The Rocky Road To...

Katie. Grown-up Irish dancer in NYC cataloging strugs, inspo, and lolz.

[planxtyparis-blog]

Petition for Jigs and Wigs to make a third season

[rockyroadto]

the signs as set dances

Aries: The Hurling Boys/Three Sea Captains

Taurus: The White Blanket

Gemini: Kilkenny Races

Cancer: Bonaparte's Retreat

Leo: Rodney's Glory

Virgo: King of the Faeries/Job of Journeywork

Libra: The Drunken Gauger/Blue Eyed Rascal

Scorpio: Planxty Davis

Sagittarius: The Blackthorn Stick

Capricorn: The Hunt

Aquarius: The Rambling Rake/Humours of Bandon

Pisces: Miss Brown's Fancy

[rockyroadto]

What a great weekend of dancing! Achieved my childhood goal of dancing in preliminary championships (way over a decade later, but who’s counting?), passed grades 4 and 5, celebrated a bunch of awesome results and milestones for other dancers at my school, and had a great time exploring Lancaster. 💚🌹☘️

[rincerepeat]

When it’s a drab cold winter day, you chase away the winter blues with dance! 😊

The Winter Blues Dancer ft. Julia O'Rourke for Rince & Repeat’s ‪#‎WhereWeDance‬.

My photo series Where We Dance is all about celebrating the fact that as dancers we never stop dancing, no matter where we are or what we are doing! Dance is life!

View the full series here: rinceandrepeat.com/wherewedance

[wearethesparkk]

OOOOOOOhhhhhhh we’re halfway there

oooOOOOOOH

JOCKEY TO THE FAIR

[nycnostalgia]

79th and Broadway, 1972. Looking East.

[rockyroadto]

Lol, a historical view of my commute home from dance class. @fig-for-a-kiss

[happinessandhardshoes]

@riverdance what the heck is this 😂

[thepiper76]

I think about this sometimes

[rockyroadto]

Remembered this video just now and it was precisely the pre-Oireachtas stress relief I needed

[hopethesunshiines-deactivated20]

hello any grade exam advice and i mean ANY (even down to what to wear, etc) is greatly appreciated thankzzzzzzz

[irishdance-comeback-kid]

@itstimefor-succotash

[bunnyofgrace]

Wear a T-shirt and black gym shorts. You can’t wear anything that identifies your dance school, and I’m not sure about feis T-shirts either. 

What grades are you doing? If you’re doing the lower grades where you have to do beginner steps, you should literally do the easiest steps you know. Like, the steps that the youngest dancers at your school do at their first feis.

It probably depends on the examiner, but when I did grade exams a few years ago, my TC said that the most important things to practice are the very basics. Turning out, crossover, pointed toes, etc. are more important than jumps and fancy tricks.

[hopethesunshiines-deactivated20]

Thanks! Yes I’m just starting them so I’ll do grades 1-3. And I for some reason thought you should wear a black skirt or plan black dress type thing.. So thanks for that tip as well lol

[fig-for-a-kiss]

@hopethesunshiines I was stupidly stressed about what to wear when I took the first exams. Don’t worry about it. Practice wear with no school info is totally fine. I think it’s nice to look a little more polished than you would for a regular class.You would not look out of place if you wanted to wear a skirt or a dress though.

Definitely work on your basic steps with turnout, cross, pointed feet, high on your toes, and strong rhythym. My examiner for 1, 2, and 3 was a huge stickler for technique and marked me down a bit for turnout/not high enough on my toes. Meanwhile, I was just worried about remembering all those basic steps!

The best part is the personal feedback at the end. My examiner had a lot of nice things to say about my dancing and asked about my goals for the grade exams if I want to teach. Overall, it was a really positive experience! Where are you taking the exams? I’m hopefully going for 4, 5, and 6 in January!

[hopethesunshiines-deactivated20]

@fig-for-a-kiss I’ll be there☺️ thanks for the info amara!!

[fig-for-a-kiss]

@hopethesunshiines are you doing O’Rourke or Chesapeake/Maryland? I’m going down to Maryland for that double feis weekend, so doing the grades there!

