Did You Check the Show Schedule Today?

Just another friendly reminder that Nora has been updating the Eire Born St. Pat's show schedule daily with changes and additions - have you checked to see if your troupe has any new shows ? Go to the NPIDA website and click on Dancer Info, then enter the password and check the updated show schedule. Click here: www.eireborn.net Thanks to the many dancers, parents and sound crews - have a great St. Patrick's week! (Don't forget to take some photos!)

Photo from Google Images

North Van Troupe 1 Photos

Many thanks to Nicole D who sent along these photos of North Van Troupe 1 at their shows yesterday.

1. At Taylor's Crossing: Mackenzie, Laurel, Emma, Jayne, Camryn and Emma H.

2. Emma at the Hollyburn Sailing Club.

3. Camryn and Jayne - having a little bit too much fun?!

Weekend St. Patrick's Shows

The first of Eire Born's St. Patrick's shows began this weekend, with various troupes busy across both Richmond and North Vancouver. Thanks to all the dancers, parents and sound crews !

Photos:

1. Backstage at the Buck & Ear Pub in Steveston; a mixture of Troupe A and B. Dancers: Alex, Nicole, Courtney, Hanna, Lauren, Shannon, and Jadyn.

2. North Van Troupe 2 at the Cheshire Cheese Restaurant. Dancers: Rachel, Kimberly, Cara, Gemma, Pixie, Shaun, Anna M, and Mary.

3. North Van Troupe 2 at Arbutus Manor.

4. Anna M. mid-leap at Arbutus Manor.

Thanks to Cheryl G. for photos #2-4!

Reminder to dancers and parents: Don't forget to check the Eire Born St. Pat's schedule, which is available on the newly revised NPIDA website! There are important and frequent updates to the St. Pat's show schedule, and most likely will continue to be over the next week. (Click on the "Dancer Info" icon at the bottom of the homepage. This is a password-protected section of the website; please refer to Nora's e-mail of March 8 for the password!)

Click here for the homepage: www.eireborn.net

Eire Born Parents: Photos Wanted!

As most of you know, our Eire Born dancers are beginning a very busy week of St. Patrick's shows. Nora has divided the dancers into 7 smaller troupes; 3 in Richmond and 4 in North Van. I am really hoping that a few Eire Born parents will take some photos while attending shows and submit them to me for the blog! I will be attending some of the Richmond Troupe A shows; Cheryl will be at some of the North Van Troupe 2 shows, and Connie will be with Richmond Troupe B, although she is doing the sound and I suspect her opportunity to take photos will likely be very limited.

So, we need some parent photographers for all the other St. Pat's troupes! It can be quite difficult to take good photos during shows (especially in dark crowded pubs), but if you get a chance to take a few shots of the troupe backstage before the show that would be great. Please e-mail your best photos from St. Pat's shows to me at: pickettlineblogAThotmail.com (replace "AT" with @).

We really hope to be able to represent all of our dedicated St. Pat's dancers in at least 1 or 2 photos on the blog! Thanks.

Shannon's New Blog for Worlds

Shannon G has set up a new blog to document her upcoming trip to the 2010 World Championships, which will take place in Glasgow Scotland from March 28 - April 4. Shannon's blog is called Shannon's Shenanigans: Shannon in Glasgow. Please check out Shannon's blog - and feel free to leave her a comment or two!

Click here for a direct link: www.shannoninglasgow.blogspot.com
I have also posted a direct link on the sidebar (scroll down to "Website Links: Alphabetical List", under the little calendar. Look for "2010 Worlds: Shannon's Blog"). Good luck Shannon, and have fun on your trip; we will look forward to seeing your blog posts and photos!

Photo: Shannon with Nora and Courtney at the 2009 Oireachtas.

Do You Have Your Tickets Yet?

Later this month, Courtney, Michael and Shannon will be heading to Glasgow Scotland to compete at the 2010 World Championships from March 28-April 4. Please support them by purchasing a ticket to their Pub Night fundraising event, which will take place next Saturday March 20 at the Buck & Ear Pub in Steveston. This event is also in support of Macaela who recently returned from competing at the 2010 All Ireland Championships in Killarney.

Tickets are only $15. each and include a cheddar burger, chips, beer or non-alcoholic drink. There will also be a fantastic dance show, a 50/50 draw, and great raffle prizes! Mackenzie and Lauren will be guest dancers; they are also both 2010 World qualifiers but have opted not to attend this year. The event begins at 6:30pm, and food will be served from 7:00-8:30pm. Tickets can be purchased from any of these 4 dancers or their parents, as well as Nora.

If you have any items or services that you could donate for the raffle, that would be greatly appreciated by the dancers! Please contact any of them or their parents if you have a potential donation. Thank you!

Come out to the Buck on March 20; it will be a fun evening and a great way to end St. Patrick's week while supporting Courtney, Michael, Shannon and Macaela! We hope to see you there!

