A special report on the |
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We've never been to the American Championships before so didn't know what to expect when we decided to go this year. So just in case anyone isn't sure whether to go next year we thought we'd shatre our experiences with you! If you'd like to see some fun pictures of the event click here |
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Getting There First of all we had to make the necessary travel arrangements. We had already been contacted by the UK Holiday Shop about a package deal that they had arranged (see here for details) which seemed to be a reasonable deal, but I thought we'd look at booking flights etc. direct on the web to try and cut the cost. Having checked the overall cost, it dawned on us that the prices offered by UK Holiday Shop are very competitive, so we booked through them! It wasn't cheap though! The
package that was offered was based upon a hotel very
close to the Championships but we asked them to book us
into the venue instead, thinking that this would make
life easier (more on that later!). We left the queue, dragging our cases with us, and started to enter our details, and ticket number etc. onto the terminal. After a couple of minutes it decided it couldn't find our reservation and printed out a voucher telling us to go to the normal check-in. By now the queue was even longer, and we were going right to the back! The original BA lady was gone so we showed the voucher to her replacement, and she told us to go straight to the Express anyway and explain that she'd said so. That made us only second in the queue, what a result! We had three cases so each one was weighed in. The largest was over the safe weight limit of 32 kilogram so we were sent back to repack....aaaarrggghhh! The man was really helpful though and he pointed us to a little side room where we could repack and weigh the cases. He then said to come straight to the front of the queue when we'd done it. In the little room we moved some things from one case to another and a lady from BA weighed them, and attached weight labels to the handles. The really weird thing is that the over weight case went down by 9 kilogram, but the other case only went up by 4 kilogram, meaning we'd lost 5 kilograms! We were then checked-in without any hassle. Along with our tickets we had been given a voucher for one of the executive lounges. This would normally cost about £18 but it's worth it! There were proper comfy chairs and settees, computers logged onto the web, Playstations, MP3 players, etc. and they were all free for us to use. As well as that we had snacks, biscuits, cakes, fresh fruit, and drinks of all types (including beer!) which was all free as well. It was the perfect place to relax before our flight, and we had ourselves a nice breakfast to keep us going! On the plane we were upgraded too! We had really comfy seats, and plenty to eat & drink. The movies were pretty good, with a choice of 18 channels all shown on our own individual screens. Part of the upgrade was access to computer games via the screen, so our dancing daughter Siobhan was kept entertained all the way to America! To enter
the USA without a travel Visa you need the right type of
passport (this is VERY
important
so see here for info.), and to fill in a special
card for immigration. The immigration official had
obviously had a bad day as he just glared at me because I
hadn't removed all three of our passports from their
protective covers. Unfortunately I had also missed
filling in part of the card, without realising it, so he
sent me back to the queue. He was very abrupt, not the
friendly american I was expecting at all! The next person
was sent back for the same reason, and the one after that
too..... She called over to her friend in another queue
to tell her why she had been sent back and half the queue
started filling the cards in again! We were
called forward again and this time had the passports out
of their covers, and the card completed fully. Part of
the form asks the purpose of your visit to the USA, and
whether you had been before. We had answered holiday as
the closest reason for our visit, and said No as we
haven't visited the US before. Having closely scrutinised
each passport and card the first thing he said was, "What is the
purpose of your visit?" Eventually he let us through, but not once did he wish us a nice day! We walked through to collect our baggage and were stopped again for our passports to be checked. I felt like saying that there was no way anyone could sneak past the grumpy bloke at the counter! Having collected our bags we wheeled them out of the hall and had to show the papers yet again. Seemed a little extreme, but then I suppose they were just being extra cautious, especially as it was close to their Independence Day on the 4th of July. Why they couldn't be a little less unfriendly while checking was a puzzle though. |
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At this point I ought to mention that EVERY other person that we spoke to while we were in Philadelphia were always very friendly, very polite (even some of the more frightening looking young people), and very helpful, just like we expected the American people to be. |
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Arrival We got a Taxi to the hotel, which took 20 minutes or so and tried to check in. Unfortunately the room wasn't available so we had to wait around for about an hour. The lobby was massive, and packed with people. Eventually we were able to go to the room, which was miles away in a different building on a different street corner, which was connected by a covered walkway! The hotel complex was massive, and in fact it took us longer to get from our room to the reception lobby than it would have done if we'd stayed at the hotel that we were originally offered by UK Holiday Shop! The room was excellent, and turned out to be bigger than the rooms in the main building, so we were very pleased. We had a good look around and then went along to the Vendors hall. Most of them were still setting up so we went outside to get a feis program. This was nearly an inch thick and cost US$15. It was full of adverts from schools from all over, wishing everybody good luck. We looked up "our" competition for the Under 16 Girls. In fact there were so many entrants in this group (and several others too) that they had divided them in half to create two separate championships. This still meant well over a hundred entrants in each half of the draw, which had been simply split based upon the competitors age. |
