Welcome to Reel Treble #35!!
In this issue we meet Krista, a.k.a. PogMoGillies, an adult prizewinner from the western region.
Name: Krista
Dance.net Name: PogMoGillies
Member since: 4/24/07
Years Doing Irish Dance: 3.75
Age: 30
Dance School: Heritage Irish Stepdancers
Organization: An Com
Competition Level: Adult Prizewinner
Region: Western US
How old were you when you started Irish Dance and how did you get started?
I was 26 when I started dancing. I watched Riverdance for the first time in college, and thought it was a cool show, but never thought that it was something I could do. When I was 26, I went to Ireland with my mom for 10 days. While we were there, I saw Siamsa Tire perform the Children of Lir, as well as a local school in Dingle perform their school’s recital/show at the bowling alley. I came back from that trip determined to find a dance school. I told the secretary at the school where I was teaching, and she let me know that another teacher had just signed up to start lessons the next week. The rest is history!
How many classes do you have a week?
I take 3 solo classes and two group dance (ceili and dance drama) classes.
How often do you practice at home?
I try to practice every day. I have a practice floor in the basement, and when I get up in the morning, I feed the cats, then I practice for 10-15 minutes, and I stretch every night. When I have a competition or show coming up, I'll put in a lot more time.
Did Irish Dancing come naturally to you or did you have to work at it?
The early stuff came easily, but I struggled a lot with my form - sickled feet, leaning, arms, that sort of thing. Now that I'm in the higher levels, the more complicated moves are taking a long time settle in.
Does Irish Dancing get in the way of your school work or social life?
At times it does - I have practice on Saturday from 8:30-11:30, and that often times means I have to meet up with friends later for Saturday activities. "I can't, I have practice/a feis/a show" is also a pretty common response my friends hear.
What do your friends think of your dancing? Do they support it?
My friends and my fiancé think it's cool. They have come to competitions (I had the biggest, loudest cheering section ever at Estes Park last year!), and they often ask how things are going.
The story behind PogMoGillies' name:
When I went to Ireland, one of the big tourist offerings is plates, door hangers, and bumper stickers that say Pog Mo Thon, which means kiss my rear end. I was feeling snarky the day I joined, so I went for Pog Mo Gillies, or kiss my dancing shoes.
Do you do figure dances?
I do - I've competed with 8-hands twice at the Oireachtas, and only missed out on a third because I broke my foot. I'd love for my school to start doing figure choreography too!
What does your dress look like and who made it?
My dress is a three panel with a swooped design from the bodice to the skirt. The knotwork includes a crescent moon with a trinity knot shooting star. It is blue and purple, with gold, silver, and lavender accents. Molly Bennet of KnotWorkToMe made it.
What brand of softshoes and hardshoes do you wear?
I wear the Rutheford Cavan softshoes, and I’m still trying to break in my Rutheford tan soled hardshoes.
What is the farthest you've traveled for a feis?
The farthest is from Colorado to Philadelphia for Worlds this year.
What is your favorite feis and why?
The Longs Peak feis is one of my favorites, because it was my first feis, it’s up in the mountains, and it’s beautiful. I also really like the Pikes Peak feis, because they offer an adult non-traditional special, and a really fun ceili championship.
Have you ever been to a major championship?
I’ve danced 8 hands and the dance drama at the Oireachtas, and was in the dance drama at Worlds.
Do you get nervous before you compete?
Not usually. I love dancing at a feis, I love the competition, and I get far more excited than nervous.
Do you have any rituals you do before you dance?
At competitions, I stretch, warm up, and walk around to talk to friends, or have friends watch one of my steps. My newest thing is that I keep a flask in my dance bucket as a mental reminder. It’s all my dance teacher’s fault - she told me to dance my slip jig like a good shot of whisky - strong, yet smooth!
What is your greatest accomplishment in Irish Dancing?
I think my greatest accomplishment so far is just getting to where I am in Prizewinner. I never thought I’d do so well in competition. When I first started, I talked about “that far off day when I earn my solo.” That day came in a year and a half of competing, which totally surprised me!
What was your greatest disappointment in Irish Dancing and how did you overcome it?
My biggest disappointment was breaking my foot three weeks before Oireachtas. Not only did I miss out on the first year where there was some really good adult 8-hand competition, but I also missed two of the seven local feisanna that year. I stayed involved with my dancing, going to class and sitting on the side, dancing in a chair, and doing everything I could to stay up with my class. After three months of no dancing, and almost 6 months without feising, I came back and got my first prizewinner firsts.