[lots-of-treble]

I’m not planning on getting my TC, but I’m still thinking about taking some exams. Anyone who’s done it: Did you find the experience enjoyable and/or beneficial?

[fig-for-a-kiss]

@lots-of-treble yes, definitely! I think all dancers should take at least a few. I found the experience to be extremely beneficial. Like I said above, you get personal feedback from the examiner at the end. I’m sure each examiner is different and they may not all take that much time with each exam candidate, but I really appreciated all the feedback I got. It’s one thing to have judges write comments on your dances (and they’ll do that too, similar to a feis), but another thing entirely to have a seasoned judge talk to you a little bit about the reasons they gave you the scores they did. Having the chance to hear a judge’s thoughts on my dancing gave me some fresh perspective on competition. Highly recommend taking the first few exams if you have some in your area!

[rockyroadto]

Reblogging for reference before I take Grades 1-3 in a couple of weeks!

[rockyroadto]

Sesamoids, part 2

Now that you’ve heard my long story, here are things that I find helpful in managing my sesamoid fracture. It takes work every day, but being able to dance is SO worth it! This is just what works for me in consultation with my doctor, and anyone experiencing pain should see a doctor for help!

-Padding: Sesamoid pads or dancer’s pads are designed to redistribute weight off of your sesamoids. I wear Dr. Jill’s pads at all times when dancing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1VTR30/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_pjvszbWTAB526. I find the cut-out to be small, so I cut them for my own best fit, and I’ve been wearing them on both feet while dancing to hopefully help prevent also injuring my right foot. Dr. Jill’s are great because they’re reusable. I just wash them with regular unscented hand soap after each wear. I also wear pads in my regular shoes every day. I live in NYC and walk quite a bit, so I find this helps me avoid inflaming my sesamoid while just going about my day. Dr. Jill’s work for everyday use, too, but if I need something stickier or more low profile I use these single-use pads also: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015TEVXC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_WjvszbE8VWTMB.

-Shoes: Changing my footwear has been absolutely crucial in managing this injury. It sucked to have to spend lots of money on new shoes and give up some favorites that weren’t good for my feet, but so worth it in the long run. I look for shoes that keep me up off the ground, are cushy, and promote a natural “rock”/“roll” through the ball of your foot/toes. Arch support also helps a LOT. I have a few pairs of Danskos that have been lifesavers, a pair of Alegria boots, and a pair of slip on sneakers from Sofft that are great. I also recommend these insoles for sneakers, which have a red cushion under the sesamoids that can be removed to create a the effect of a dancer’s pad: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VQSGQOY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_5kvszb6HHW4DT.

-Ice socks! Icing is very helpful to reduce inflammation, but it can be kind of awkward to get an ice pack to stay on the bottoms of your feet. These socks with ice packs in them are AMAZING: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L4WOKG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_bkvszb7RDZ30P. Even if you don’t have sesamoid issues, I recommend them! Or you could probably easily do a DIY version using old socks and ice packs.

-Contrast baths: Also great for reducing inflammation after class. I just use my bath faucet and run my feet under hot water for 3 minutes, then cold for 1 minute and repeat that 3-4 times. I even made a playlist for it (3-4 minute song, followed by a 1 minute song x4). The 1 minute part is a great opportunity to bust out the punk rock!

-Rolling: I find that it’s important to roll my feet out frequently. I like to use a lacrosse ball because it’s not too hard or too small a surface area to roll over my sesamoids, and it feels great on my arches. Don’t roll over your injured sesamoid with too much force, or at all, if you’re in pain! Listen to your body!

-Strengthening: This is still a work in progress for me, but I’ve been trying to focus on strengthening my ankles, feet, and shins (and really everything) so that my body is strong enough to properly absorb the impact that caused my fracture.

-Say NO to dancing on hard floors as much as possible: Irish dance is getting better about this and most schools use studios with proper sprung floors these days, but there are still situations where we have to dance in church halls, school gyms, concrete in parks, etc. I try to minimize this as much as possible, and make a plan for lots of recovery afterward.