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| First day Because of the time difference, by 8.00pm we were flagging (because that was actually 1.00am next day back in the UK) so we had a reasonably early night and got up really early next day. We went for Breakfast in the main restaurant which was self service and ate a mountainous breakfast before going out to look around the shops. We were just looking around the shoes & luggage sections of a large Department store when we bumped into two very familiar faces, Frances & Guy from the McGahan Lees. We go all the way to America and they're the first people we meet! Frances straight away grabbed Siobhan to help her get into some serious shoe and handbag shopping....dancers are all the same really! Frances & Guy knew that we were the only people from our dance school and that our teacher Karen McCamphill Godfrey couldn't be there as her baby was due any minute back in the UK. So very kindly, which is not unusual for them, they offered to let Siobhan join their school for a practice session later on in the afternoon. Siobhan jumped at the chance as she is great mates with many of the girls. The practice area was an enormous carpeted hall, with two temporary wooden dance floors added, which meant lots of room for everyone. While she was off doing that we walked several blocks to some shops, entering a massive shopping arcade. It took us hours to work our way through the place but we were suddenly back at our hotel, directly under our room! The shopping centre was actually part of the complex too. |
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Parents night That evening Siobhan went off with the McGahan Lees dancers and we met up with some of the other parents to go to the parents meeting. None of us wanted to go, but said we show our faces, and then go out for dinner. We expected to be welcomed by the IDTANA representatives, given a glass of wine and a snack and sent on our way. How wrong we were! There were no big
speeches, although we were warmly welcomed by several
teachers. We had live music, and mountains of very fancy
food such as Lobster ravioli, Ceasar salad, and hot
chocolate fondue. What a lovely way to welcome the parents! Thanks IDTANA The only downside was that on our return we found Siobhan and all of her friends had been waiting two hours for room service to bring something to eat. As they had only ordered pizza we were a little surprised, and it arrived just as we were about to phone to complain. I still felt that I ought to complain about the lack of service, and was surprised to find that they were very apologetic, and offered to make no charge for the meal, which I thought was a very reasonable way to resolve the matter, as did the dancers who were paying! |
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| World Academy The next afternoon Siobhan was practicing for Mum on her own when she was approached by someone we'd never met before, former World Champion, and now Artistic director of The World Academy of Irish Dancing, Julie Showalter. She asked if Siobhan would like to practice with her girls as she was on her own, so Siobhan gained some new American friends! I've got to say that Julie is a little eccentric looking, and very excitable, but she seemed to be a really nice teacher. She then asked Siobhan to show her dancers how the Brits dance, because she felt it looked much sharper. When we packed up she told us to look out for her at the competion tomorrow as she would be dressed all in Pink. (she didn't disappoint!) |
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| The Competition On the day of the competition we had a light breakfast and walked to our hall, which was in yet another part of the complex across a massive conference hall. The hall was split into two by a temporary partition, and the under 16's were dancing both sides. There were plenty of seats and everyone had a good view. The only down side was that the acoustics were a little odd. This was caused by having the flat temporary partition on one side, and a curved wall on the other. At first it seemed like all of the dancers were dancing a fraction out of time to the music for their heavy round, which of course they weren't. After the first round Siobhan went outside to practice her reel and she bumped a very well known teacher from Ireland called Jimmy Smith. We know Jimmy because many, many years ago he went to dance classes with Siobhan's Mum! He was really at the Championships as an observer as none of his dancers had made the trip from Ireland so instead he took Siobhan for an impromptu practice session too! Having finished her second round we had a couple of hours to kill before the recall. Sadly we hadn't been able to watch any of the other competition which finished at almost exactly the same time, but we were joined by Izzy from McGahan Lees in the break. We were all starving by then so I went off to buy that staple food of America, the Hot dog! Horror of horrors the stand was gone from the street outside. I then approached one of Philadelphias fine policemen who pointed me a block down to the "finest Hot dogs in Philadelphia!" He might just have been right! And they were only a dollar each (which
is about 60 pence in the UK)! Eventually the recall numbers were called and we were all very pleased to find that both Siobhan & Izzy had recalled in their respective competitions, along with several of their friends from other schools in the UK. Siobhan was due to dance practically last so kept gently practicing in order to keep warmed up. Unfortunately there had been problems in one of the other halls which meant that one of our adjudicators was delayed for well over an hour, so by the time it eventually got to Siobhan's turn she was feeling tired. Because of this were very unsure of how she would do when the results were announced. |
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| Awards Ceremony For the Awards ceremony the partition wall was removed to reveal a massive hall. Every competition from the day was announced in the hall so there were dancers and parents everywhere! Eventually it was time for the ceremony for the Under 16A - Izzy's group. The dancers were called sidestage and the top 10 were then called forward onto the stage, but only in numerical order. This was a very tense moment but suddenly Izzy was called forward to a massive cheer from the McGahan Lees, and us of course! Next they called
everyone forward from below, and up to, about 30th place.
