I set out really early to allow myself time to find the dance studio. I arrived well before my class time of 7:30pm, and so was given a bunch of paperwork to fill out. I began to get nervous in the McGing waiting room, looking around me and seeing only high school girls. I signed up for this class since I wasn't able to join the adult beginners class due to a conflict with my university class schedule. This class was for beginners 13-18, and I was 22. I began to wonder if I would be able to keep up (I know, I'm not that much older, but it still was a worry to me!).

Finally, the class before us finished, and we were able to go into the main room. We were asked to take off our shoes to be fitted for gillies. It's always interesting to see how shoe sizes differ - while I wear a size 10 American, I only wear an 8 in Irish sizing. We met our teacher, and she told us a little about what to expect. She said that McGing had never had a beginner's class that was only teenagers, but now with the growing class sizes, we got to be the first class of that type (before this year, all beginners classes had young and older children in it). The teacher was optimistic that we would be able to learn much faster than usual because there would not be any little children slowing us down. Oh, and I think there were about 11 students in the class, all female.

We began with lots of stretches - I think we stretched every little muscle in our legs! Then she taught us how to position our feet, and we did a few exercises to get us used to having our feet turned out and crossed over. We also did a hopping exercise, where we have our heels together and toes out, and then jump straight up as high as possible and point our toes. Finally, it was time to begin learning the first step to our first dance: the reel. She walked us through the step, breaking it up into smaller parts. We didn't get to actually put the hops in it this time - just concentrate on learning the movements first. Everyone did really well and picked up the steps quite fast. I was surprised that I was able to remember them also! I did forget at times to keep my feet turned out, but other than that I made few mistakes. After we had learned the entire first step, we practiced it about 15 times, so the teacher could watch each person to make sure we were doing it right. She was amazed at how fast we learned, and said that she hopes we'll be in hardshoe by January! I was so happy!! Then she let us out of class a few minutes early, since she didn't expect us to master the step so quickly. Our "homework" for the week was to go over that step every single day, and to try reversing it, starting with the left foot instead of the right. I left the studio feeling very excited and very happy that I decided to do this. All my worries were gone, and I went right home and practiced the step again a few more times!

Wow, what a great lesson! We started out with the same stretches as last week, but then our teacher added some new stretches to our routine. I discovered that it's very hard for me to sit with my legs spread apart and try to touch my forehead to the floor - guess I need to work on my flexibility! Then we warmed up some more with some hopping exercises - I like doing these, since we do them to music, and I love listening to the music. Then we went over the steps we had learned last week, partly to refresh our memories, and partly because there was a new girl in the class who needed to learn the step. After practicing the walk-thru of the step a few times, the teacher then decided to let us try putting the hops into it. Suddenly what seemed to be an effortless step turned into something that could easily make me sweat! After hopping the step a few times I had sweat all over my face! But I was having a lot of fun trying to jump correctly, so I didn't worry much about being out of breath. The teacher then had us pair off so we could watch each other practice the step. She came around to each pair to watch, and smiled at my partner and I and said we were doing very well. Then we all came together again to run through the step three more times, though a little faster than we had been doing it. Some of the girls in the class looked like they didn't want to go over it again, but I was so excited I just wanted to keep going! Of course, the next day I realized just how vigerous Irish dance could be: my legs were killing me! I thought I would never be able to get out of bed, much less walk. But, thanks to some Advil, a few stretches and a little time, I felt better rather quickly. Next week we will be learning the next part of the reel - I can't wait!