-Journaling: I’m not perfect at this, but I try to keep notes about how my foot feels after every class/practice. This helps me actively monitor how things are feeling and what strategies worked for recovery. It also helps me stay on top of when I might be practicing too much. Like any stress fracture, this is an overuse injury, and it has forced me to be smarter about my practice and prioritize quality over quantity. I know there’s a cost to any time I spend subjecting my feet to impact, so I try to make the best possible use of that time. There’s lots you can do to improve your dancing without putting any impact on your sesamoids! Keeping a practice journal is also helpful for venting and processing your ~*feelings*~, which chronic injuries tend to provoke!

I hope this is helpful! Sending all good vibes to the other dancers out there managing/recovering from injuries! I think it’s so important to talk about this stuff and hopefully help prevent it from happening to others! Knowledge is power! 

[rockyroadto]

Sesamoids, part 1

I’ve had a few people message me about sesamoid injuries over the last few days, so I wanted to share my story and some tips. When I was learning about this injury there wasn’t much info/discussion out there in the Irish dance world, so I thought it might be helpful to put it all out there. Feel free to skip this saga and jump to part 2 for tips!

Let me start with the caveat that I’m not a medical professional in any way, shape, or form, this is just my own unique experience with this injury. I’m a 27-year-old living in NYC, so my situation is quite different from most Irish dancers out there. And let me also emphasize that this is a serious injury that seems to be very common among Irish dancers that doesn’t get talked about, and it can be hard to identify. I know that I didn’t realize I had an injury for a very long time, because it seemed reasonable/normal to me for my feet to be sore for days at a time from jumping up and down on a block of fiberglass for hours. So, Irish dancer PSA: if the balls of your feet hurt, go see a doctor! Sesamoids are tricky to heal because they don’t get much blood supply, so the sooner you catch it the more likely you are to be able to heal a fracture!

As mentioned, I didn’t realize I was injured probably for months after fracturing my sesamoid. I remember feeling some pain in the ball of my left foot for a week or so last June, but around the same time I sprained my left ankle landing a jump. Because of the sprain, I took most of the summer off from dancing to focus on PT, and the pain in the ball of my foot subsided. But I started to notice it coming back with a vengeance while doing single-leg calf raises and some jumping as part of my PT for my ankle, and as I was easing back into dancing. By the time I saw my orthopedic doctor about it in the middle of September, my MRI showed that the bone was 90% dead, and my doctor was fairly certain I’d need surgery to remove the bone. After a LOT of crying, she helped me make a plan to try to dance through the Oireachtas with regular follow ups, and a plan to reassess in early December. On the recommendation of a family member, I also ended up getting a second opinion from a doctor in another city who specializes in sesamoid surgeries. The second doctor made me feel confident about the plan we had in place, reassured me that returning to dance would be possible though hard after surgery, and also offered some other alternatives to consider (cortisone shots) before going straight down the path to surgery after the Oireachtas. So, based on my doctors’ advice, from the middle of September through early December, I was in a walking boot except when dancing, so that dancing would be the only activity aggravating my sesamoid and to allow the inflammation to subside as much as possible. I used a bone stimulator two times a day throughout this time, also. I started wearing sesamoid pads at all times when dancing, and it didn’t help much, but I had a pedorthist (orthotic specialist) build some foam arch support into my hard shoes to help redistribute pressure away from my sesamoid, at least when standing. I also started taking calcium supplements and generally trying to up my calcium intake to promote bone growth. I kept a very close eye on how my foot was feeling and used ice and contrast baths regularly at home after dancing. I was VERY diligent about all of this. By the time of the Oireachtas, pain had completely subsided except during and immediately after dancing.

My follow-up MRI showed much more healing than expected, but because the bone was already dying, my fracture will likely never heal fully. My doctor allowed me to return to regular shoes, and because I was only experiencing minimal pain when dancing (~2-3 out of 10), I was able to return to dancing and forgo surgery or further intervention with the understanding that I should follow up with my doctor if my pain increases. In the months since then, I’ve been able to successfully manage my pain and not inflame it again, while also increasing the level of my dancing (for the Oireachtas I was training for traditional set and teams, December through present I’ve been working on champs-level solo dancing). What’s especially weird about this injury is that there may be a “so bad it’s good” element to it. As in, because my fracture won’t heal and the bone is dying/dead, I may reach a point where it’s just dead and no longer painful. But, it may also rear its ugly head again at any point, so it’s going to be a matter of constant monitoring and care, and I know that I still may need cortisone shots and/or surgery in the future.

