Back to School = Back to Dance [& Back to Blog!]

Hope everyone is having a great back to school [if you're a student] & back to dance season. Summer is sadly coming to a close, but fall brings wonderful changes! Adorable fall clothes, new school supplies, and the beginning of the Oireachtas countdown season!

This fall also marks a momentous milestone on my journey to becoming a TCRG: I'm officially a dance teacher at the Williston School of Dance! I'm teaching our intermediate [novice level] Irish dancers & a super fun class ceili class [or, as we like to call it, Ceili Club]. With the 2013 TCRG exams well on their way, I'm ready to hunker down with Ar Rince Foirne and teach some ceilis!

 I'm eternally sorry for my month long hiatus from updating this lovely blog :) Real life got in the way [read: STUDYING got in the way]. Here's what I was up to when my nose wasn't in a textbook...

Tried to rest & allow my stress-fractured/tendinitis afflicted foot heal...

...which is really hard to do with an awesome new pair of Iconic hard shoes to dance in!
[more on the new shoes to come!] 

Ran into some much-loved fellow Drake dancers at an Irish pub back home...

... and danced a treble reel [while barefoot & wearing a maxi-dress] with Kelsey! 

Danced a 4-Hand with the WSD dancers and the fabulous Irish band, An Triur!

[I said I tried to rest my foot...] 

Mostly, I cheered on Team USA during the Olympics! 

Including A LOT of Gators...

Like this handsome gent: 

Ryan Lochte brought home 5 medals... and looks pretty good in a speedo #Jeah

I celebrated Ryan's triumphant return from the London games at his surprise homecoming party [thrown by good friend of mine.. and his] 

and of course... I was completely mesmerized by the USA women's gymnastics team:

and would love to see those be-sparkled leos translated into solo dresses! 

So, those are the highlights of the last month or so! Sorry for the lack of updates, but I'm back and ready for some fall fun!

Keep Dancing,

Moira 

Iconic Hard Shoes giveaway WINNER!

Happy 4th of July, Irish Dancers! Best of luck to all the talented dancers at the North American Irish Dance Championships this week!

I'm also SO SO SO excited to announce the winner of On My Toes' first giveaway, an amazing pair of heavy shoes from Iconic Dancer!!! These hard shoes are fabulous, stylish, and sound awesome! [How do I know?? ... I have my very own pair and I LOVE THEM!]

Congratulations to Louise Hennessy!!! Look out for more info about your AWESOME hard shoes via email!! 

Thank you to all the dancers who entered!

Don't forget to check out Iconic Dancer on Facebook for more updates about their trend-setting shoes!

Keep Dancing... & have a Happy [and safe!] Independence Day,
Moira

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win a Pair of Iconic by John Carey hard shoes!

I'm so so so excited to announce On My Toes' first giveaway! Thanks to Iconic Dancer, I'll be giving away a pair of Iconic [White or Black] by John Carey hard shoes to one lucky winner! You might already know how awesome these heavies are [perhaps you've read how much I love them?], but in case you haven't heard, these are the "coolest shoes on the planet!" Iconic explains these innovative dancing shoes best...

Iconic White by John Carey - The Heavy Irish Dance Shoes. 

The ORIGINAL & Revolutionary Registered Design & White Strip ™ helps to visually lower the sock line and with the use of a white strap gives the top part of the shoe a more open and courtshoe appearance, while retaining the support, safety and stability of the traditional design. As you can expect from John Carey, all the functional features and designs have been enhanced to offer better performance, sound and durability. The all black suede split  sole, black tips and black heels offers a beautiful aesthetic while also allowing continued and lasting flexibility without sacrificing support. No other Hard Jig Irish Dance Shoes on the market offers this much support.

Iconic White by John Carey

Don't you want a pair? [answer: YES!!!] 

Entering for a chance to win is super simple! 

Use the tool below to enter to win!
Please note: if you check one of the boxes, please actually do the task for that entry :) It's so easy! Ex: Follow me on Twitter if you check that box, Leave a comment on the blog if you check that box... You get the idea :) Thanks & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Keep Dancing,
Moira

Inspired by: Iconic White by John Carey

I'll be the first to admit, after being out of the competitive Irish dance scene for nearly 8 years, the concept of taping hard shoes with white tape for feisanna was foreign to me. Back in my day [seriously, long long ago],  I have no recollection of dancers with white-taped shoes, straps, or laces. We wore black elastics and maybe taped our shoes to our feet with black electrical tape, but no white tape. This whole white-tape trend was new to me, and I wasn't sure if I liked it. 


But then I thought about it... 

I wear nude-colored high heels to make my legs look longer... Why not add white tape to hard shoes to give the illusion of longer legs while dancing? I'm 5'3. I'll do anything to make my legs look longer! I can only imagine that most dancers want to look like they have long, beautiful, legs-for-days too! Genius. 

And then a certain someone took it to a whole, new level...

John Carey obviously saw the genius behind this trend as well, and launched Iconic White, the original hard shoe with white straps and edging around the top of the shoe [for the look of a lowered sock line]. Who better to design this revolutionary heavy shoe than an 8 time World Champion and TCRG of his world-title-producing Carey Academy? Needless to say, Iconic Whites are simply fabulous. 

I even love the boxes. 

Although I have yet to get my hands on [or rather, my feet into] a pair of Iconic Whites, I love the look! These sleek shoes remind me of some kind of hard shoe hybrid of saddle shoes and Capone [from Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger], but with the extra-added-bonus of making legs look longer and feet look smaller.

Don't you think Iconic White heavies are the perfect shoe to compliment with that music? Until I can get my pretty little feet into a pair of those fabulous black and white shoes, I'll settle for an Iconic White inspired manicure! 

Do you wear Iconic Whites? Have you tried them on? Do you love them?! Tell me about! 

Keep Dancing,

Moira