Hi, I'm Katie Van Horn. I'm a U17 World Recaller and I love Irish dancing more than anything else in the world.
“Follow your dreams, because you wouldn’t want it so bad if you couldn’t have it. The universe gives you these dreams because you can have them. If you’re willing to work for it, you can have anything you want.”
- Michael Flatley
I think you'll win again this weekend. I know that this is going to be an extremely hard competition but I just have a feeling you'll pull through for the win again. This is going to be the year of Katie Van Horn, I just know it.
Well this was the most inspiring thing I’ve read in a long time… thank you very much. It’s going to be a very hard competition though and it’s a big one too so we’ll see!
hey Katie, I really hope I'm not bothering you now but I really need some words of inspiration, I have my grading exam next week and I'm on grade 8 which is tough enough because I had to learn a new set, hornpipe and job of journey work all in about two weeks and I honestly don't think I can do it and I'm afraid ill mess up bc I always feel like I'm not good enough.. is their anything that can help me? I really appreciate it Katie <3
Don’t stress it, hun! Two weeks ago for the Queen City feis I thought I was going to get last. I had only been doing my steps for a week and I had never done my whole dance all the way through with my new steps and I was fairly positive that things wouldn’t end well. But I just went on stage and did my very best and I ended up winning! You never know what’s going to happen in Irish dancing, but I’m certain that you’ll pull this off! You’ve been dancing long enough that you’ve probably already done every move you had to learn for the new steps at some point, the moves are just in a different order than they were in other steps!
Just remember that you ARE good enough. You’ve come this far, now the only thing holding you back is yourself. Just keep telling yourself that you deserve to be there and everything will end up working out(: Good luck on your exam! I’m rooting for you!
Hi Katie! I think your blog is so inspirational and I want to thank you for sharing your journey through dance. It has really motivated me. I have really been struggling recently. I haven't been placing well at feises and I want to WQ an nan's more than anything i have ever wanted. It seems like all I ever hear is "you would be such an amazing dancer if you just turned out your toes". I feel like I have been working on it for so long but I never gets any better. Any advice?
You’ve got to turn out all the way from the hip! Try just walking up and down the stage with your legs completely turned out while standing on your toes and crossing. Also make sure you stretch out the inside of your hips through the butterfly stretch or the frog stretch(: Good luck! I hope you qualify for worlds at nans!
for the person who was having trouble staying in time for their set, I find it good to sit down and listen to the music and just dance it with your hands, making sure you know where each beat goes, then when it comes to actually doing it do it a little at a time making sure each beat is where it needs to be
Can u post videos of you dancing
No I’m not allowed because choreography could be stolen! Sorry!
I guess i'm trying to ask is what do I do? I'm trying my best but I can't dance the way I used to. I started working out and it's like I can't control my new muscles.
Okay this makes a lot more sense! You just need to teach your muscles how to move. Do a lot of basic drills. Do skip drills with your legs completely crossed over and straight and over down drills and lift backs… just any simple repetitive drill you can think of doing to music to train your muscles to be under your control! Hope this helps(:
