There are dozens of things we do to prepare for the Oireachtas, and you probably do most of them year round, so if I went over every single thing you need to do, to prepare for a major, this would be a 200 page novel. That’s why today I wanted narrow down the focus and go over the 4 things you need to do before the Oireachtas, that most dancers miss!
1.) Dance with full Oireachtas intensity in class!
This is something you want to do year round but can be a good reminder before every major!
Holding back in class, then trying to dance extra hard on the Oireachtas stage is one of the biggest mistakes a dancer can make! Here’s why:
The purpose of dance class is improve your the level of your absolute best. You do this by dancing your best, identifying what needs to be improved, improving it, and then keep growing. If you aren’t consistently trying to dance your absolute best, you can’t improve it.
By the time you get to the competition stage, you want to know exactly how you need to perform. High level dancers are aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and cues they need to give themselves in each round to bring forth their best performance.
But this doesn’t always happen. Many dancers will hold back a bit in class (because dancing all out is pretty exhausting), and they’ll dance at 60-80% in class. Then, when they get to the majors stage, they push themselves as hard as they possibly can and try to dance at 100% on stage.
What’s wrong with this?
When a dancer has trained their body to dance at 60-80% it looks and feels different than 100%. And if they’ve only danced at 60-80%, they aren’t used to what 100% looks or feels like.
Then when that dancer gets on stage and tries to dance at 100% at the Oireachtas, the technique they’ve improved in class at 80% goes out the window and they end up with technique issues they don’t usually have, looking out of control, or dying after pushing hard in the lead around. This usually shows up as their arms jumping way out when arms usually aren’t an issue, not finishing movements fully (thus not crossing enough), or looking overall sloppy and out of control.
This is why it is super important to dance at 100% in every single class. You want to make 100% your “normal” so you know what corrections you need to make at 100% and how it feels to dance with full intensity. Then, walking into competition day, you know exactly how you need to dance vs. trying to dance differently than you’ve practiced in class.
2.) Practice your full walk on!
You’ve probably heard before that first impressions are extremely important. I want to go into more detail about why they are especially important on the competition stage and how you can use them to your advantage.
Research shows it takes only 7 seconds to make a first impression. That means, before you’ve even started dancing, judges have formed ideas about where you’ll stack up.
Your first impression, that first 7 seconds, forms the lens through which judges are going to watch you.
This isn’t because they are being mean or unfair, it’s simply human nature. Think about your every day life… we make unconscious judgements about people all of the time based on first impressions.
Let’s say you walk into school or work and there is a new person. You notice they are slumped over, looking at the floor, shuffling their feet, and their clothes are dirty and wrinkled.
Our first impression may be that they lack confidence or simply don’t care about their appearance. These first impression judgements may be completely inaccurate, but regardless it is still our first impression of them. We’ve unconsciously started looking at them through a lens of being unconfident and careless.
On the flip side, imagine someone new walks into your school or office with their shoulders pulled back, head held high, and dressed neatly Our first impression may be they are confident and value themselves. Once again, it may or may not actually be true, but that is the initial lens we will see them through.
This same idea applies to the way you walk on stage at a competition. If you walk on with your shoulders kind of slumped, a timid walk, chin down, and overall looking really nervous, the judges first impression of you will be that you are unprepared and not a top dancer. And you’re lead around will have to look extra impressive to disprove that. You’re fighting an uphill battle.
Whereas if you walk on stage with your shoulders back, intentional steps, and a tight starting stance, looking like you have already won the entire competition, the judges first impression will be that you could be a top dancer. And you most likely start at a higher place in their minds, even if it’s not on a conscious level.
So start practicing your walk on now, get feedback on it, film yourself, and do everything you can to develop a solid walk on.
3.) Dance in your dress and poodle socks multiple times before competition day!
Your dress weighs more and feels much different than a t-shirt and shorts.
Your poodle socks (or tights if you an adult dancer) feel different than other socks.
One thing that can be really helpful before the day of a major is doing at least some of your practicing in what you’ll actually be wearing on competition day.
It may not be practical to dance in your dress for hours at every practice, but you can do it sometimes or for at least part of practice sessions. If your school doesn’t ever wear dresses in class leading up to a major, use open studio time or some practice time at home to do full runs in your dress.
As for wearing poodle sock or tights, make those your primary practice socks leading up to a major. Poodle socks are thicker than many socks and tights are thinner than most socks, so it’s important you’re used to the feeling before stepping on stage.
This way, walking into competition day, you know exactly what to expect with your full costume on.
4.) Do maintenance workouts and prioritize recovery!
As your practice intensity increases before majors, you want to decrease your strength training load and/or frequency. When you lift heavy weights or do really intense workouts, your body needs time to repair itself and fully recover.
This doesn’t mean you don’t strength train at all, but rather you focus on maintaining your strength vs. trying to get significantly stronger.
Months out from a major during the “off-season” is the time you can make the most gains in your strength and power because classes tend to be less frequent and/or intense and there are less feiseanna. During the “in-season” you most likely have extra classes, more full runs, and overall less time for workouts, so you need to decrease your training load so you can increase your practice load.
During the weeks leading up to a major, you also want to pay special attention to recovering between dance class and workouts. Whereas months out from a major, you may power through harder workouts and be a bit more tired for practice, before a major it’s okay to cut down or skip harder workouts if you feel that you need more energy for class. That way you will have the energy to dance at 100% in class.
I know that was a lot of info, so here’s a quick recap of the 4 things you need to before the Oireachtas, that most dancers miss:
1.) Dance with full Oireachtas intensity in class!
2.) Practice your full walk on
3.) Dance in your dress and poodle socks multiple times before competition day
4.) Do maintenance workouts and prioritize recovery!
Last thing- If you find this information helpful and want to take your dance training to the next level, you’ll want to check out Feis Fit’s Online One On One Coaching Program! This is a program designed for dancers who want to go “all-in” with their training and see big improvements in their performance and results.
The reason One On One Coaching program is so effective is because you receive a plan of action designed specifically for your dancing and your goals PLUS a coach to guide you every step of the way! Whereas many programs give you some workouts, say good luck, and you never really hear from a coach again, with one on one coaching you’ll have unlimited messaging with your coach, weekly checkins and monthly goal setting calls so we can help you stay on track! And during those weeks when you’re feeling frustrated or having doubts, or you have a bad feis, you have a coach to help you through and improve until you make your goals a reality. You can learn more by heading to www.areyoufeisfit.com
