Working out has started

In the last week, I have started working out in order to make my body better equipped and able to do Irish Dancing for longer periods of time, effectively, and done well. I have started with running. In the upcoming week I plan on introducing a core workout on the days I'm not running so that progress is still being made. Something else I do to better my dancing is when I'm standing or not doing anything I stand with my feet in proper form, which is heels together and then toes out so that your feet end up making a 'V'. I will also start going to my Irish Dance lessons this week. Running will help with Irish Dancing because it is using all the muscles needed for dancing and keeps you in great shape for those long private lessons that everyone knows will happen when it becomes crunch time for shows and competitions. It strengthens your heart, increases circulation, increases endurance and stamina, and it's a good way to feel good. I suggest running if you like staying in shape and especially if you are an Irish Dancer. It's a fantastic way to get up to par with the best of the best.

It's a work in progress

For the past week, I have been looking up ways to improve dancing techniques. The resources I have found have been very helpful, from saying that Pilates and Yoga are good ways to increase mobility, flexibility, and overall body strength, to explaining how leg strength, and endurance are a big part in ability. Activities like swimming, or biking, or kick boxing, or ballet are good for targeting the specific muscles used in Irish Dancing. Ballet specifically since it is the most disciplined and has the most similarities between the two when compared with posture, precision, and gracefulness. Swimming, biking, or kick boxing are good for Irish Dancing because of the muscles these sports target, mainly the core, back, butt, and thigh muscles. These are just a few of the things I have learned in the past week.
Practice is key in anything and this is especially true when talking about getting better at Irish Dancing, but it is also a double-edged sword. You need to work on things correctly so you don't do them wrong in your step and if you just aren't getting anywhere with a specific step, after an hour, or even thirty minutes, take a break from it and move on to a different trouble area and go back to it a different day or ask your teacher for help. Believe it or not the person you go to lessons is trying to help you. Don't take the nagging, scolding, or criticism personally. It's meant to help not hurt. Last but not least, what I learned this past week is to never give up, keep trying if you really want it because at the end of the day, you're only as good as you let yourself be. The goal isn't about being better than everyone else, even though that's a plus. The goal is to be better than you were the days before.

Hard work to win at Irish Dancing

My Almost Famous project is to inform dancers how to win and get better and attempt to make it past the preliminary stages using the ways I describe. The final product that will be shown at the end of this project. It will be a compilation of notes, articles I have found useful, and short videos of private lessons, practices when I'm by myself and feis', not just my competitions but higher level competition, and lower level competition. The expenses for me personally will be the cost to compete, new dancing shoes (if needed), and travel. The expenses for new and old dancers will be the costs to compete, travel, dancing shoes, dresses, wigs (optional), private lessons, and class lessons. The timeline for this project is to start practicing with my dance teacher by December, and have a work out schedule set that targets the muscles most needed for dancing. By January, I hope to be competing in competitions around America, mostly in the Midwest, so Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. By the end of this project I hope to be in Preliminaries, or further. I'm excited about this project because I have been an Irish Dancer for almost 14 years and making it past preliminaries is within my grasp, after years of trying.