Hmmm, the class size is never constant, as we had about 15 people in class this week. We did the usual stretches, although our teacher was not able to join in, because she had torn a muscle dancing the weekend before (wow, even great dancers can really hurt themselves as well!). We rehearsed what we knew of the reel, and then she taught us the new part: hop onto your heel. We only walked through the step, without the jumps in it yet, although much of the step was the same as the other step. The hop onto your heel part seemed a little hard. We broke off in pairs again to practice, and I tried to put the jumps to the new step - well, I couldn't do it. I could hop onto my left heel, but then trying to hop off my left heel to my right was VERY hard. So, I decided not to worry about it and wait until next week when the teacher will explain how to do the hops. We then came together again and rehearsed the first step of the reel again, only much faster. Shannon (that's our teacher's name, by the way - I just got tired of typing the word "teacher") wanted us to get that step up to the speed of the music. It was a lot harder to move so fast! I was breathing very hard and my heart was pounding from all the exertion. But I have to say that afterwards I felt wonderful - full of energy! Shannon was quite pleased with our progress, and told us that we would finish the reel next week and start learning the jig. Until then, I really plan on working on the "hop onto your heel" until I finally get it just right.

Wow, I sure was sore after this lesson! We worked a lot more on the first step of the reel, until we had it up to the speed of the music. I got really tired repeating the step over and over and over - the last few times we practiced it I had trouble just getting my legs off the ground, and my hops were pitiful! Some of the students complained that they couldn't go so fast, but Shannon said this was the only way we'd ever get the step up to speed. After a quick water break, we went back to work, this time putting the hops and jumps into the second part of the reel. I actually got the "hop onto your heel" part right! It felt good to finally master that move! We practiced that step a few more times, trying to get it faster and faster, and then were done for the night. Shannon said we were all doing really well, and hoped that we'd get to the jig next week. The next day, my left leg was killing me! My shin really hurt, and even a dab of Sportscreme didn't help much. There were a few times in this past lesson that I landed a bit hard on my left leg, but I didn't think I could have hurt it that bad. However, my leg thought differently! After 2 days it still hurt, but now that it has been three days it is getting better, and I hope it will be fine for next week's lesson. I've found that stretching each day, even when I'm not practicing my steps, helps ease the pain of my injury (remember this, folks - it helps!).

At this practice, we worked more on our reel. I was kind of hoping we would start learning another dance, but Shannon wants us to get this dance up to speed, with all parts of it put together. So, she drilled us on the dance one part at a time, making us do it over and over at the proper speed. Then she watched us do it one line at a time so she could check if we were doing the steps correctly. It was a pretty intense practice, since we were usually only given 8 beats of music to get in place to do the step again. I watched the other dancers as well, and was happy to note that while I'm not the best in the class, I'm not the worst either. In fact, I seem to be doing better than 75% of the class (although that other 25% of the class are very good and most of them are much better than me). It feels good to know you're doing well. This was also a slightly strange night, for we are the last class of the night, and usually don't share the studio with any other classes, but this time there was a class of dancers practicing figure dances, and they were VERY good! Whenever we took a quick water break, I'd sit and watch the other class - they were amazing! They were so precise - each girl was exactly on time with the other girls! I found them to be a bit of an inspiration - I hope one day I can be as good as them!

We finally got to learn a new dance at this practice. We started out practicing our reel for about 15 minutes, but, seeing we were getting really bored with our reel, Shannon decided to start teaching us the first step of the jig. I had a really tough time, even though we were just walking through it. It is so different from the reel! The movements are different, and the timing of each movement isn't the same as the reel. I promised myself that I would really practice this week so I will be able to master this step at next week's lesson!

Wow, this was a strange lesson this week! To begin with, Shannon wasn't able to be there, due to the fact that she is also a teacher and had parent-teacher conferences that night. But then we weren't allowed into the studio either! The studio is rather new, and apparently, the zoning committee of the city came out to inspect the studio and found they needed one more parking space to be in compliance with regulations! So we had to practice in the backroom of a printing company, or at least that's what it looked like. The instructor for the night was very nice, and she kept us practicing our reel and the first step of our jig. The only problem was that the floor was solid concrete - VERY painful to dance on. Experienced dancers know that dancing on concrete is very bad for your legs, and I soon found this out. My left shin began to hurt very bad, to the point that I couldn't take big jumps for fear of the pain caused by landing on it. Guess I'll have to take care to never even practice on concrete, since I now know how bad it is!

