Halloween Photos: Monday in Richmond

Front row: Aishlin, Sabine, Emma, Jadyn and Mckenna. Back row: Morgan, Jessie, Shannon, Catalina, Tomas and Catharine

Getting in the Halloween spirit!

Nora (with the same dancers as above), at the ballroom in Richmond

Many thanks to Sue for submitting these 3 photos of some Richmond NPIDA dancers in costume during class on Monday. Nice costumes!

It's Halloween Week at NPIDA!

Halloween 2010: Caitlin (front), Jessie, Shannon, Macaela, Morgan and Jadyn

NPIDA dancers: Don't forget to wear your Halloween costume to dance class this week! As noted in Nora's e-mail of  October 18:

"Please bring your costume (optional) to our regular classes during the week of Monday October 24th to Saturday October 29th. We will be handing out prizes and small treats to dancers during class! Please ensure that you can either freely Irish dance in your costume or bring extra dance clothes to change into after our costume contest. All dancers will be Irish dancing in every class... we’re just adding some Halloween fun to each class! The contest will take place during the first 10 minutes of each class".

NPIDA Parents: please submit photo(s) of your dancers in costume at class this week to pickettlineblogAThotmail.com. Please note the names of all dancers in the photo; thanks.

1st Annual Winter Ceili: November 19/11

The Eire Born Irish Dance Society (EBIDS) and the Nora Pickett Irish Dance Academy are thrilled to announce that our 1st Annual Winter Ceili will be held on Saturday November 19th from 2:00- 7:00pm at the famous Blarney Stone in Vancouver!

This will be guaranteed to be a fun festive event for all ages - come dance, eat and celebrate with our NPIDA families! The ticket price (to be confirmed) will include a burger buffet - veggie and chicken options available (for adults), and grilled cheese, pizza, mini burgers or chicken fingers (for children).

This event is a fundraiser for EBIDS and we will be hosting a silent auction and raffle at the Winter Ceili. Please let us know if you can donate items, or if you know of a company/person that would be keen to donate something to our silent auction or raffle.   

This will be a fun event for everyone to come together and celebrate so please SAVE THE DATE OF NOVEMBER 19TH, 2011 IN YOUR CALENDARS!! More details will follow. If you are able to come or have any questions about the event, please contact Andrea C at davidandthegirlsATshaw.ca

Space is limited so we are initially restricting tickets to dancers and their immediate family. Once we have a better sense of our attendees, we will release more tickets for extended family members!

* In regards to the post immediately below pertaining to the 2 hotels for the 2012 North American Championships in Chicago; please see the comment below from Claudia with some additional information. Thank you Claudia!

Clip Art from Google Images.

2012 North American Championships: Hotel Info

Left: The Sheraton Chicago. Right: The Hyatt Regency Chicago

The 2012 North American Championships will be held in Chicago Illinois on July 3-7 2012. The 2 host hotels, Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, and the Hyatt Regency Chicago will be open for dancer bookings beginning Tuesday November 1.

Dancers who are competing at the 2011 Western Canadian Oireachtas in Edmonton on November 4-5 have an opportunity to qualify for the 2012 North American Championships. All Open Championship dancers, regardless of whether they recall at the Oireachtas, are also eligible to compete at the North American Championships.

The reserved room rate is $159. plus taxes. At the time of making your reservation, a 2-night non-refundable deposit will be taken. As has been the case over the past few years at the North American Championships, anyone not staying in the designated hotel(s) will be charged a Facility Usage Fee of $100 per person per day. The purpose of the fee is to ensure that the event meets the hotel room numbers to cover the costs of the hotel space.
 
Here are direct links for the online hotel booking forms:

Sheraton: http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/NAIDC2012
Hyatt: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/IrishDanceTeachersAssn

Thank you to Leanne A for forwarding this information. For more details, you can check the CLRG website (choose the "2012 North American Championships" link). Click here: www.clrg.ie

Photos from Google Images.

Jig The Movie at NPIDA

Settling in to watch Jig at the NPIDA studio

Faces in the crowd! (click any photo to see an enlarged view)

Morgan pitching in to sweep up popcorn

Many thanks to Gillian S for submitting these photos taken on Saturday night during the screening of Jig at the NPIDA studio. Thank you to all of the NPIDA families who turned out for this special evening, which was a fundraiser for our dancers who are travelling to Edmonton in November to compete at the Western Canadian Oireachtas!

NPIDA 2011 Oireachtas Competitors

Nora has confirmed that the following NPIDA dancers will be competing at the 2011 Western Canadian Oireachtas (North American and World Qualifying Championships). The Oireachtas and Mini-Feis will take place in Edmonton during the weekend of November 4-6.

All U-13 solo competitions and all Team/Figure Dances will be held on Friday, and all 13+ solo competitions will be held on Saturday. The Mini-Feis (non-championship dancers only) will take place on Sunday.