Always expect the most from yourself and others. If you don't achieve it, then at least you’ll have accomplished more than if you didn't try as hard as you could. The cheesy way of putting that is: shoot for the moon, if you miss, at least you'll land among the stars. –PogMoGillies
What are some of your short term goals?
I want to drop down into the & over competition to see how far I can get. However, at my school, if you've been dancing as an Adult, you have to win all 7 solo dances in Prizewinner to drop down. I have four left to go - Light Jig, Single Jig, Double Jig, and Hornpipe. I hope to have those won by the end of the summer.
What are some of your long term goals?
Long term - I want to dance solos on the Oireachtas stage. I don't care how I place, I just want to earn the right to be up there.
What is your favorite dance and why?
Reel! I love the power and the movement of the dance.
What is your least favorite dance and why?
Hornpipe. Getting the moves in the right rhythm drives me bonkers!
What move took you forever to master?
The harder hardshoe moves - back pulls, rolls, drums and things like that. Bicycles in softshoe - I’m still working on them…
What is your favorite move?
Throws and Slices. I'm really flexible, so I can get my knee to my nose, and I like showing that off.
Do you ever want to take the TCRG exam and teach?
Maybe someday. I have been assisting at my school, and I really enjoy working with the dancers in the lower class levels. However, I feel that I still have a lot of years of competition left in me.
Who do you admire the most in Irish Dancing?
Ashley Smith. I wonder what it feels like to move across the stage like that.
If you could take a free workshop with any dancer as your teacher, who would you pick and why?
I don't know - I think it would be interesting to take a workshop with someone like Jean Butler, or one of the other Riverdance or other show leads, just to know what it's like to prepare for a professional show, but there are so many amazing dancers out there who'd I'd like to learn from.
There is nothing like having every eye from the feis on you as you spectacularly fail.
Tell us one of your funniest or most interesting feis stories.
I was dancing at once of my earlier feisanna, and was competing with Black Bird for the first time. There were four stages, but there were an uneven number of competitions, so when I got up on the stage, not only was I the only person dancing black bird in my comp, I was the only one dancing on four stages. The music started, and things were going well until the set. I promptly forgot how the set started, flubbed my way through a few bars, caught up again, and then forgot the ending. There is nothing like having every eye from the feis on you as you spectacularly fail. The judges comment? Work on set. Oh, really?
What was your most embarrassing moment in dancing?
I haven't had much to be embarrassed about yet, mostly just forgetting steps in the middle of a show and things like that.
Are you close with fellow Irish Dancers?
I love the other dancers at my school! From the 9-year-olds to the other adults, we are a family, and I know they are there for me, no matter what. I've got a group that is dancing at my wedding at the end of the month, and they're not just performing, they are guests too!
What's in your dance bag?
In my practice bag, I have dance sneakers, soft shoes, hard shoes, two kinds of ankle/foot braces, duct tape, hand sanitizer, lots of old comments from feisanna, pain killer, a water bottle, hair ties, and poodle socks. In my feis bucket lives my performance/competition soft shoes, my wigs (3), my good poodle socks, two pairs of tights, a wicking shirt, two colors of flash pants, sock glue, makeup, hair supplies to put on the wig, more pain killer, duct tape, and the aforementioned flask
Do you do any other types of dance?
I did one summer of ballet when I was in high school, but that's about it. I was a gymnast and rhythmic gymnast as a kid.
Do any of your family members Irish Dance as well?
Nope! I hope someday to have a little DD or DS of my own, but my grown-up family members think I'm a little nuts for doing this.
What other hobbies do you have?
I love reading, watching movies, reading DDN (totally addicted, I'll tell you!), playing music, listening to music, going out to eat with my fiancé, playing with my cats, and writing fan fiction.
Tell us something your friends would find surprising about you.
I want to learn how to sky dive and hang glide.
Quick Fire Questions:
Hardshoe or softshoe: hardshoe
Reel or Slip Jig: reel
Hornpipe or Treble Jig: treble jig
Wig or Bun: wig
Feis or Show: either and both
School Dress or Solo Dress: solo dress
Krista, it was a pleasure doing this interview with you, we hope you enjoy it! --Reel Treble
