It begins...

See this empty stage?

 Did you know that an empty stage is, to any dancer, what a blank canvas is to a painter; or a piece of plain sheet music is to a composer? They look at it and see possibility. A dancer's feet create the brushstrokes on the stage or the notes to a song.
  Sometimes the stage looks a little intimidating when it's so empty and bare, but in another way it's an invitation - what will you create? What will you give the audience?
   With St.Patrick's Day in less than a week the games have begun! Irish Dance Idaho had four performances last week and about seventeen more this week and we can't wait!! There's nothing like a good Irish dance marathon day (or few) to get you in the mood for St.Pats.
   We performed in Weiser last night at one of our favorite places, an old rock school that has since been turned into a museum. We store our dance gear in the ancient, slightly creepy (but awesome) basement and go up and down a pokey little staircase to get to the backstage area.
  The stage is awesome though because it's an old hardwood floor so our hard shoes get some sweet sound on it. During an a capella piece last night, there were four of us out there and right when we started dancing, a little piece of plaster, or something, dropped off the ceiling and and landed in front of Spencer. We were all trying not to laugh, and the audience got a few chuckles out of it. Spencer just casually kicked it out of the way as we kept dancing and all was well. :)
 
                                                      The performance line-up for the night

 After the performance got over, a few of us stayed and got to go on a tour of the museum. It's so cool in there!! They have a room full of old telephones, a set-up of an old class room, a room filled with Native American artifacts that have been found in the area,and several other neat displays.
   But my favorite room would have to be the dance hall.
     It's the third story up and you get to walk up these awesome, wide staircases into a huge empty room with old floors and lots of space for dancing. I'm a sucker for "Pride and Prejudice", or any of those kind of shows, so going into a dance hall like that almost makes it feel like being in one those movies.
  Let's be honest - I'm sure there were a couple of us who secretly hoped Mr.Darcy would have appeared there last night and swept one of us off our feet for a good old-fashioned dance! :)

Anyway, there's definitely more to come once we make it through this St.Patrick's Day season. For a taste of what it's like, try eating a bit of corned beef and cabbage (with some buttered new potatoes on the side) while you watch "Riverdance" this Saturday. Happy St.Pats!