Palm Springs Feis

Last weekend Rachel and I went to the Palm Spring's Feis.  It was a fast trip....24 hours.  But, I love these trips with Rach!  It is so fun for me to have time alone with her.  When she wasn't dancing, we were shopping.  She's a great shopper!  It's funny because now she is teaching me what is cool and giving me advice about clothes.  I love it!
I've never really explained a Feis.  It is a dance competition for Irish dancers.  In order to move up in their dance classes, they have to attend a feis and place in a dance.  Sometimes they need to get a 1st, 2nd or 3rd to advance, sometimes a 1st or 2nd and sometimes they need to get a 1st.
Rachel danced 6 dances for this feis.  Four were soft shoe dances and two were hard shoe.
The girls are divided into levels and age groups.  There were around 20 in Rachel's age group.
This is how it works...
For each dance, the girls sign in and line up when it is their turn...

 They patiently wait until the judge is ready for them to walk onto the stage.  Oh yeah, they are all dressed in their own solo dresses (at least at this level) and wear curly wigs.

Here they are walking on the stage...

They wait for the music to start and the judge to tell them to begin.

They are also judged on presentation.

Usually two to three at a time dance for the judge while the others stand back and wait their turn.

Here is Rachel dancing her soft shoe dances...

Waiting for the hard shoe dance to begin...

And here she is dancing the hard shoe dances.

The rest of us just sit back and watch...

About 15 minutes after she has finished her dances, scores and ratings are posted in a separate room.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of them.  She did great this trip.  She got a 2nd (so she will advance in that dance) and a 5th.  Congrats Rach!  Can't wait for our next feis!