Oireachtas

The Oireachtas (aka Western Regionals for Irish Dance) are taking place at the Portland Convention Center. That's why I haven't been blogging. I needed to get some stuff done before the weekend hit. I managed a bunch of pages for NaNoWriMo on Friday. But I still haven't come up with my Thanksgiving menu. Yikes!

Anyway, this competition is considered a major event because you can qualify for the world championships and nationals. The pressure on these kids is intense. I remember one of the parents I know saying Nationals is borderline child abuse. Today didn't seem that bad, but there were tears. And one girl was throwing up in a plastic bag held open by her mom. At that point, I think it's safe to say it's no longer fun for either dancer or parent.

We were lucky. Today was all about having fun for the eldest kidlet. She isn't a champion dancer so doesn't qualify for the solo competition, but since the Oireachtas was in our own backyard, she was asked to be on a ceili team with four girls and four boys. Mainly the team was put together to give them experience, but they spent extra days in the studio to prepare. Their competition wasn't a world qualifying event (too young) so they didn't have the same pressure on them. Plus I think we were all hoping for them to get through the dance without bumping into each other and falling down!

Well, they did better than that. The team placed second! We are so proud of them!

Now to see how tomorrow goes at the feis for all the non-championship dancers in the Western Region where the two older kidlets will compete. I'm taking my alphie with me since hubby will be there to help with the kidlets. Today I was on my own so writing during the down time wasn't possible. Still seeing the smile on my daughter's face when she stepped on stage after their team was announced was better than any pages I could have written.