I was a little surprised when Honours teacher suggested we enter her in another competition only 2 weeks away from her first. We were planning to be camping for that weekend, so I wasn't sure how we would work it out, but fresh off the excitement of her first medal, I both really wanted her to do another competition, and was scared it was just a fluke and she wouldn't do well at another. We decided to try to get her to it.
In the meantime, I really wanted to get Honour a proper Highland dance outfit. I had hopes that I could do it before the next competition, the Cambridge Highland games, but figured it was wasn't very possible. I started looking online for what could be found secondhand, but didn't see much out there at this time. I sent an email to my cousin Claire, who danced for many years, to see if she still had any kilts and such. She wouldn't be able to find out for another week, so I took a chance and ordered an outfit from Tartantown. It arrived in 2 days and Honour was so pleased that she was going to look just like the other girls. :-)
We arrived at Flamboro Valley to camp with friends on Friday night. Knowing how excited the kids were to be camping, I suspected they wouldn't mind staying with our friends on Saturday morning, while we took Honour over to the competition. It was quite pleasantly only a 20 minute drive away.
Things looked much the same as the Embro games, just a different backdrop. We parked and made the trek from the makeshift parking lot through the various gates. We realized somewhere along the way that we had left our lawnchairs back in the camp. Fortunately, there were about three other families from our school of dance, so we bunked with them for the morning.
I had put Honours hair up before we left camp, so now all that was left was to get her into her outfit. I had checked multiple times over that I had brought everything needed. She looked great.
The competition was about 45 minutes late in starting. Then when it did, Honours group (Beginners 7) was first up, with Honour up on stage with the very first group. The piper played the familiar Highland Fling tune (as opposed to Embro) and Honour did well. About 15-20 minutes later they moved onto the Sword and Honour was again first up. There was some stalling and confusion as they placed the swords up on stage as there didn't seem to be enough for all the dancers. When they finally located another pair, they placed them in the spot Honour would be dancing. I was chagrined as all the other swords were slim and flat, while the pair set before Honour had a high, rounded hilt. Unfortunately, the dancers are supposed to be able to dance over whatever they are presented with, so while it didn't seem fair, there were no grounds to protest.
Sure enough, she nicked the top of the hilt a couple times which led her to actually step on the swords as she danced. But she kept going, and did really well despite that. She finished her dances a bit later with a try at a new dance called the Sean Trews. Her teacher Dianne didn't have any expectations that Honour would place with the Sean Trews, but wanted her to try it anyways, as she feels that competition really lights a fire under dancers to work hard.
By 12:30, I had Honour back into her outfit with her dancers card on a lanyard around her neck. (Learned that from the last competition). We were so thrilled when they called the numbers of those winning a medal for her group and she was included. Up she went, standing smartly in first position (also something we learned from the last competition) and waited for the announcer to begin...
I said later to Dianne that "if she's anything, she's consistent!", as Honour again was awarded a third place medal, which meant another stamp on her card, in the Highland Fling. We were so excited!
Now it appears we'll have a longer wait until another competition, as Dianne recommended one in Pickering on September 17th. I was again both pleased for the interval, so that Honour can really work up her dances, and disappointed to have to wait so long until another. Plus we'll have the added conflict of my Musikgarten classes starting up that day (if I get students) so we'll have to figure something out if she's to dance at that one.
Honour waiting to go on stage.
Up on her toes for the Fling
The Sword Dance
Waiting to see what she won.
(If any family would like to see a video of her getting her award or dancing the Sean Trews, just email me or leave a comment and I'll send you the private link. :-)
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