Have a blast and enjoy the experience; like someone told me once, you only have ONE first prelim feis, so go out there and dance your heart out! Don't let the nerves get the better of you; shoulders back, smile and have fun!

Thanks so much for the luck! Celticfeet, thanks for the advice, it actually is really helping with nerves right now.
Dancemum7, I'll be looking for you guys too! good luck to rachel, she'll do awesome, she's a great dancer.

today was my last class before the feis! my teacher had me stay a half hour after class to work on more corrections. We cleaned up both my reel and my hornpipe, and they both look pretty good. After that she gave me a whole first prelim talk and told me that this feis should be where I set my benchmark, and aim to improve each time. she said I should be confindent about tomorrow and had made a lot of improvement recently.

also, today is a week from our ceili! we had a big rehersal today where we rehersed the opening number and then our individual class dances. Everything is coming along really nicely, and the ceili will be such a nice reward after the hard work everyone's put in, its so much fun1

anyway, I'm super excited for tomorrow! it's actually a lot of people's first feis in a new level, one of my friends is competeing in her first open competition, and two oof my sisters friends are competing in their first novice competition. Its so exciting and i'm sure they'll all do well to. i'll let you all know how I do ttomorrow!

Good luck tomorrow!

^thanks Tansey. and thanks for all of your help with the feis calculator.

i just got back from the feis! It was a lot of fun dancing in prelim, and it was really nice being able to travel as much as i wanted and not get stuck in the corner . Overall, I placed 12th out of 16, but there was a three way tie for 4th so its actually like getting 14th. not great, but it was my first prelim and I danced my best. that's really all i can ask for, and honestly, I'm just happy I didn't come in dead last, it was a really tough competition, there were a few oireachtas reacalists in the group.

I thought I did better in my reel than in my hornpipe, but the judges all gave my higher scores for hornpipe. and of course, most of my comments involved turning out. My stamina was dead at the end of my hornpipe, and there was no way I could have danced it full out.

Like my teacher said, this feis is just a benchmark, and I'll just try to keep improving. I think my next feis is at the end of march, so I have plenty of time to work out some of my tecnical issues and will hopefully place a little higher then.

Congratulations!! That was my goal too: to survive my first prelim feis and to not come in last...it feels good doesn't it? Now you know how a prelim feis runs and what the quality of dancing is, so you can better prepare for your next one. Woot!

^ Thanks celticfeet! You're right, it does feel really good to have finally accomplished that.

Anyway, I told my teachers about the feis, and they were holding back, but I could tell they weren't too happy with my results. My teacher told me that this was a much more competitive level than prizewinner, (like I hadn't already figured that out) and that I would have to work very hard to see my scores improve. All of the other prelims in this class except for me and one other girl were in the top five of their competitions, and they did not have easy competitions at all, I watched most of them.

And watching them all dance in class didn't help much either, they are all so amazing! I seriously don't think I can ever get to be that good, and most of them aren't too close to open yet either. on reels, my teachers paid much more attention to theirs very minor technical problems as opposed to my reel which was very sloppy in comparison.

My teahers also drilled one of my prizewinner slip jig steps with me because it is very simple and is a step where I can really focus on my turnout, which I will need to improve a lot on in order to get better results.

I got a change in my hornpipe half step too, and I don't like it nearly as much as before. Its one of those concepts that is just a little hard to grasp but when you put it into the step, it looks dead easy. It isn't a very big change, and I didn't really like the old way, but I'm not sure if I want to keep this in my step.

Also, apparently none of the prelim or open dancers form my school are allowed to dance at the Hansen-Keohane feis in april because my teacher is judging championship competitions. I'm already missing one feis this month, one in march, and one in april that I would have otherwise gone to if I didn't have previous commitments, and now I have to miss this one too? My mom offered to sign up for one of them and see what time I'm dancing and try to go, but I don't think so because we've done this before and it just turns into a miserable day where she's mad at me because she would rather be at the other event and then I end up doing terrible. But that goal of qualifying for solos at oireachtas still stands, and I'm going to need to do as many feiseanna as possible to qualify, so I really don't know what to do.

