riverdance

Irish Dancing Update

/ carynjoan / 2 Comments

Hi All,

Sorry I’ve been quiet lately! I was on a family vacation on a cruise to the Western Caribbean! It was a fantastic trip and I was sad that it had to end.

Now that I’m back, I’ve been catching up with emails and work. Slowly but surely, I’ll get back in the swing of things.

I wanted to write a quick update about the team Irish step dancing class I took.

It was really fun, but I won’t be continuing. I was so anxious during class because my fingers were sweating like crazy and I had to hold hands with the other girls. We were all sweating a ton, (and it didn’t help that we were in a classroom with no air conditioning or windows!!) but I was still too self-conscious about my hands. I couldn’t relax and have fun. I was checking the clock every 5 minutes to see when class would end. It’s unfortunate because the dance part is actually pretty cool, and apparently I am needed for a competing team.

No one said anything about my hands or gave me funny looks, but I still couldn’t get past it. I’m sure you all know how I feel!

Anyway, I’m still taking 2 hours of Irish dance a week (soft and hard shoe) and love it. I’m lucky I found a dance where I can keep my hands to myself, down at my sides.

I wish HH didn’t have to be my deciding factor with something I love, but I guess I’d prefer to not be anxious and self-conscious so that’s how this one has to go.

My next goal with my partially dry hands- learn knitting! 🙂

Thanks for reading and enjoy the end of summer!

Caryn

More Irish Dancing!

/ carynjoan / 3 Comments

Hi All,

I’ve been taking Irish step dance classes every week now since February and I continue to love it more and more. I even added on a hard shoe class, so now I’m taking 2 hours of Irish step a week!

Recently, my teacher invited me to a free introductory class for team Irish Dancing called Ceili. This looks really fun, but it features hand-holding with your team while you dance.

Tomorrow is the class and what a great time it is to test out my “new hands”!

I never would have considered this type of dancing if my hands were still sweating profusely- although I have to say I’m still pretty nervous! I just hope my sometimes clammy fingers don’t get in the way!

I have finished the initial treatments with the Iontophoresis device, but Bill Schuler from the R.A. Fischer company suggests I still treat my hands and feet once a week. After a while, I can gradually increase the time between treatments. So, maybe I will do a treatment tonight if I have time, just to be safe for tomorrow!

Check out the type of dance I’m going to be doing! Looks fun, right? Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading,
Caryn

Riverdance anyone?

/ carynjoan / 1 Comment

About 5 weeks ago, I started taking Irish Step dance lessons.
I used to dance (tap and jazz) and I have always loved “rhythmic” dance.
Anything with a tap on the shoe to make percussive noise, I’m there.
Maybe it’s the musician in me.

I’ve always been interested in Irish Step, especially hard shoe.
Right now, since I’m a very beginner, I’m starting with soft shoe.
This means, there aren’t any percussive sounds.
The shoe is a soft leather with no taps on the bottom.

Anyway, I was so excited for my first class!
I hadn’t taken dance in years, and was happy to start again.

As soon as I got there, panic hit me.
Have you ever seen Riverdance?
All of those dancers hold hands…like the whole time!
Why didn’t I think of this??

I’m ready to bolt, but wait and give it a try.

Thank goodness, this class is different!
It’s more “solo” Irish Step.
There are other people in the class, but we just keep our hands down at our sides.
Haven’t had to hold a hand yet!

This experience brings up an issue that many HH sufferers stress about.
Have you ever wanted to do something but didn’t because hand holding may be involved?

I used to be a gymnast.
Okay, I was 5.
But I could pull off a mean cart-wheel!

Recently, around the time of the last Olympics, I read the results of a HH survey asking:

“What would be the worst Olympic sport for people with HH, what would be the best?”

Overwhelmingly, the results were:
Worst: GYMNASTICS | Best: SWIMMING

Can you imagine gymnastics with HH?
The uneven bars? The balance beam?

I don’t believe I quit gymnastics because of my HH.
I think I was just being a kid and didn’t want to do it anymore.

Sometimes, I wish I would have continued.
But I cannot imagine I would have any success due to HH.

I love dancing, but I would never take ballroom or salsa.
I used to want to clog dance.
My sister took it and I really enjoyed watching her.
But I wouldn’t ever dance ballroom/salsa/clogging because there is hand holding involved with some steps.
Why would I voluntarily put myself in that position?

Happy Reading,
Caryn