Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all NPIDA families! Thank you for supporting the Pickett Line Blog during these initial early months, and special thanks to those of you who have submitted photos and posted comments; you have really helped make the blog enjoyable for all. Best wishes to all NPIDA families for some relaxing time over the holiday season, and we'll see you in 2010!

Photo: Christmas 2000 - Hanna, Nora, Natalie P, Natalie S, and Kali.

Festive Dancers at the Buck

These 6 dancers performed at The Buck in Steveston last night, bedecked in their Santa hats. Thanks girls for putting on a great show !

Photo submitted by Christine - thank you!

Back row: Catalina and Nicole

Front row: Macaela, Caitlin, Jessie and Jadyn

Dancing at the Wicklow

Last night a large group of Eire Born dancers performed at the The Wicklow Pub in False Creek. A big thank you to all the dancers and parents who drove over from North Vancouver (and 1 from Richmond) during the busy holiday season for this show! Anna M, Anna Z, Camryn, Emma, Gemma, Hanna, Kiera, Mackenzie, Maria, Mia, Rachel, Raven, and Tori. And as always thanks to Vic the Sound Guy and friend Stu.

Photo: Hanna, Anna Z, Emma and Mackenzie.

Dancing at The Buck

NPIDA and Eire Born have a long tradition of dancing at local pubs, particularly the Buck and Ear in Steveston. With our older dancers now often busy with university, exams, and part-time jobs, the younger dancers have been the primary performers at recent pub shows. Thanks girls! Last night these dancers put on a great show for a packed house at The Buck.

Back: Lauren N.
Front: Gemma, Anna M, Morgan, Shannon, Macaela, Caitlin, and Jadyn.
Photo submitted by Jennifer R. - thank you!

DeDanaan Feis Photos from Sunday Dec.6

These photos were all taken by Cheryl G. last Sunday December 6 at the DeDanaan Feis in Surrey (Pre-Beginner to Prizewinner). Thanks for the great photos once again Cheryl!

1. Raven and Maddie. Raven placed 4th and Maddie placed 5th in the U-11 Novice/Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophy Dance.

2. Leila and Shaun. Leila placed 6th and Shaun placed 7th in the U-7 First Feis Reel Trophy Dance.

3. Sophie and Raven.

4. Mikaela and Catherine.

5. Emma H and Maddie.

6. Mikaela and Nora. Mikaela placed 1st in the 11+ Beginner Reel Trophy Dance and has also now qualified for a red dress!

Congratulations also to Alannah and Gemma, who both won 1st place in their Beginner Reel Trophy Dances and are also both new red dress qualifiers!

Welcome to Prelim Championships Tori!

Nora has confirmed that Tori has advanced from Prizewinner to Prelim based on her results at the DeDanaan Feis. Tori had an outstanding feis, winning 1st place in both the U-15 Novice/Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophy and the 14+ Novice/Prizewinner Treble Reel Trophy. She also won two 1sts, a 2nd and a 4th place in her Prizewinner solo dances. Congratulations Tori and good luck in Prelim Championships!

Photo by Cheryl G.

DeDanaan Feis Photos

The above two photos were submitted by Christine; thank you for these Christine! NPIDA parents, you are welcome to submit feis photos for use on the blog; please e-mail them to pickettlineblogAThotmail.com. Cheryl G will also be providing more photos from this feis; check back in a few days.

1/Some of our Championship dancers: Camryn, Macaela, Shannon, Caitlin, Cara, Jessie, and Jadyn.

2/Sisters Caitlin and Macaela. Between them, they won 8 trophies on Saturday! Caitlin won 1st in U-8 Prelim Championships, 1st in the U-8 Treble Reel, 3rd in the U-12 Slip Jig Special, and 5th in the U-10 Hornpipe Special. Macaela placed 2nd in U-10 Open Championships, 1st in the U-10 Treble Reel, 1st in the U-10 Hornpipe Special, and 6th in the U-12 Slip Jig Special. Congratulations girls!

Welcome to Open Stephanie!

Stephanie won 1st place in the Prelim 18+ competition at the DeDanaan Feis yesterday; following her prior win at the Calgary Feis in October, she now advances to Open Championships. Congratulations!