Sometimes teachers appear to be unhappy with your feis results when they're really just trying to motivate you to work harder. It doesn't always mean they're actually disappointed in you. I think you did well not to be the bottom dancer at Shamrock. I bet those other prelims you're comparing yourself to have been in prelim for more than one feis, right? Don't be too hard on yourself. You'll get there. My dd didn't do much better than you at her first prelim feis a few years ago. I think she was 4th or 5th from the bottom in a large group. But 3 weeks later she recalled at the O, and it only took her about 18 months to qualify for OC. You're clearly a hard worker and you'll do fine.

Since you can't do Hansen-Keohane, can you do Bremer, Forbes, Gray, Lenihan or Horgan in March-April? If not there are 3 in May and 5 in June in NE. I don't know if you are able to go to MAR, but they have even more feiseanna coming up than we do!

^I wish I could do half those feiseanna. Horgan and Gray are automatically out because they are on a saturday and my teahcers don't like us skipping class for a feis. Bremer and Lenihan were two of the ones that I have other plans on that day, there is a matinee for the show the day of Bremer and we always go to my aunt's house for palm sunday, which just so happens to fall on the day of Lenihan this year. So that leaves Forbes. Thank God I can at least go to one of them. And i will be going to several in may and june, so I think it will all work out ok.

The ceili is tomorrow! I'm really excited! In the show before the actual party, I am in the opening number for my choreography class, the treble reel for my competition class, and am dancing Job of Journeywork for palcing top ten in traditional set at oireachtas. There was a rehersal for the top ten placers tonight before ballet, and job should be good for tomorrow.

I'm so excited, the ceili is so much fun! I'm al little mad though because I got this really annoying cold earlier this week and haven't had the greatest energy level, so hopefully it gets better for tomorrow. Also, its supposed to snow tomorrow, so I really hope there aren't any issues with traffic or getting snowed in. Whatever happens though, we are going to have a great time!

The ceili was amazing! We all had so much fun, the show went off without a hitch, and overall it was just one of those nights you just want to keep reliving. by the end of the night, we were all exhausted, our feet were sore, and we seriously could not be happier. We always do the Seige of Ennis as a group, both dancers and non dancers, and its great getting to bring tradition into the night as well. Its also really funny to see your non dance friends try doing Irish!

Tonight in class, we mostly worked out my last step of hornpipe. They gave me a lot of one on one time in class, which was great because I'm not normally the one who gets that. We cleaned one specific section, and I am going to have do drill it a ton to make sure I get it. Something tells me its going to take a while, and I have an insanely busy next few weeks, i will update on that later. But overall it was a really productive class tonight, I was really happy with it.

I feel like such a bad girl, I haven't had time to go to class very often lately. this past week I was in aruba, which was so nice. I really needed a break from everything, school was getting to be so much, I was at rehersal every day for hours, and my friends kept creating so much petty drama I couldn't stand it. So a vacation was definately needed. Aruba was amazing, it was so warm, and it was really nice to just relax.

The only issue with it was the amoutn of dance I missed. I missed ballet last friday because I had my friend's sweet sixteen, then i went to competition and jazz, but missed choreography because we had to leave for the airport. I was in aruba on monday so I obviously missed class then, and we were travelling friday night into saturday so I missed more ballet and competition.

This coming week is hell week for the play, opening night is on friday so we will have to stay after school every day until eleven or later. So i'm missing class monday, ballet on friday, and jazz and choreography on saturday. and don't get me started with the play. We are nowhere near ready to open. there are still scenes we haven't blocked, we don't have all our costumes, and a lot of the dances are still really messy.

On the bright side, I should at least be able to go to competition at eight thirty in the morning on saturday after that completely exhausting week. and did I mention that Saturday is my sixteenth birthday?

anyway, last week in competition, we got a new hornpipe step, and I like it for the most part. There's this one section of it that was taken directly out of my half step, and since this would replace my second step, I will look like I am repeating myself a lot. I'm going to ask my teacher if there is anything else I can use during that section of the step, because it's a really distinct movement with a lot of pauses that is meant to catch the judges eye, and I don't really want to overuse it.

This week in jazz, we got a new section to our Michael Jackson recital dance. Its a really fun, high energy dance and I'm so glad I'm doing it.

In choreography, we finally were able to get back to our recital dance. I still absolutely love it, it is really an awesome, fun, riverdancey type dance. we added on a whole new section, and there is this one jump that we added, I can't really describe it, but it is officially my new favorite move. the only problem with the dance is that it is going to be three minutes long! I get tired doing three steps of hornpipe, which I think is only about a minute and fifteen tops. I'm really going to need to work on my stamina in these next few months to be able to dance it full out. Track is starting in a few weeks though, so I should be able to bring my stamina up with that.

