The Dance Festival

So last July/August I went to a friend's house for dinner. After dinner I was helping her clean up and we were talking about stuff. She found out that I was an Irish dancer and was pretty interested in it. I didn't give it another thought until that weekend when I got the strangest call ever. It was a guy in our ward asking if I was an Irish dancer. Wow! Random, but yeah I dance. He said he was so glad someone had told him because they needed another teacher for the Irish dance for the stake dance festival. What?? My friend totally ratted me out, but I'm glad she did. He explained that our stake was holding a dance festival this year for the youth. They would each learn 4 dances from different cultures around the world. He had been through the MDT program and BYU, did the whole folk dance team thing and wanted to include Irish dance in the show. Interesting. I took dance from the teacher who started the whole Irish dance program at BYU, Tina Shelley! But he knew her by her maiden name since she wasn't married at the time. Isn't it a small world?

So I was called and set apart as a choreographer and teacher for the stake dance festival. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it with a deployed husband and a two year old, but I told them I would do it. A long time ago when I called my friend Cori to be my counselor in the Primary presidency and her husband was deployed, she said it was just going to be an opportunity for the ward to step up and help, and thanks to amazing friends Jeffrey always had someplace fun to go! So now almost a year later and countless hours of practice time later we are opening the show tomorrow night. My fellow choreographer Heather and I have taught 100+ miamaids and teachers the basics of Irish dance. I'm proud of my dance group, they have worked hard and I think they are one of the best numbers in the show!