Caledonian society dinner

 What a start to 2015! Five of the girls from our studio and their teacher danced at the local Caledonian society dinner. And what a gorgeous sunset we had that day too!

 Due to school holidays their was only time for one short rehearsal beforehand. Luckily Miss E had those hours of Christmas holiday practice behind her. It was good for her to see that all the work was worth it.

 The night commenced with a Strathspey and Highland Reel.

 E and her friends then performed the seann truibhas.  She then managed a short break before finishing with the highland fling while the other students danced the sword dance.

It was wonderful to get back into performing. Here's to a busy dance year!

Dance with your heart

Photo credit - Rachel Spies Photography

(the girls were waiting for the bride to arrive - they were about to have the honour of dancing her down the aisle)

Bring on 2015~

Yes - I even have stationary for me this year!

From Flamingo road journals on etsy.

Beautifully made and she worked with me to customise "mom" to "mum" as I'm Australian!

I had double the pages put in, and chose a thin cardstock rather than paper for durability.

Now I have a place to put MY notes during E's privates, and to keep competition scores and notes for future perusal.

Link to etsy store : https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlamingoRoadJournals

Practice

These shoes ... these shoes sure saw some dancing this year.

The little dancer wearing them worked so hard. And you can see it.
They held together for the last comp with tape and polish and crossed fingers.

She had new shoes ... but these are the ones she wanted to wear. And I can see why. She knows how they feel. How they respond. They are an extension of her. It's going to take a lot of work next year to wear a new pair in to feel the same.

We had a small break from practice once school broke up. We had travelling to do ... and the small matter of Christmas.

But now Christmas is over she is back. There are still two weeks till dancing kicks in again - and she really wants to be ready to go from the start.

Practice is a funny thing ... finding a time she can concentrate is hard with a two year old sister. We seem to have hit the sweet spot though. Nothing makes practice more attractive than being allowed to stay up past bedtime. I really really love this time.

I am very much looking forward to lessons starting up again! I am so ready for the teachers input and a list of what to work on! She is far too good for me!

End of year presentations

 Merry Christmas! What a wonderful year for highland it has been - and how fabulous to see how much every dancer at the studio has grown as a dancer this year! (and how the studio has grown too!)

It was wonderful to come together for the end of year presentations, photo and christmas party (and how grateful we were for an air  conditioned venue!

 We were thrilled to see E presented with her grade one exam results - honours. She worked so hard for it.

 Even more so we were so proud when she was presented as joint most improved dancer. I can honestly say she has practiced her little heart out this year - and especially at her last comp we began seeing a new strength and focus in her dancing. It was so lovely to see this recognised and I know that she treasures her trophy.

It has been an absolutely fabulous year for miss e. She is so excited about next year. Learning the hornpipe is a special joy at the moment ... and she has great ambition to get into novice level!

Fingers crossed next year will bring even more success