And guess what? the date of the Lenihan feis was changed, so i can go now! I'm so glad I get to do another feis, I really want to qualify for oireachtas. Right now it seems so far fetched, and I know it probably won't happen, especially with the amount of time I've had to practice lately. As soon as this week is over, though, I should have enough time to practice hopefully every day. Next week I think we only have rehersal on thursday, with a show friday and saturday night. and then we're done.

also, two saturday's from now is the St. Patty's day parade! I can't wait, we always have so much fun! I couldn't go last year, and hopefully I will be able to go this year, it ends well before i need to be at the school for the last performance of the play. i can't wait for march madness to kick in, I usually only do oneor two shows, which I know is absolutely nothing compared to what most people do, but i don't do shows very often and I'm so excited to get to do a few this month!

so all three shows we had this weekend went great! My family has been singing showtunes all weekend, and for the all the problems we had during rehersals, 42nd street turned out to be a great show.

My birthday was great too, we had my entire family over and they were all amazing. We had so much fun! the day was literally perfect in every way. Except for dance class.

Let's just say it was a little bit obvious that I hadn't danced in two weeks. This was literally the worst I had ever danced, I seriously think I did better in my first lesson than I did yesterday morning. This past week was completely exhausting though, I didn't get home from school every day until 11:30 or later, and we were seriously rehersing the entire time. My teachers also picked this week to slam on the homework, so I had a ton of work to do and zero time to do it. Friday night was opening night so of course there was a cast party, and I was out until midnight. Saturday morning I died within the first five minutes of doing incredibly easy drills. I was lightheaded, nauseas, and could barely breathe the entire class. That on top of not dancing for two weeks straight and I think you can imagine just how well my dancing was. I was so disoriented that i couldn't get the turns at the end of my reel lead, and my teacher said that if they weren't better by next week she was taking them out. She didn't even let me do the rest of my reel because there were too many things wrong with the lead. It was pretty obvious that she wasn't happy with me.

This week i am going to work insanely hard and practice just about every day, i think i have two rehersals for the shows this week and then i am done with drama until next year. I really need to get my technique back, I worked so hard to build it up and in just two weeks most of it is gone. I had zero turnout and crossover, I haven't had time to stretch these past two weeks so my kicks were noticeably lower, and I couldn't stay up on my toes at all. i havee so much to work on this week.

In class today we worked on our new hornpipe step. It's not a bad step, but I just got so annoyed because the people who are in the saturday prelim class after my class got a way harder new step, and no offence to them, but its pretty obvious that they are struggling big time. and mind you they aren't even in prelim yet. i was just a little frustrated. We technically got two new hornpipe steps, but I'm completely disregarding the first step because it is a slight variation of a step i did in novice! It's literally the same thing with a little section that was changed. and I'm pretty sure i mastered that step a very long time ago.

I'm a little frustrated with my competition class because there are people in it who are just now learning their first slow hornpipe. It would be totally fine if they learned their steps and i learned my steps, but the fact that we have a set of class steps just kills me. I have my leads and half steps, but aside from that, I learn everything they do, whether or not I'll ever use it. I can't even bring myself to put all my effort into learning that material because it's just so far below the level i need to be dancing at. I have my prelim steps down fine, but my teacher is getting annoyed with me because I'm not taking the time to practice the novice steps. I mean, i sort of understand where she's coming from, but i really want to be cleaning my feis steps or learning new prelim material. My steps are nowhere near the as hard or a sclean as the other prelim girls, and my teacher never takes the time to drill mine like she drills theirs. i try to work everything out at home, but its never the same as getting teacher corrections.

anyway, i would like to make it clear that the second step of that hornpipe is definately usable. We worked out the timing to that step, I was having a lot of issues with it before. It's the kind of step that i know i can handle, i just need to drill it a lot at home first.

This saturday was the st. patricks day parade, but i was so exhausted from another weekend of 42nd street that my mom wouldn't let me go. I was pretty disappointed because i absolutely love dancing in the parade. Oh well, always next year.

