Why We Why We DanceDance

An Inspirational Show

By foreverclovers

Sometimes it’s hard to get away from the competitive atmosphere...

To stop worrying about winning that or beating them...

Or if your wig isn’t perfect, or you don’t win out of your light jig.

To not mind if you don’t get the best place in the line up...

When something goes wrong...

Or it all seems uphill...

You feel like you’ll

never catch up...

Or you fail to reach a goal or crack an audition...

Then guess what?

Just remember where your home is.

Go back to the empty dance floor...

Grasp the barre and look in the mirror...

Turn on the warm-up music and practice your cuts.

Because that is why we dance.

The feeling that it is to be home,

In the studio,

Just dancing.

Dancing for the rhythm,

For the laughter,

For the fun,

For the friendship,

For the excitement,

For the thrill of ability,

For the adrenalin of the beat,

For the breath of fresh air,

For the challenge to rise to

And for the little moments

That remind us why we all...

Dance

And after all,

Who knows what surprises...

May be waiting for you...

If you really try your best

Just around the corner...

Or maybe the next one.

I think so too.

So remember to

never forget...

Every time you dance,

To share your

passion

Your partner

A smile

A helping hand

A hand to

dance

A new friend

An old friend

Team spirit

More team spirit

And more team spirit

A bucketful of energy

A spade full of imagination

A little joke

A hug

A shared

moment

A sprinkle of determination

In every minute step

That you attempt to succeed

Happiness at every beautiful

leap

At every better batter

So always remember to share with your audience

Whether at a competition, an exam, a concert or a display

Your love for what you do

Your passion

for doing it well

Your enjoyment for every second that you shine

And your happiness that you got up and did it, whatever the outcome.

You’re going to face disappointment at some time in your career

Just remember to focus on how youyou felt about your dancing before the

results

And start thinking

about the future…don’t dwell on the

past!

It’s the next time you’re going to dance that really matters.

Positivity Rules!

And always remember that...

There is another

extraordinary gift waiting for you...

The dance of...

Tomorrow

So next time it’s all getting a bit

tough, remember…

The harder it is to get

The more thrilling it is to get right

The longer it takes to learn

The greater the smiles along the way

And the longer you stick at it

The longer you’ve been there

The longer you’ve hung in

The greater the rewards

And we can’t forget

All the star-struck

Smiles

That are one of the prettiest things

As you see the hardest workers

Gain their just rewards

And there’s some things you’ve just got to have!

You’ve got to have cute!

You’ve got to have sheer

beauty

You’ve got to have all the glitz and glam

And then of course there are

The beautiful dresses

And the dreams of new ones

And that sense of

wonderment

At your successes

Every hop

Every leap

Every jump

Every step

It all counts

But what Irish Dancers learn

Is more than just how to dance

Humility

Tradition

Triumph

Tragedy

Coping gallantly with

problems

Sharing

Poise and politeness

How to make lacing those Hullachan’s more interesting

How to stay in the air for six seconds

And how to still be just as humbled and surprised

Whether it is your first win

Or one of many

Can you remember your first team?

Training together

Winning together

It’s all about teamwork

Getting it right

And fun too!

And you know, the thing about teams?

These are the friendships you’ll keep for a lifetime

And it’s not all competitions

Shows are all part of the fun

And it’s nice to dance

For others

Without any cares

Rather than just yourself.

Everyone has to start somewhere!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re 5 or 50

Whether you’re at the beginning of your career,

or at the end…

It’s the journey that counts!

And anyway, who knows

what tomorrow might bring?

Everyone loves to win

But there’s only one

way to the podium

Bottom Up.

And its gonna take time, and pain, and tears, I’m not going to kid you.

There will be days when you just want to quit

But if you want

something, you got to be willing to fight

for it,

Rain or shine.

And then one day, when you

least expect it…

All of it will be worth it.

What’s that? It’ll never be me?

No! Not listening!

Hey, I can give you the pep

talk…but only YOU can make that decision

But as for me? I say point your toe, and make

it count.

Dream big…

…and you never know

where it might take you.

When you look back on your dancing

career in years to come

It won’t be the steps and the hours of training that you remember

Nor the victories, or the defeats…

It will be the hotdogs you ate

The feis friends you

hugged

The moonpies you munched through

The surfboards you posed with…

The card games you played in the corridor

Hello Kitty and Crocs

The trips you went on

The moments

with mum or

dad

The just-for-fun jumps with friends

And the quiet leaps, when nobody’s watching.

So leap right into

The next dance

Thanks for watching!

Powerpoint created by foreverclovers from www.dance.net

Unfortunately it is impossible to give due credit for all these wonderful photographs, however:

Credit to the many, many DDN members who took or are featured in these photos; Milton Baar at swoose.net; ZandB; the Live Commentary squads from various

championships; Irish Philadelphia; and a special credit to DDN member reellove for the 2008 North American Champion collages.

© foreverclovers July 2008.

All of the photos of the beautiful dancers featured in this powerpoint are used in an entirely non-demeaning way and the captions used are

not necessarily relevant to or reflective of the dancers and events portrayed