Stephanie advanced rapidly through the levels of Irish dance, taking her first NPIDA class in January 2007 and attending her first feis just 2 years ago - the December 2007 DeDanaan Feis! She moved to Vancouver Island in the spring of 2008 and has been commuting to attend dance classes once per month in North Vancouver. She graduated from Capilano University with a Bachelor of Music Therapy in June 2009 and is currently working as a music therapist at two long-term care homes. Congratulations Stephanie, and good luck in Open!

Photo by Cheryl G: Stephanie and Courtney following Stephanie's win at the DeDanaan Feis.
Note: Scroll down to Saturday's post to see 3 more photos from Cheryl, added tonight.

DeDanaan Feis Trophy Results

Congratulations to all the NPIDA dancers who competed today at the DeDanaan Feis in Surrey ! Below are the NPIDA trophy dance results for First Feis to Prizewinner dancers (see yesterday's post for all Championship results).

First Feis Reel Trophies
Sabine: 5th place in U-7
Leila J: 6th place in U-7
Shaun: 7th place in U-7

Beginner Reel Trophies
Gemma: 1st place in U-7
Alannah: 1st place in U-8
Orlagh: 7th place in U-11
Mikaela: 1st place in 11+

Novice-Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophies
Julia: 5th place in U-8
Meghan: 3rd place in U-10
Raven: 4th place in U-11
Madelaine: 5th place in U-11
Rhiannon: 7th place in U-11
Tori: 1st place in U-15
Harriet: 2nd place in 15+

Novice-Prizewinner Treble Reel Trophies
Josie: 4th in U-10
Raven: 6th in U-12
Tori: 1st in 14+

Cheryl G was taking photos both days at the feis and will be providing some for the blog. NPIDA parents; if you also have any good clear photos from the feis, feel free to e-mail them to pickettlineblogAThotmail.com

DeDanaan Feis: Championship Results

It was a very good day for the NPIDA Championship dancers today at the DeDanaan Feis in Surrey. Congratulations to all the dancers for their wonderful results !

Prelim Championship and Trophy Results:

Prelim U-8
Caitlin: 1st in Soft Shoe, 1st in Hard Shoe, 2nd in Set Dance, and 1st overall. 1st in U-8 Prelim/Open Treble Reel; 3rd in U-12 Prelim/Open Slip Jig Special; 5th in U-10 Prelim/Open Hornpipe Special.
Jadyn: 3rd in Soft Shoe, 2nd in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance, 2nd overall.

Prelim U-10
Camryn: 2nd in Soft Shoe, 1st in Set Dance, and 3rd overall. 2nd in U-10 Prelim/Open Treble Reel.
Jessie: 5th in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance, and 6th overall.
Shannon: 4th in Hard Shoe.

Prelim U-12
Cara: 4th in Hard Shoe and 4th overall.

Prelim U-14
Nicole: 1st in Soft Shoe, and 4th overall.
Anna Z: 2nd in Soft Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance.
Emma: 3rd in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance. 2nd in U-14 Prelim/Open Treble Reel.
Samantha: 4th in U-14 Prelim/Open Treble Reel.

Prelim U-16
Alexandra: 2nd in Hard Shoe, 2nd in Set Dance, and 1st overall.
Ellen: 1st in Soft Shoe, 1st in Set Dance, and 4th overall.
Jessi: 5th in Hard Shoe.

Prelim U-18
Dana: 2nd in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance, and 3rd overall.

Prelim 18+
Stephanie: 1st in Soft Shoe, 1st in Hard Shoe, 2nd in Set Dance, and 1st overall. Welcome to Open Championships !
Rachel: 3rd in Soft Shoe, 4th in Hard Shoe.

Open Championship and Trophy Results

Open U-10
Macaela: 3rd in Soft Shoe, 1st in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance, and 2nd overall. 1st in U-10 Prelim/Open Treble Reel; 6th in U-12 Prelim/Open Slip Jig Special; 1st in U-10 Prelim/Open Hornpipe Special.
Natalie L: 3rd in U-16 Prelim/Open Treble Reel.

Photos by Cheryl G:

1/ Alex: 1st place in Prelim U-16.

2/ Caitlin: 1st place in Prelim U-8.

3/ Caitlin and Jadyn (1st and 2nd in Prelim U-8) with Nora and Courtney.