the Sliabh Luchre set and some Clare sets.

All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day

Tomorrow is the opening for my uncle’s retrospective art exhibition, Ora Pro Nobis at WTU in Washington, DC. It will be good to see family and friends, and it will be awe-inspiring, as always, to see his work on display.

I carved a mini-pumpkin for Halloween this year. Mini- because all the big ones were already gone at Harris Teeter on Saturday. I have 3 Musketeers bars for the trick-or-treaters.

Martin defends his dissertation on Wednesday.

Ceili at Greenwood on Sunday. The short course is taking a field trip!

Weekend

Culturefest was a huge success! We did an awesome job, quite possibly the best Culturefest I’ve been involved in, and we got lots of gushing compliments afterwards. The light reel was energetic and kept very informal (lots of ‘whooping’) and the treble reel was loud and impressive, especially because of the a cappella effects of feet + bodhrán.

Saturday was a wholesome homemade dinner with Martin, followed by a visit to the Twisted Branch, where we shared a pot of organic roiboos.

Sunday I baked my annual pumpkin pie, made from real pumpkin, and the crust was made from scratch as well!

October is almost over. First week of November includes: (1) Uncle Di’s gallery opening, November 1, (2) Martin’s dissertation defense, November 2 (plus many days of celebration), (3) short course field trip to the ceili in Greenwood, November 6.

Laugh all you want

Who else is insanely excited about the finale of So You Think You Can Dance? tonight? And there’s a surprise in store for us! Ooh ooh ooh.

The show will be immediately followed by a long, in-depth phone conversation with Mom. We’re both rooting for Ashley, though we are both charmed by Melody.

We think there are more people watching this show than it might seem. Secret dance fanatics, embarrassed to admit it. Take her middle-aged Chinese man graduate student, for example. Who would have thought?