This year NPIDA not only has 36 solo entrants, but is also sending 3 8-Hand teams as well! Good luck to all the dancers in these upcoming weeks of final Oireachtas preparations!

SOLO COMPETITORS

Girls Pre-Oireachtas (U-9)
Sarah A
Caitlin B
Kyla F
Mckenna L
Jadyn M
Megan S

Girls U-10
Alannah C
Morgan G
Julia M
Thea M

Girls U-11
Macaela B
Camryn C
Jayne D
Jessie H

Girls U-12
Catharine A
Olivia A
Shannon G
Taigen G
Emma Hib
Anna M

Boys U-12
Tomas M

Girls U-13
Raven G
Cara J
Gemma K

Girls U-14
Maria M
Mikaela P

Girls U-15
Emma B
Mackenzie C
Catalina G
Laurel S

Girls U-17
Jessi B
Ellen D

Ladies U-18
Jessica H
Paula K

Ladies 20+
Stephanie M
Rebecca R

8-HAND TEAMS

U-10 Team
Sarah A
Alannah C
Morgan G
Pixie K
Julia M
Jadyn M
Thea M
Megan S

U-15 team
Olivia A
Camryn C
Shannon G
Taigen G
Jessie H
Emma Hib
Gemma K
Anna M

15+ Team
Emma B
Mackenzie C
Catalina G
Raven G
Jessica H
Cara J
Paula K
Laurel S

Oireachtas clip art from Google Images.

Calgary Feis: Sunday

Brother and sister Shaun and Pixie K competed at the Calgary (Irwin) Feis today. I don't believe they had any trophy results (as per feisworx), but we hope they had a fun time and some personal successes at the feis!

I took this photo of Shaun and Pixie at the Kitsilano Showboat Eire Born performance in August/11.

Calgary Feis: Saturday Results

Julia: 1st in U-10 Prelim and 1st in U-12 Treble Reel!

Julia with her Prelim trophy in Calgary

Edited, 11:30pm: Thanks to Lynn M for submitting these photos!

Today all the Preliminary and Open Championship competitions took place at the Calgary (Irwin) Feis. NPIDA had 4 Championship dancers competing today: Julia, Morgan, Gemma and Shannon. Here are their results:

U-10 Prelim Championships
Julia M: 6th in Soft Shoe, 3rd in Hard Shoe, 1st in Set Dance, 1st overall! Congratulations Julia; you're half-way to Open!
Morgan G: 3rd in Soft Shoe, 4th in Hard Shoe

U-13 Prelim Championships:
Gemma K: 7th in Soft Shoe, 1st in Hard Shoe, 6th in Set Dance, 5th overall

U-12 Championship Treble Reel (NPIDA sweeps the top 2 places out of 22 competitors!)
Julia M: 1st!
Morgan G: 2nd

Good Luck in Calgary!

Good luck to Shannon, Morgan, Julia, Gemma, Shaun and Pixie, our 6 dancers heading to the Calgary Feis this weekend !

Jig Screening and Liam's Return to NPIDA

Two important bits of NPIDA news regarding upcoming October events:

1/ "Jig the Movie" is being screened at the NPIDA studio on Saturday October 15, 7:00pm!

Tickets are available to NPIDA and EBIDS family and friends but are limited. Pleae contact Leanne at leannearmstrongATshaw.ca to reserve your tickets. Tickets must be paid for in advance; please provide your payment to either Leanne or Paula at the NPIDA studio. Leanne says "if any Richmond dancers don't have a way to get funds to North Van, please let me know and I will hold your tickets until the night of the event".

Tickets are $7 for kids, $10 for adults. This event is a fundraiser for the 37 NPIDA dancers who are attending the 2011 Western Canadian Oireachtas next month. Jig attendees are asked to please bring a dessert plate to share.

2. Liam H, TCRG and ADCRG, is returning to NPIDA from October 27-30!

Liam will be teaching all regular NPIDA classes, as well as some workshops. Dates and times for the workshops will be announced in a few days. Welcome back to Vancouver Liam!



I found this undated YouTube video of Liam dancing. NPIDA dancers... better practise your click jumps! ;)

2012 IDTANA Scholarship Applications

Michael and Hanna - 2009 and 2010 IDTANA Scholarship winners

Every year the North American Irish Dance Teacher's Association (IDTANA) offers a total of $20,000 in scholarships to dancers across North America who not only are accomplished dancers but have also achieved a very high standard of academic excellence and are extensively involved in their school and community. The 2012 scholarship applications have now been posted on the IDTANA website; the deadline is December 15 2011.

