2012 NAN's Dancer Schedule

Chicago (photo from Google Images)

The 2012 North American Irish Dance Championships will take place in Chicago July 3- 7 2012. (See the October 19 post for information about the official NAN's hotels). Thank you to Andrea for pointing out that the 2012 NAN's schedule has now been posted. It is as follows:

Tuesday July 3
Ladies U-20, Ladies U-19
Girls U-15, Girls U-10
Men 20+, Men U-20

Wednesday July 4
Ladies 20+
Girls U-17, Girls U-13
Boys U-8, Boys U-9, Boys U-10

Thursday July 5
Boys U-11, U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18
All Team Figures, Ceili and Dance Dramas

Friday July 6
Girls U-14, Girls U-11, Girls U-9, Girls U-8

Saturday July 7
Girls U-18, Girls U-16, Girls U-12

- The 2012 NAN's are being hosted by the Mid-America Region; here is a direct link to their NAN's website: http://www.midamericaregion.com/north-american-championships/

- IDTANA - the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America - also has a link to NAN's information: http://www.idtana.org/2012_north_american_irish_dance.htm

A Friendly Reminder About Posting Photos

A friendly reminder to parents and dancers: when posting photos to your personal Facebook page or other social media sites, please be sure to follow common courtesy and protocol by crediting the photographer in instances where you did not take the photos yourself. For example, if you have posted Oireachtas photos taken by Cheryl G on your Facebook page, please be courteous and credit her as the photographer. Thank you!

Cheryl; we greatly appreciate your beautiful photographs and your generosity in sharing them!

Submitted Oireachtas Photos: Friday

Kyla, Sarah, Jadyn and Megan at the airport waiting to board their flight

Jessie, Mackenzie, Laurel and Megan at the airport waiting to board their flight

NPIDA practise on Friday night (Nora in front)

Courtney and Nora with the dancers on Friday night

Megan prepping for her first Oireachtas: hair (with Courtney), makeup; ready!

Hair help ! Connie and Morgan; Nora and Thea

Stretching: Jayne, Jessie, Camryn and Taigen

Jessie, Cara and Anna

Maria, Mikaela and Jayne

Clockwise from front left: Macaela, Caitlin, Jadyn, Anna and Emma

Jadyn, Megan and Jessie between rounds on Friday

After the U-10 8-Hand team rehearsal! Back: Julia, Morgan, Thea, Megan and Pixie. Front: Sarah, Jadyn, and Caitlin

Cara and Anna waiting for the awards ceremony to begin

A few NPIDA dads! Kenny, Mark, Jay and Scott

Many thanks to Gillian (photos #1, 2, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 14), Nicole (photo #7) and Jennifer (photos #3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 13) for these wonderful Oireachtas photos. I'm trying to group the many submitted photos into categories... the above images reflect some of the preparations and friendships!  Lots more photos to come, including before and after the awards ceremony on Friday.

I think we're going to reach the 100,000 blog views milestone in the next day or two! Thank you for your continued support of the Pickett Line Blog, and special thanks to our wonderful photo contributors!

NPIDA U-15 8-Hand Team *Updated

U-15 8-Hand team. Back row: Anna, Olivia, Jessie and Taigen. Front row: Gemma, Camryn, Emma and Shannon

Courtney with the U-15 Team

Back: Shannon and Anna. Middle: Emma, Taigen, Gemma, Camryn and Jessie. Front: Olivia.

U-15 8-Hand team ready for the stage!

Thank you to Leanne (photos #1-2), Jennifer (photo #3) and Cheryl (photo #4) for submitting these photos of the U-15 8-Hand team!

More Oireachtas photos submitted by parents will be posted over the next few days - please stay tuned! Parents; if you have a high-resolution version of any professional photos or photo collages you purchased at the Oireachtas, you are welcome to submit those to share on the blog! Please e-mail your photos to: pickettlineblogAThotmail.com

Edmonton Mini-Feis Results

Every year the Western Canadian region hosts a mini-feis for non-Championship dancers on the day following the Oireachtas. We had 3 dancers competing in Edmonton yesterday; Emma H, Emma B-T and Pixie K. Nora has also advised that Emma H has now advanced to Prelim Championships based on her results yesterday. Congratulations Emma!

Emma H: 5 medals in her Prizewinner solo dances, including two 1sts. Emma also won 1st place in the U-10 Novice/Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophy Dance. Congratulations on advancing to Prelim Championships!

Emma B-T: 4 medals in her Advanced Beginner to Prizewinner solo dances, including three 1sts. Emma also won 1st place in the U-7 Novice/Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophy Dance. Congratulations!

Pixie: 4 medals in her Beginner to Novice solo dances, including one 1st. Congratulations!

WCAN Oireachtas Parade of Champions Video

This video was posted on YouTube today and shows the 2011 Western Canadian Oireachtas Parade of Champions ("step-about" of the 1st-place winners), which took place last night in Edmonton. That's NPIDA's Caitlin (first dancer in the parade; U-9 Girls Champion; she starts dancing at 1:42) and Tomas (U-12 Boys Champion; he starts dancing at 3:34). Congratulations to ALL of these fantastic 2011 winners - Western Canada is proud!