I also have a show thid thursday, and i'm really excitied because I haven't actually done a show since this time last year. Its been a while. We have sets of show dances that we do and I'm really excited to finally get to do them again.

And this is the first week in forever that I don't really have much going on, so I am going to put in a ton of extra practice time. i have a feis coming up in a few weeks, and I'd really like to improve upon last time a little bit.

Dancewise, this has actually been a really good week. I worked out the timing on the first half of my new hornpipe step on tuesday, and the second half on wednesday. On wednesday a girl from my ballet class came over to help me with the four weeks worth of material that I missed.

thursday I had the show, and overall it went pretty good. I forgot a few little bits to the show dances, but we rehersed a few times beforehand and we got a great response from the crowd. It feels so good to do these shows for people and have them actually like it. You can tell sometimes when the crowd really doesn't like any of the dances, but this was at a nursing home and everyone there was so adorable, they all came up to us afterwards and told us how much they enjoyed it.

After the show I worked out the left foot of the new hornpipe, and a few little places throughout the rest of the dance where I was having trouble. The timing on the new step has gotten so much better and I'm actually really proud of myself because it was so far off earlier this week. Now I just need to finish cleaning up my turnout...

Today I went over my friend's house and we went over ballet some more. all that ballet practicing paid off tonight, this was the first time in just about all year when they actually complimented me. My teacher saiid she hear I had done a great job in 42nd stree, (one of the other teachers took her daughter to see the show) and then was really happy that I knew the material. she also said she liked my recklessness with the dance, since we are supposed to be cyclones, and that everyone should try to do it the way i was doing it. I guess my complete lack of grace is actually good for something.

I seriously hpe my hard work iwith my hornpipe paid off as much as ballet did, I drilled that step so har for so long this week and its not perfect, but its defniately gotten way better than it was earlier this week.

Happy St. Patty's day everyone!

I'm pathetic with updating this. But anyways....

I went to the Forbes feis today, and it was definately very interesting. I set a goal to come in fourth to last, since i got third to last at the last feis, I figured i'd try to move up one placement. There were a good six more girls here than there were at the last feis.

during the first round, I started my lead and right foot of my second step really well. My teacher told me to do my old second step today instead of the new one, and of course I hadn't practiced the old one at all. So I got on the wrong foot for the entire left foot of my second step. I was pretty frazzled by this and danced a terrible half step. I seriously thought that ending was the worst i had ever done it.

then I started my doing the best reel i have ever danced, I was up on my toes, one time, really attacking it, somewhat turned out, when at the start of the left foot of the lead, the girl I was dancing with fell, so we had to stop. She was unable to dance again, so I had to redo my reel all by myself. I still thought i did a good job with it, just not as good as the first time. and i was super nervous going by myself. In prizewinner, my strategy was to go by myself every time I could, but it was just scary in prelim.

So considering all this, let's just say i was a bit shocked when they called my number for medaling 2nd in hornpipe and 4th in reel. shocked doesn't even cover it. Overall, I placed 5th, which is a top 25% placement that goes towards qualifying me for solos at oireachtas! I'm so excited! My goal/dream finally seems like it could potentially be a possibility! Last feis I ranked 14 out of 16, this time I was 5 out of 22. I have absolutely no idea how that happened, but apparently my practicing has paid off! It was just one of those moments that made all of my work worthwhile.

To completely change the subject, I started track last week, and I really think it will help with my stamina. I'm doing the 400 and maybe 800, which are both going full out for about as long as it takes to do a dance. Hopefully that will help.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I am so happy for you; that is a HUGE accomplishment!! I bet that will give you a lot of motivation to continue on- especially when Oireachtas season rolls around! YAY YOU!!

Well of course you medaled and placed so well, you are a very good dancer! And a hard, hard worker! Congrats! Congrats! Huzzah!

^ Thank you both so much! Placing in prelim feels really good, and it is such a source of motivation, and I just need to keep working super hard to qualify.

My teachers seemed really happy with my placement, it was a really good feis for my school, one of my best dancing friends got her last first to move to prelim so I'm super excited for her, she's an age group younger than me and she's gonna do amazing!

My teachers changed the direction on a part of my reel, we also changed a jump last week in the third step and I think it suits me much better than the old one did. My teachers said by biggest issue with it was turnout, and I could tell that my dancing wasn't quite as good as it was at the feis.