Applications will be reviewed by an IDTANA committee consisting of dance teachers from each region in North America. Applicants must be in Grade 12 this year and entering a full-time 4-year degree program in September 2012, or be currently enrolled in a 4-year degree program. Click here to access the forms and read the detailed application guidelines: http://www.idtana.org/

NPIDA is proud to have had 2 senior dancers be the prior winners of IDTANA scholarships: Michael Y in 2009 and Hanna S in 2010. Michael and Hanna were the only Western Canadian IDTANA scholarship recipients in 2009 and 2010.

Still More Portland Feis Photos

Left to right from center front: Macaela, Caitlin, Sabine, Sydney, Sage, Emma and Olivia

Congratulations to Emma (1st in the U-10 Novice Reel trophy) and Olivia (1st in the Beginner-Prizewinner Slip Jig trophy dance)!

Sydney, Emma and Olivia admiring their multiple trophies

Olivia, Thea, Sage, Julia, Emma, Leila, Sabine and Sydney with their impessive line-up of trophies. Congratulations girls!

Same girls as above, hoisting their trophies

Congratulations Olivia! 1st in the Beginner-Prizewinner Slip Jig trophy, and 4th in the Harry Potter trophy dance!

Congratulations Sydney! 4th in the U-10 Prizewinner Reel trophy dance, 3rd in the Beginner-Prizewinner Slip Jig trophy dance, and 4th in the Lady Gaga trophy dance!

Congratulations Sabine! 7th in the U-10 Prizewinner Reel trophy dance, and 6th in the U-10 Novice-Prizewinner Treble Reel! (Sabine and Sydney in the middle photo)

Three views of Mikaela (U-14 Prelim) and her new dress

Laurel, Emma and Mackenzie

Jadyn, Sage, Sarah, Megan and Morgan

Olivia, Shannon and Anna

Many thanks to Josee (photos #1-8), Diana (photo #9), Aileen (photo #10) and Sue (photos # 11-12) for more great photos from the Portland Feis!

Even More Photos: Portland Feis

Jayne and Emma

Shaun: 3rd in the U-10 Beginner/Advanced Beginner Boys Light Jig Trophy

Jayne: 3rd place in U-11 Prelim Set Dance

Katelyn and Pixie

Happy day for Katelyn: 3rd place out of 24 dancers in the Beginner-Prizewinner Slip Jig Trophy Dance, and first time wearing her red dress!

Laurel and Megan - with "mascot" Damian

Some of our Prelim and Open dancers (and their hardware!) on Saturday

Jadyn and Megan: 7th and 3rd in the U-10 Prelim Treble Reel

Jadyn, Megan and Nora. In addition to both placing in the U-10 Prelim Treble Reel, Jadyn won 1st place in U-9 Prelim and Megan won a 3rd-place solo medal in her first Prelim competition.  

Lunch at the American Girl store to celebrate Gemma and Jadyn's birthdays. Left to right: Shannon, Megan, Gemma, Cara, Anna, Pixie, Jadyn, Jessie and Morgan

What it's all about: friends celebrating their accomplishments! Here; Jadyn is surrounded by friends as she comes off stage after her win. Back: Gemma, Julia, Emma, Laurel, Mackenzie, Cara, Morgan and Anna. Front: Megan, Jadyn and Catalina.

Many thanks to Nicole (photos #1-5), Gillian (photos #6-10) and Sue (photo #11) for these lovely Portland Feis photos. Tomorrow I will be posting more photos from Sunday.

There have been more than 1040 views of the Pickett Line Blog since Friday night; thank you for your interest and support of our dancers at the Portland Feis!

More Portland Photos

Anna and Jadyn: Our newest Open champions!

Mckenna: 4th in U-9 Prelim

Thea - ready for the Lady Gaga Costume Trophy Dance

Sage: 1st in the U-10 Beginner Reel Trophy Dance

Jadyn (1st in U-9 Prelim) and Cailtin (2nd in U-11 Open)

Courtney, Jadyn, Nora and Leila

Macaela, Jessie, Mckenna, Jadyn, Megan and Kyla

Jadyn and Megan with their U-9 Prelim medals and trophies

Sarah and Jadyn having fun with Courtney

Celebrating Jadyn's win - Nora, Courtney and Jadyn

Many thanks to Jennifer (photo #1), Jay (photos #2-4) and Sue (photos #5-10) for submitting these photos taken at the Portland Feis!

More Trophy Dance Results: Sunday

My apologies; I inadvertently overlooked these trophy dance results from Sunday when I posted the NPIDA results last evening. Congratulations to these NPIDA dancers!

Patsy Shovlin Memorial Beginner to Prizewinner Slip Jig Trophy Dance
Olivia B: 1st !
Sydney B: 3rd
Katelyn D: 3rd

10 and Under Novice-Prizewinner Treble Reel
Thea M: 1st!
Leila J: 5th
Sabine A: 6th