Dance Is Love, Dance Is Life

I’m in love with Evelinn’s hair in this photo. It looks like a fierce lion’s mane. 🙌

Don’t mind me but there is something that I want to talk about. I took part in a feis yesterday and I have been working hard on my stamina and I thought I danced really well and I was proud of myself. I thought I would place well. I placed 8th and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I thought I gave it my all and my stamina was good. I’m glad that I placed; it’s better than not placing, but I thought I placed a little higher. It brought my spirits down.

after the feis, my mom brought up an issue and we got talking. The girls that were in the top three where way longer than me (I’m 26). I told my mom that all the older girls in the comp placed under the top 5 (my comp was 17 and over). I understand that older dancers are staying longer in competing, which is awesome but there is one problem that is really bothering me. When signing up for feis’s, if you are over 20 and still in Prelim, your only options are 16& over, 17& over, and 18& over. There are schools that are offering 20& over for Prelim dancers, but it still hasn’t become more common. Feis’s offer 20& over to Open Dancers but not to Prelim dancers. That’s not fair.

As an older dancer who has been stuck in Prelim for almost 10 years and doesn’t even have one First, it’s frustrating that I cannot compete with dancers my own age. All I want is to finally get to Open and then retire. Do you know how hard it is to compete against someone that is 10 years younger than you? A 16 year old and a 26 year old dance completely different from each other. It bothers me that when awards are given, the younger girls are in the top spots and the older girls are in the bottom spot.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Victoria Teske when she realized she won her PC competition at the Windy City Feis. Good luck in OC, Victoria!!