[thedocumentedlifeofanerd]

What's your dance story? 🙂

Hey!

So i started dancing when i was eight years old, I’m thirteen now competing PC U14. The school i dance with now, O'Faolain Academy, had a summer camp through my town. My younger cousin and I decided to join. We both fell in love with it and continued dancing with O'Faolain after the camp had ended.

My first competition was in February of 2012 and i placed first in my light jig and first in my reel. I fell in love watching the big girls with their high jumps and bouncy hair and i haven’t fallen out of love since.

My first Oireachtas was in Michigan where i did Trad and was on a Ceili. Our ceili placed which was completely unexpected as we’d only been a team for that year and were one of the first teams in our school. I did the same at my second Oireachtas in Minneapolis and didn’t place in either. The next year I was qualified to do solos at Oireachtas. I got my final qualification at the Sunflower Feis in Kansas City and cried of happiness because going to Oireachtas had been my goal since the very beginning. That year i got a lot better at dancing, I was in prize winner and i got to the top of my class where i was almost never coming home without winning something. In my last prize winner feis i won everything i competed in and qualified to move to PC which was unbelievable.

Despite my improvements, I didn’t place at my third Oireachtas. I was okay with it though, i would come back the next year stronger and better.

And here’s where my big injury comes in. I had had injuries a lot in my dance career but this is very hopefully going to be the biggest. I had been having pain in the ball of my foot, but i didn’t think much of it because it would go away soon after dance class so i lumped it in with other aches and pains that i had just normally. Turns out i had a stress fracture in my sesamoid which is one of the two little bones in the ball of the foot. From January until August i was completely out of dance and trying a combination of crutches, walking boots, cortisone shots, orthotics, everything you could think of. Finally in June it hadn’t gotten better and it had started to get worse despite the fact that i did everything i was supposed to. We scheduled my surgery to have the bone removed. I had a Sesamoidectomy which removed the bone and then stitched the tendon it was holding back together. Recovery was rough and it was incredibly tedious to relearn everything on my right leg. I’ve got videos of me walking for the first time on it and i look like a baby deer. But I ended up on the short end of recovery times which was very exciting and a much needed win.

I came back to dance in August from my injury. I learned my steps and got back into competing. I did a lot of strength training. I worked my ass off because hell if i was missing Oireachtas. I ended up spraining my ankle around the end of September and i still came to class and did crunches and stuff like that while watching my classmates get their corrections and trying to apply that to my own dancing. Surprisingly i was able to dance at Oireachtas that year since it seems like the universe really didn’t want me to.

I went in with no expectations, i just wanted two clean rounds. I was so incredibly proud of my dancing that day. I went from not being able to walk in June to placing the highest at Oireachtas that I had ever placed. I came in five away from recall and cried big happy tears.

Now i’m in PC and i’ve started placing around fifth place. I’m training for the 2017 Oireachtas where my goal is a recall and my stretch goal is a Nationals qualification.

[rockyroadto]

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing! As a fellow Irish dancer with a sesamoid fracture (though I’m lucky to have been able to avoid surgery for now), it’s so inspiring to hear about your recovery and comeback. Rooting for you!

[take-me-south]

[rockyroadto]

Blah to lululemon, but yay to the sentiment!

[harcules]

PSA: stop putting time limits on your goals. It’s not too late. Ur not too old. You didn’t miss your chance. Ur exactly where ur meant to be. You still have time. You still can do it! So go buddy. I’m rooting for yaaa!!!

[aio2017-blog]

Some beautiful music in Monarch by Stephen Carolan and Sean O'Brien #AIO2017

[aio2017-blog]

Day 2 Parade of Champions

[aio2017-blog]

Day 3 Parade of Champions

[rockyroadto]

you: skip two threes

me, an intellectual: promenade step