Well, this time we were finally back in the studio, but Shannon wasn't there again! This time she had the flu, and so the same stand-in teacher taught us again. We started out with our reel again, and I soon found that my left leg still hadn't healed yet, as it began to hurt after a few run-throughs of the reel. We worked on polishing our movements - we all know the reel very well by now, so we focused on taking smaller jumps and keeping our feet crossed. After about 20 minutes of this, we moved on to our jig. I am starting to like the jig now. At first I didn't like it, mainly because I had a lot of trouble learning the steps, but now that I'm starting to get the hang of it, it's fun! I don't sweat as much when dancing the jig - to me it is a more graceful dance. I left this lesson wanting to dance even more, despite the pain in my leg. Guess I'll just have to practice a lot this week!

No lesson for me this week - apparently that flu is getting around, for it has reached me. I was way too sick to go to class this week. Hope they didn't learn too much new stuff!

Well, I had to catch up this week, since the week before they learned the next step to the jig. They had also started doing the first step at full speed! Since I was sick, I didn't get to practice last week, which meant that I was really behind! But I quickly picked up the new step, and although I still had trouble getting it up to speed, I did at least catch up to the others. On another note, our shoes and socks and music came in today. Before this we had been dancing in just our socks - it was nice to finally dance in our shoes. But I have to break in my shoes - they're not very comfortable to dance in yet!

We've finally reached a point where we have to practice during the week in order to remember what we've done! After learning two dances, you have to practice each or you'll forget both! We worked on our jig and our reel today. We worked on the jig together as a class, and then our teacher had us pair off to show her our reel. I was kinda nervous, since all the other students would watch each pair closely, and I was worried I would mess up. But I did really well each time - I didn't miss a step. My teacher told me I need to work on keeping my feet crossed, and kicking my legs up higher. Guess I need to practice more. Thing is, I can't practice well in my apartment - it's too small! I can walk through the steps, but I can't kick very high or I will kick furniture! Maybe I can find another place to practice?

No lesson for me this week! I pushed myself a little too hard last week, and have had trouble walking all this week! The new shoes hurt my feet a lot last week, and when I got up the next morning, the pain was horrible! I was sure I had broken something. I went to the doctor, and he took X-rays and told me it wasn't broken (big sigh of relief!). I had just bruised the soft tissue in the ball of my foot badly, and just needed some time for it to heal. Hopefully I'll be back next week!

I felt a lot better this week, so I was able to go to class. To help my feet, I put Dr. Scholl's Ball of Foot cushions in my shoes - these things are great!! I was able to dance without any pain, and the next day, my feet didn't hurt a bit! I highly recommend these to anyone who has similar problems! We worked a little more on our reel today, trying to polish it up. We also tried to put together both steps of our jig to music, but many had problems, including me. Finally, our teacher saw we were getting really tired of practicing our jig, so for the last 10 minutes of class, she taught us the beginning of the slip jig. I think I'm going to like the slip jig - it seems like a cool dance.

After rehearsing our reel and jig a few times, we continued learning the first step of the slip jig. What an interesting dance! The rhythm is very different from the reel and jig, and it goes a lot slower, so you can work on making the movements more graceful. I think I really like this dance a lot! Again, my feet didn't hurt thanks to the cushions in my shoes - thank you, Dr. Scholl's!

This was our last practice of the year, and our teacher was not there, so we had a substitute for the evening. We started out by working on the first step of our slip jig, and for the first time, putting it to music. It was really hard to know where to start in the music, and it was hard getting used to the rhythm. After that we ran through our reel and jig a few times so we'd remember them enough to practice them over the holiday break. At the end of class we were given candy canes (how sweet!). I also found out that starting in late January or early February, we will begin learning hardshoe dances! Our class is the first beginner class at McGing to be made up of only teenagers (and me), and we of course learn a lot faster without younger children holding us back. Since we've been learning so fast, they've decided we're going to be the first beginner class to learn hardshoe in early 1999. Yea! I'm so excited!