In hornpipe, we drilled the turnout, crossover, and sounds of one little tiny section of my lead, and I think it looks better, I just need to work it some more. On saturday my teacher told me that next week she would sort of fuse my new second step and old second step together because neither step is quite right for me, I'm excited to see what she does woth it.

Congratulations! You placed really high in the medal rounds and 5th overall out of 22 is quite an accomplishment for a new prelim!

mcardles wrote:

Overall, I placed 5th, which is a top 25% placement that goes towards qualifying me for solos at oireachtas!

I'm just curious, what do you have to do to qualify for Solos at the O? I thought dancers just had to be Prelim-qualified.

^tansey, that's all that most schools require but my school feels the need to make everything harder for us so in order to dance solos we have to place 3 times in the top 25% of the competition.

Today in competition we drilled the new jump in my reel because it was looking messy, I really need to work on my height and bring my back leg all he way up. My teacher did change my hornpipe, but made it so that the new step is my middle step and the old step is my half step. She put a new ending on that step so it works as a half step. I don't really like he new hornpipe step, I don't know what it is but I just feel like it doesn't really showcase what I can do, the main thing it showcases is my awful turnout.

We also got a new jig step today, I know I won't be doing jig for a while but I think this is my favorite jig step ever. I've never actually gotten a jig step that I like, but so far this one is ok .

We don't have any classes at all next week because of Easter but hopefully that means I have a lot of time to practice, but I doubt it with the way my homework load looks. My teacher told me and the other girl who made it to prelim that she wants us both to stay an extra 15 minutes after class starting after Easter, so that means more time for cleaning up my steps! Oh, and this is really random but I found it a little funny that my teacher said I had good stamina. There I was after doing my hornpipe once practically dying and she was like "the old step has so many lifts and it would be a great half step for you because you have such great stamina and can push through at the end". I have no idea where she got that because my legs feel like lead at the end of my hornpipe. Oh well, I hope I can pull it off.

great to hear about your latest accomplishment!:D
That is a bit of a hard rule to qualify, but at the end of the day,I guess when you have those 3 top 25% placements it means you are doing really well and will do better at the oireachtas than you would have if you werent getting the placements.

So I've been super bad lately. We didn't have class at all last week and i didn't have time to practice once . I was really disappointed with that because yes there was a lot going on but I still probably could have found some time if I had managed my time better.

We had class today and it felt so good to be dancing again. the second most important teacher, (the one who teaches my ballet and jazz classes) was here today, and after seeing my reel, (which after not doing for a whole week was not very good) said that I had improved so much since she last saw my irish and that I looked really good. the last time she actually saw my irish was when i was still in prizewinner and she spent the entire time watching the girl next to me, so anything would really be an improvement from that. The student teacher helped clean my reel a little and he told me that it was looking a lot better. It actually meant a lot coming from him because he never gives out compiments unless someone really deserves them.

then we moved on to hornpipe. i guess we should start this by saying that i've eaten just a little bit too much easter candy in the past few days, and at that point my stomach was really starting to hurt. I started out my hornpipe really strong, but died very quickly. the new second step was just a trainwreck, my teacher spent the entire time telling me to turn out more, and had a very concerned expression on her face. I could pretty much see her taking her compliment back. But at that point, my stomach killed, my legs felt like lead, and I couldn't breathe. she said that I really needed to practice my hornpipe more, and she's totally right.

I came home, finished my homework, an was about to go downstairs to practice, when my mom told me that I couldn't because I hadn't felt well in class and I have a track meet tomorrow. My hornpipe seriously needs a ton of work and I have a feis this weekend and i would really like to do about as well as last time, but if I don't practice, that will never happen. Even if I don't feel great, I know where my limits are and I'm not about to push them to the point where I would get an injury. I was very annoyed. Oh well, if I don't have a lot of work tomorrow I will try to practice then, but she'll probably pul the whole "you just had a track meet" card and won't let me. I know she's just looking out for my best interests, but I think i know my limitations better than she does.

I've been pathetic about updating this. A lot has happened in dance recently, so i guess i should probabaly start about two weeks ago.

I went to the lehnihan feis and i didn't feel like either of my rounds were really strong. out of 20, I got 11th, which was one off from placing. I wasn't thrilled with it, but it was better than I had expected.

