When the Feis Doesn't Love You Back

The fall competition season is well underway and it’s a roller coaster of emotions for our intermediate and advanced dancers as they inch closer and closer towards the biggest competition of their season, the Regional Oireachtas. While we do everything we can to prepare both in class and at home, not every feis is smooth sailing or rewards each dancer for their hard work.

It’s easy to love dancing and competing when you’re rewarded for your efforts - but what about when dance doesn’t always love you back?

You might be doing all the right things - taking in your corrections at class, practicing at home, getting enough sleep, fueling your body for success and still come home empty handed or disappointed with the results you received. You might wonder, what am I doing wrong? Why are my friends being rewarded and not me?
It’s a painful reality but one that exists. I’m here to tell you it’s normal - necessary, even - for truly appreciating what it takes to go after something you want. If you worked hard and were rewarded every time, you’d leave feeling happy but you also might not work as hard next time. When you have to really fight for what you want, you appreciate it so much more when it finally happens and you’re ready for the next challenge.
I recently asked a group of students, “what do you think would happen if you won all the time?” and the responses were very insightful:

• “Competing probably wouldn’t be that fun anymore”
• “I probably wouldn’t work very hard”
• “I’d go home happy, but I think it would get old pretty fast”​

Yup - I agree. While winning is fun, it’s only fun when you can celebrate finally achieving something substantial. It’s important to remember when you feel you’re spinning your wheels and seemingly not being rewarded - that the moment you’re ready to give up is usually when success is about the happen.

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