Tonight started out just like every lesson, except that a lot of us had a little trouble getting back into dance again. It was clear that many (including myself) didn't practice much over break (hey, I was busy!). But soon I was remembering the steps. We worked the first part of class on our reel, doing it in sets of 2 or 3 dancers at a time, so our instructor could critique us better. After doing that for about 20 minutes, we switched to our slip jig. We walked thru the first step again to refresh our memory, then practiced it up to speed, trying to make sure we placed our feet properly when we touched our toe to the floor (ya know, knees together, feet crossed, etc.). I was doing well until our last run-thru of the step. I hopped and put my right foot back to touch the toes to the floor, but did it a little too hard - ouch! No permanent damage - just a good laugh and a reminder to myself to be more careful!! *grin* The best part of the night was after practice, though. We were told to order our hardshoes, because we will be starting hardshoe as soon as everyone gets them (probably early Feb.)! I'm so excited about hardshoe!!

Tonight went a lot slower than most lessons. We spent about 35 minutes just stretching out and doing exercises, like v-walks (to remind us to keep our feet crossed) and jump exercises. The rest of the time was spent on the jig. We hadn't practiced this in a long time, and I didn't remember the steps very well. I mean, I knew them, but when dancing up to speed, I'd get lost and forget some steps. I kept wishing we'd move on to another dance, since I was having so much trouble, but I guess it was good that we didn't, as I did get a lot of practice on that dance tonight! I was still a little bored, though. We haven't learned the second step of the slip jig yet, and I really want to learn it! I hope everyone gets their hardshoes soon so we can start learning that also! :)

We started out the evening practicing the first step of our slip jig. I had forgotten to take my Advil before class, so my feet started to hurt after just a few run-throughs. But I really like the slip jig, so it didn't bother me too much. After rehearsing it to music about 10 times, we took a break. Shannon asked us what we wanted to do next. I spoke up and said I wanted to learn the second step to the slip jig, and a few others joined in and said they wanted to learn it also. So, Shannon began to teach us the next part of the slip jig. It was really hard! The first part of it require you to hop up (bringing your right foot up over your left knee), then spin yourself around in 4 beats, then hop up again with the same foot and skip forward for four beats. The turn was really hard to do! Many had a hard time trying to get all the way around to be facing forward again(including me). After we learned the complete step, we put it to music, and a lot of us laughed at how bad we were at that step. But our teacher said we should be proud of ourselves, since we managed to learn a new step on both feet and be able to put it to music, all in about 15 minutes! After thinking about it that way, I felt really good.

Finally, at the end of class, Shannon reminded those who haven't ordered their hardshoes to do so right away, and asked those of us who had our hardshoes with us to stay after so she could check our shoes. There were only three of us who had our shoes. I went ahead and put mine on, even though I knew that they fit well already. I'm glad I did stay, because Shannon decided to teach us the basic hardshoe step: the treble (or batter or whatever you call it)! She said we might as well have something to work on with our hardshoes, so we can get them broken in. I was so happy to learn the treble!! We worked on it for about 10 minutes, then had to quit, 'cause the studio was closing for the night. I had a lot of trouble trying to do the step right, but I'm sure with lots of practice I'll get it! Funny thing is, after only 10 minutes in hardshoe, my heels were already hurting! Guess I'd better get ready for blisters! That's OK, though - I'll take blisters if I can just dance well in hardshoe!

We worked a lot more on the second step of our slip jig tonight. I got really dizzy trying to do the spin move over and over!! While I still can't make it completely full circle in 4 beats, I can now get almost all the way around, although it doesn't look very pretty. After practicing that for awhile, we then switched to our jig. I really think the jig is my worst dance - I have an awfully hard time remembering all the steps. I'll be doing well at first, then just go blank and forget the rest of the dance! Guess I need a lot of work!