I also got a new wig at that feis. I switched from the Youngblood Morgan 2 to the Camelia Rose Anna long. I haven't danced in it yet, but i really like how it looks. Its a shade brighter than my old wig, so I think it will help my stage presence. My old wig was two years old, so it was definately ready to go. Has anyone had any experience with the Camelia rose anna long? do the curls frizz easily or does it not move well? I just would like to know what to expect when I finally get around to dancing in it at the feis next weekend.

My teachers decided that the new hornpipe step wasn't really working for anyone in the class, so she changed a few parts of it. I like it so much better now, and my teachers all say the changes really suit me.

Also, I am finally getting a set! Its Lodge Road speed 108. We haven't gotten very far in it yet, but so far I really like it and I can't wait to actually be able to compete with it. I hope i still like it once its finished.

We've finished all of our recital dances, and I can't wait for the recital. It's always so much fun! Our ballet dance is coming out good for the most part, there are a few parts that I perrsonally don't like, but whatever. Jazz is good, we got our Michael Jackson jackets todday and they are red pleather and probably not very easy to dance in but their really cool. The choreography dance turned out to be really easy and the same steps are repeated over and over again and its really annoying because my class has such a hard time doing it. Its fun, just not really challenging at all. also, we found out the order of the recital, and jazz in number 6, ballet is number 9, irish is number 10, and tap is number 12. Which basically means I'm going to have a whole lot of quickchanges to make. too bad, because me and my friends usually take a bunch of pictures in all of our different costumes between dances, but we won't be able to this year.

We also got our assignments for summer workshops, and i was put in the prelim workshop. I'm so glad they didn't base it off of our classes. they put a lot of the people in the prelim class who are in prizewinner into the prizewinner workshop, so its good that they are finally being fair about something.

I've been able to practice a few times a week for the past few weeks, not every single day, I have to study for the AP test and do a ton of other school work that I really don't care about. I'm also at track every single day, and going into the season, I was assuming I would be one of the average middle of the pack runners. I wasn't really expecting to make varsity and be the second-best girls 400 runner on the team. So yea, track now sucks even more potential practice time and my coaches expect a lot more from me. But I've definately been making it work, I'd say my dances have definately improving and I have a feis on sunday that I cannot wait for! That is, assuming I survive the SAT subject test on saturday, wish me luck there.

So I just got back from the feis a little while ago! It went pretty good, my hornpipe was ok, its definately improved but it wasn't as strong as I have danced it in the past. My reel felt great, and I was really happy with it. Overall I got 7th out of 17, and I was pretty happy with that. I was really confused with the judges though, one gave me third, one gave me seventh, and one gave me dead last. how its possible to go from top three to dead last i really don't know.

And guess what? there is a new rulle being put into place by the region stating that if a dancer places once in prelim, they have to dance open at oireachtas. So... no more top 25% placements necessary! I'm really happy but I feel like that almost adds even more pressure, because now I need to feel prepared for oireachtas, not just have my teacher tell me that I'm ready if that makes any sense. I really want to make sure I go and look like I belong there, not like I'm here because I didn't have the option. So I'm still making it my goal to get two more top 25% placements, and to just keep placing.

So I had another feis today! it was a really fun day, it was the first outdoor feis of the season and the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, not raining. It ran a little bit behind, but it was so nice to actually be able to watch my friends competitions and support them all.

Just before my competition, i went to put my dress on, and it got to the point where it was so tight that the zipper popped off and the back seam ripped. I've been telling my parents and teacher that its way too tight, but my teacher said that she wanted me to wear that dress through the oireachtas and my mom said we wouldn't start looking for a new one until the summer. Now we need to come up with something quick, because my next feis is only two weeks away and i am doing three feiseanna next month.

Anyway, I borrowed a friend's dress and personally i thought I danced terribly. But the judges and I never seem to agree on these things, and I placed 4th. I was really surprised too because two of the judges both placed me second! the other judge obviously didn't agree and gave me ninth, which wasn't even placing, but I was still happy with my results.

Our recital is net weekend! I'm so excited! I have etra rehersals on wednesday and then the final rehersal on friday. I've been at dance pretty much all day for the past two saturdays doing recital stuff, and its been fun but exhausting. After the recital i start workshops and semi-privates, and those are usually super helpful. I'll keep you guys posted on how all of the recital stuff goes!

Congrats on your placings!! So excited for you!