Irish dance

Happy Wednesday! I seem to have picked up that head cold going around, but I’m finally feeling mostly better today. I need to find my focus again to finish some books for review and a couple of editing jobs.

Last night, my kids sang the national anthem with their school chorus at the local ballpark. If we’re friends on FB, you can see the video. And yep, that’s my 13yo you can hear because he’s loud. The next 5 weeks are the busiest we get aside from production week for the school musical. The rest of the track meets, three concerts, two dance recitals, two school ceremonies, one band competition, the teen book festival, and a partridge in a pear tree. Oy!

On to the WIPpet. I’m snipping some more of Cian (as if anyone needed a reason to like him more). He’s a dance instructor, and here, he’s with his students doing warm-ups. Note: Only girls typically wear ghillies for Irish dance. Boys wear split-sole jazz shoes (unlike in other traditional dances, where men wear ghillies too/instead). I’ve referred to both types collectively as soft shoes here, as the students are of more than one gender.

WIPmath: 5/17 = 17 – 5 = 12 sentences.

Cian Toomey led his students through their warm-ups and stretches. This class was a group of seven-, eight-, and nine-year-old beginners. He counted for them, using a gold-topped cane to visually mark time for the class. In their line, they practiced their steps to the beat he kept. They were all in soft shoes, and their feet landed in muffled thuds. Without his hearing aids in, Cian felt rather than heard the difference against the wood of the studio floor.

“Good, good!” He both spoke and signed to them. This class only had one deaf pupil, unlike his intermediate group. Cian felt that regardless of how many students needed him to sign, he would do it anyway. By the end of their first year, his hearing students picked up not only skill as dancers but a significant amount of ASL as well. He tried to do it in a way which didn’t feel forced, simply a natural consequence of seeing him do it.

Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Witt for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!