Tonight we practiced all three of the dances we know so far - the reel, the jig, and the slip jig. We started with the reel. It was obvious that many people had completely forgotten the reel - half the class had trouble with the steps. I remembered it just fine, and was amazed at how effortless it seemed! Then we moved on to the dreaded jig - my worst dance. Once again, I had a lot of problems with it, and would just forget a part of a step and lose my place. After struggling with that, we moved to the slip jig (thank goodness!!). I discovered that I know the slip jig better than I thought I did, for I was able to dance the first step without any problems, and the second part with only a few missteps. I think I'm just cursed when it comes to dancing the jig! Maybe that means I should practice my jig a little more than the other dances, eh? Oh, and we were told that we should start learning hardshoe next week - hopefully I'll have lots of news to share with everyone about how wonderful hardshoe is!

Well, I missed these two weeks of practice. The first week I was very busy starting a new job and moving to Columbus (yep, I moved, but I'm still going to Cincinnati for dance class). The second week I had the flu again!! I hope I didn't miss much, although I know we were going to start hardshoe soon!

Wah! I missed hardshoe last week because I was sick! How depressing! And we didn't get to practice any hardshoe this week because Shannon was gone and so we had a substitute teacher. All we did was practice our reel, jig, and slip jig about 100 times (well, maybe not that many times, but it sure felt like it!). I had a hard time with my dances - I just felt sore and achy, and it was obvious that I hadn't practiced much at home (bad me! I will practice more, I promise!). We were told at the end of practice to be sure to bring our hardshoes next week - hopefully we'll get to use them!

Shannon wasn't in class again this week (she has the flu), so we had a substitute again. But after practicing our reel and jig for about half an hour, we begged her to let us put on our hardshoes - she agreed!! We only practiced one step of our treble reel, but it was fun to hear the sounds we were making. Of course, we can't do the move very quickly yet, but I'm sure we'll get better. We had to each do the step individually for the teacher so she could make sure we were doing it correctly - she said I did a good job! I'm still getting used to the feel of the hardshoes - they feel so heavy on my feet, and my toes feel like they're being pushed way up. But my strikes are usually clean and clear sounding most of the time, so I must be doing something right. I think I'm going to really like hardshoe!

I didn't make it to class tonight because a winter storm hit this morning and dumped a bunch of snow! I didn't want to risk driving on snow covered roads, so I decided to play it safe and stay home. I wasn't very happy about having to miss class though, but I made up for it by showing some of my steps to my boyfriend tonight!

My class didn't do so well at this practice. We started by practicing our reel one line at a time (4-5 dancers at a time). Some did really well, others had trouble remembering all the steps. After about 15 minutes, we switched to the jig, where it became apparent that many of us had not practiced this much, since most dancers had trouble. Shannon became a little upset, and urged us to practice more at home. We then switched to our slip jig, which was the worst! Most of us could not perfectly remember our steps!! Shannon then got really angry and told us we would not be able to practice hardshoe anymore until we knew our other dances better. I was a little bummed by this news, but I did go home and practice more all the next week.

I skipped out on this practice, due to a lot of pain in my shins. It hurt to practice at home, and I didn't want to risk aggrevating any injury I might have. So I decided to stay home and rest up.

We started this practice with our reel - Shannon is getting very picky about our form now, which is good, since now that we are comfortable with the steps, we should work harder on making each move perfect. She was especially disappointed with our leaps. She said we didn't jump high enough or lift our legs high enough. So to practice this, we skipped across the room, doing flying leaps on each leg while we skipped (hop, skip, skip, hop, skip, skip, etc.). It was really fun, although I got really worn out fast! We then worked some more on our jig, and then Shannon let us put on our hardshoes. We practiced the one step we had been taught before, and then Shannon taught us the rest of the step. It was difficult to keep from hitting myself with my shoes - the heels are very sharp! I sliced my leg once - after that I decided to slow down and try to control my moves more. I think that hardshoes are very heavy on your feet - guess I'm just going to have to get used to the weight of them!