Coco at Flare Magazine

Coco is on the cover of the new issue of Flare magazine (April 2010) and is also featured in a fashion article in the magazine. During her photo shoot for Flare in Toronto a couple of months ago, she was accompanied by her boyfriend (now fiance) James, who is a professional muralist. When word got around on the Flare set about James, he was commissioned to draw murals on the large chalkboard background behind Coco, changing the artwork each time Coco changed outfits. Click directly on the video above to play.

More Seattle Feis Photos

Connie sent along these great pictures from the Seattle Comerford Feis; thanks Connie !

1. Morgan (centre), Jenny (right), and Jenny's little sister Sammy (left). Jenny won 2 medals in her Hornpipe and Slip Jig.

2. Leila J. She won 3rd place in the U-7 Beginner Reel Trophy Dance.

3. Leila with her dad and little sister.

4. Morgan (she won 6 medals and a 2nd-place trophy), Jessie (she placed 2nd in Prelim U-10 on Sunday), and Catharine (she won 4 medals, including two 1sts in her Beginner soft shoe dances).

5. 8 Pickett girls: Morgan, Emma, Laurel, Camryn, Jayne, Nicole, Mackenzie, and Lauren.

Seattle Comerford Feis Photos

Many thanks to the Cross family who sent along these photos from the Seattle Comerford Feis.

1. Camryn: 1st place in Prelim U-10; now she's an Open dancer!

2. Camryn and Jayne.

3. Jessie, Camryn and Jadyn; laden with sashes and trophies!

4. Dave C. with Camryn, Mackenzie, Lauren, Jessie, Jadyn and Jayne.

5. Pool time! Lauren, Shannon and Camryn.

Seattle Comerford Feis Results: Sunday

We had many Prelim Championship dancers competing yesterday in Seattle, as well as First Feis to Prizewinner dancers age 13 and older. Here are their results:

Prelim U-9

Jadyn: 3rd in Soft Shoe, 3rd in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance, 3rd overall.

Prelim U-10

Camryn: 2nd in Soft Shoe, 2nd in Hard Shoe, 2nd in Set Dance, 1st overall; 2nd in U-11 Prelim Treble Reel. Welcome to Open!

Jessie: 1st in Soft Shoe, 1st in Hard Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance, 3rd overall.

Jayne: 3rd in Soft Shoe, 2nd in Hard Shoe.

Prelim U-11

Shannon: 4th in Soft Shoe, 3rd in Set Dance.

Prelim U-12

Cara: 3rd in Set Dance

Prelim U-14

Nicole: 2nd in Set Dance, 4th overall, 5th in U-15 Prelim Treble Reel.

Prelim U-17

Alexandra: 3rd in Set Dance

Prelim U-19

Rachel: 2nd in Soft Shoe, 2nd in Soft Shoe, 4th overall.

Non-Championship Trophy Results

Harriet: 2nd in 13+ St. Patrick's Day Trophy; 3rd in 15+ Novice-Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophy.

Congratulations to all NPIDA dancers who competed in Seattle this past weekend, as well as Gemma K and Natalie G who were in Calgary competing at the Possak Feis. Special congratulations to Camryn, who won Prelim Championships for the second time and now advances to Open Championships!

Parents who were in Seattle and Calgary: Please send me some photos for the blog when you get a chance!

Photo from Google Images.

River Rock Show on TV Monday Night

Nora has just received word tonight that the "One World" show at River Rock Theatre (on Feb. 19) will be televised tomorrow night, Monday March 8, on Shaw TV. The tv show is called "Simply The Best", and will air on Shaw's community cable (channel 119) at 9:00pm. Eire Born performed in this show along with several other local performers and entertainers.

Blog Error Message

Just a note to let you know that for the past 3 days, many Blogger.com users have been experiencing sporadic access problems when trying to view blogs. You may be denied access to this blog and see an error message that reads "Forbidden. You were denied access because: access denied by access control list".

Please be assured that I have not blocked anyone's access to this blog; the problem originates at Blogger.com and apparently is particularly an issue for Telus customers all across western Canada. As the administrator of this blog I too have randomly been denied access to the blog over the past 3 days. Hopefully blogger.com and Telus will resolve the problem shortly! Thanks for your patience.

Cartoon by cartoonstock.com

Seattle Comerford Feis Results: Saturday

NPIDA has 27 dancers competing at the Pacific Northwest Championships Feis (Comerford Seattle) this weekend. Today all ages of Open Championship competitions took place, as well as all First Feis to Prizewinner up to age U-13. (Tomorrow will be all ages of Prelim Championships, and all First Feis to Prizewinner age 13+).

Congratulations to our dancers who obtained these results today:

Open U-11

Lauren: 2nd in Soft Shoe, 2nd in Hard Shoe, 2nd in Set Dance, and 2nd overall.

Open U-14

Mackenzie: 4th in Soft Shoe, 4th in Hard Shoe, and 5th overall.