Once the video begins, you can double click for a full-screen view.

Oireachtas Medallists - Saturday

Ellen: 5th in U-17 Girls and a World Qualifier!

Nora and Courtney with Mikaela (20th in U-14 Girls)

Nora and Courtney with Laurel (20th in U-15 Girls)

Nora and Courtney with Emma (18th in U-15 Girls)

Nora and Courtney with Catalina (13th in U-15 Girls)

Nora and Courtney with Mackenzie (3rd in U-15 Girls and a World Qualifier!)

Nora and Courtney with Stephanie (8th in Ladies 20+ and a World Qualifier!)

Ellen, Mackenzie, Emma, Laurel, Stephanie, Catalina and Mikaela

Here are a few more photos that Cheryl took following the awards ceremony on Saturday night. Thank you Cheryl! Scroll down for lots more of Cheryl's photos from the Oireachtas.

Good luck to Pixie K, Emma B-T and Emma H who are competing at the Mini-Feis in Edmonton today!

Cheryl's Oireachtas Photos: Saturday

U-15 Girls: Mackenzie, Laurel, Emma and Catalina

Jessi, Gemma, Laurel and Paula

Ellen, Mackenzie, Catalina and Emma with Courtney

Maria (U-14)

Jessi (U-17)

Paula and Jessica (both U-18)

Mikaela (U-14) with mom Diana - first Oireachtas

Mikaela: 20th in U-14 Girls

Dramatic and exciting moment when Mackenzie hears that she is in the Top 5! (With Emma, Laurel and Catalina; all U-15 Girls)

Emma (18th) and Laurel (20th) in U-15 Girls

Mackenzie: 3rd in U-15 Girls; World Qualifier!

NPIDA mob after the U-15 Girls awards

Ellen: 5th in U-17 Girls; World Qualifier!

Stephanie: 8th in Ladies 20+: World Qualifier!

Happy U-15 Girls: Catalina, Mackenzie, Laurel and Emma

Saturday medallists: Ellen, Mackenzie, Emma, Laurel, Stephanie, Catalina and Mikaela

Ellen, Mackenzie, Emma, Laurel, Stephanie, Catalina and Mikaela

Nora and Courtney with the Saturday medallists

Thank you once again to Cheryl who took these beautiful photos - and then stayed up late to send them to me! Congratulations again to all of our dancers, recallers, and World qualifiers this weekend! Later today I'll post a few more individual shots that Cheryl took of our Saturday medallists after the awards ceremony. Stay tuned over the next several days for parent-submitted Oireachtas photos!

Oireachtas Results: Saturday

Courtney (right) with Stephanie - our Senior Ladies World Qualifier! (Photo submitted by Courtney - thanks!)

All of our Saturday medallists; left to right: Ellen, Mackenzie, Emma, Laurel, Stephanie, Catalina and Mikaela. All are qualified for the 2012 North American Championships, and 3 (Ellen, Mackenzie and Stephanie) are qualified for the 2012 World Championships! Thanks to Courtney for the photo.

As noted in the post directly below, 7 of our 11 solo dancers recalled today! Below are the final results as announced at the awards ceremony tonight in Edmonton. CONGRATULATIONS DANCERS! Many thanks to Jennifer for texting "live" updates during the awards!

Girls U-14 (41 competitors, 21 recallers)
Mikaela: 20th

Girls U-15 (44 competitors, 22 recallers)
*Mackenzie: 3rd
Catalina: 13th
Emma: 18th
Laurel: 20th

Girls U-17
*Ellen: 5th (26 competitors, 13 recallers)

20+ Ladies (22 competitors, 11 recallers)
*Stephanie: 8th

* Dancers noted with a * above have qualified for the 2012 World Championships in Belfast based on their results at the Oireachtas! Congratulations Mackenzie, Ellen and Stephanie !

All 7 of the above recallers have also qualified for the 2012 North American Championships in Chicago. Congratulations!

Oireachtas Recalls: Saturday *Updated

We have 11 dancers competing today at the Oireachtas in Edmonton; good luck to them all! Updated 1:50PM: All recall information has now been updated below. Thank you for your texts, Cheryl and Jennifer!

OUR SATURDAY RECALLERS:

Girls U-14
Mikaela recalled!

Girls U-15
ALL of our U-15 girls have recalled ! Emma B, Mackenzie, Catalina and Laurel 

Girls U-17
Ellen recalled!

Ladies 20+
Stephanie recalled!
(Rebecca R was also originally registered in this group, but opted not to attend the Oireachtas).

NPIDA had 11 dancers competing today and 7 have recalled! Congratulations and good luck with your Set Dances! We would also like to make special mention of Maria (U-14), Jessi B (U-17), Paula (U-18) and Jessica H (U-18) who did not recall today but danced beautifully; you made NPIDA very proud, girls!