They were then presented with very nice boxed medals and
asked to move offstage. They then called forward the
remainder who were presented with small Crystal Liberty
Bells for "placing" in the competition. This
left the final 10 who by now were on tenterhooks. The top
5 were then called forward, again in numerical order.
This was real heart in mouth stuff! Now it was our turn to be put through
the torture! The same process as before and then we were down to announcing the 5. Siobhan and Kerry both missed making it into the top 5 so we crossed our fingers as each place was announced. "in 10th
place competitor number......" All of the top 10 were awarded Crystal Liberty bells (about 6" tall) with the top 5 gaining a sash, and the winner a very large, and heavy, Crystal vase. Siobhan & Izzy rushed to congratulate each other and the other UK dancers who had also done well. |
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| Party time As soon as the ceremony was over it was time for
the girls to party! By all accounts a great night was had by all, but of course we parents were kept away so we'll have to take their word for it! |
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| July 4th The next day was July 4th so we went down town to see the Libert Bell and Independence centre. We read all about the Liberty bell and its significance to America and its people. we thought we ought to know as Siobhan had one a crystal copy! At the Independence centre we saw a very moving, and poignant, display. On the grassy area out front were about 900 pairs of Army boots, one for each American soldier killed in the Iraq war. Each pair had a name tag, and some had small flags and flowers poked into them, no doubt by the grieving families. As we surveyed this mass display a solitary voice called out each name in turn over a loudspeaker. After each name her colleague struck a handbell once. It was a strangely eerie thing to do on a bright sunny Philadelphia day, but all the more evocative because of it. The other part of the display was taking up by 1000 assorted shoes, trainers, boots, sandals, slippers etc. These were in all sizes, Childrens and Adults, and were to signify the 14,000+ Iraqi civilians who were innocent victims of the war. It made you realise that the image of Americans, that the world sometimes has, of it not caring who it destroys is somewhat wide of the mark. To have such a display on the day they celebrate everything American was, in itself, very moving. In the evening we walked miles with most of the McGahan Lees families to watch a concert starring the Isley brothers, followed by a massive Firework display. (interestingly Fireworks are actually illegal in Pennsylvania, so I don't know how they managed that one!) |
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Our last night was
spent very enjoyably at the Hard Rock cafe, which seemed to be jam packed full with just
Irish dancers and their families! |
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| By now
you'll realise that we had a very enjoyable trip. The
accommodation was wonderful, the food fantastic (and
cheap) and the American people very welcoming. The people
of IDTANA had obviously worked very hard to make sure
that everything ran like clockwork. From halls running
almost to time - apart from a couple of glitches - to
Events for the evenings, they had everything covered. The weather was amazing, although I don't think they can claim that one! The Awards ceremonies were a very exciting treat, and it was great to see all of the American dancers that we've never met before. The practice hall was plenty big enough, there was a fine selection of Vendors, and plenty of places to get a bite to eat throughout the day, as special rooms etc. were set up for catering. Overall, I think IDTANA should be highly commended on organising such a fantastic event, which is certainly on a par with the Worlds or the All Irelands as an experience. A special big thank you to the Petri sisters from all of us There is just one thing that I've forgotten to mention................. If you come to America next year bring an extra case. Siobhan & Mum, along with most of the other UK visitors we travelled over with, found that they just had to SHOP, SHOP, SHOP, until they dropped! Apparently it was
shopping heaven for the ladies ;0) |
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