Non-Championship Trophy Results:

Leila J: 3rd in U-7 Beginner/Adv. Beginner Reel Special

Sarah A: 2nd in U-9 Beginner/Adv. Beginner Reel Special
Morgan G: 2nd in U-9 Novice/Prizewinner Reel Special
Julia M: 1st in U-9 Novice/Prizewinner Treble Jig Trophy and 2nd in U-10 St. Patrick's Day Trophy
Olivia A: 3rd in U-11 Novice/Prizewinner Reel Special and 2nd in U-13 St. Patrick's Day Trophy
Sophie R: 4th in U-11 Novice/Prizewinner Treble Jig Special.

Photo from Google Images.

Robson Square February 24

Above are a few of the photos Cheryl took at the final Eire Born Olympic Pavilion show downtown last week (February 24 at Robson Square). Thank you Cheryl for sharing these with us! Click on any photo to enlarge...

Good luck to the 27 NPIDA dancers who are traveling to Seattle this weekend to compete at the Comerford Feis, and the 2 dancers who are flying to Calgary to compete at the Possak Feis!

Engaged!

Former NPIDA dancer turned supermodel Coco has personally revealed to us news of her engagement to James, a New York interior designer/muralist. The engagement was publicly announced by Coco earlier today on her Twitter and Facebook accounts (and she has kindly granted her approval for me to post the news here).

The wedding will take place in June 2010 at a beautiful castle in the Loire Valley region of France - a fitting locale given Coco's love of all things historical and vintage!

Dear Coco, all of us at NPIDA wish you and James a lifetime of happiness! XOX

Photo from Buzzfoto/Google Images.

Olympic Pavilion Show, February 24

Eire Born dancers headed downtown on Wednesday night for their second show at the BC Olympic Pavilion at Robson Square. Thanks to Jennifer who sent along this photo of Anna and Lauren. I will also post a few of Cheryl's photos once she has a chance to forward some to me. Thanks again to all the dancers - and their parents - who participated in Eire Born performances during the Olympics!

NAN's Fundraiser: Purdy's Easter Chocolates

The NPIDA dancers and parents who are planning to attend the 2010 North American Championships in July 2010 have been working on a few fundraising ideas to help offset some of their travel costs to Orlando. If you normally buy Easter chocolates from Purdy's, you can help support these dancers and save money too! Order deadline is March 15; delivery will be March 24.

Purdy's has a fundraising program for community groups whereby the participants can save 25% on the cost of chocolates while raising funds for their group. NPIDA parent Nicole Dent is organizing this fundraising effort on behalf of our 2010 NAN's dancers. If you would like to purchase your Easter chocolates at a 25% savings over the regular retail price and help support our dancers heading to Orlando, please contact Nicole directly for further information. She can be reached at: nicoledentATshaw.ca (replace AT with @).

Photo from Purdy's website.

Pat at the Olympics

As mentioned in my January 9 post, Pat is a volunteer NOCA (National Olympic Committee Assistant) for the entire Swedish Olympic team this month. He sent along these photos and a brief update about his Olympic experiences so far, which he says have "wildly exceeded" his expectations.

Prior to the athletes arrival, Pat spent a lot of time helping get the Swedish team residence ready in the Olympic Village - lots of unpacking and setting up of equipment, supplies, furniture and clothing. After the athletes arrived from Sweden, Pat has been kept very busy driving athletes, trainers, coaches and the Swedish Chef de Mission to and from the various venues in Vancouver and Whistler.

Some of his highlights so far have included:

- Driving hockey star Peter Forsberg to the Olympic Media Centre for an interview;

- Chatting with hockey stars Daniel and Henrick Sedin and Matius Olund in the Swedish lounge;

- Travelling to Whistler with Sweden's top journalist, and standing at the finish line for cross country and biathlon events;

- Escorting the Chef de Mission to Whistler and being with him in the Family Olympic Lounge overlooking the Alpine Downhill finish line.

- Being in the Athletes Village with world class athletes every day.

Thanks Pat! Enjoy the rest of the Olympics!

Eire Born at River Rock

Cheryl has sent along a few of the photos that I took with her camera at the River Rock this past weekend. Despite my best efforts, unfortunately most of these photos are not great quality, due to a combination of my inexperience with a big D-SLR camera, not using flash in the theatre, and the ever-changing stage lighting. The third photo, above, where the dancers are still, is the sharpest (because the dancers are still!) When Cheryl sends along the rest of the photos I will post any others that may have turned out ok.

Check back tomorrow for an Olympic update and some photos from Pat, mid-way through his Team Sweden Olympic experience!

Cheryl's Weekend Olympic Photos

Here are a few of Cheryl's photos from the Olympic shows last Saturday. The first 6 shots were taken at the BC Olympic Pavilion, and the final 2 shots were taken at the Olympic Irish House. Thanks for sharing these pictures Cheryl! Cheryl has also posted many more photos from the BC Olympic Pavilion show on her Shaw Photoshare site (scroll down for a direct link on the right under "Website Links").

Feis registration reminder for dancers who plan to attend the Comerford Seattle Feis on March 6-7: the registration deadline at feisworx.com is this Friday, Feb. 19. The Emerald City Seattle Feis (April 24-25) and the Victoria Feis (May 1-2) are also currently open for registration.