Ceili Moore!
I was so excited when I got to interview Ceili. She has been one of my biggest inspirations for a very long time because she kept improving her placements to eventually get to the top! She had a few setbacks but work hard to overcome them. That is something all Irish dancers can relate with.
Age group: U19
School name: Fiona-Gaye Moore Academy
Hard Shoe brand: Fays
Soft Shoe Brand: Ryan & O'Donnell
Set: Garden of Daisies 76
How many years have you been dancing? 16 years
How did you get started in dancing? My mum was an Irish dancer, but when I was three and a half years old, she was pregnant with my brother. We were meant to go to Scotland for my uncles wedding and I was going to be the flower girl. She got sick and wasn't able to fly, so we couldn't go to the wedding. When this happened she said I got to pick something that I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to start dancing.
What was it like to raise the globe at the World Championships? "Raising the globe at the World Championships was one of the most incredible moments in my life to date. I was filled with so many emotions - excitement, happiness, relief, shock, disbelief. I honestly could not believe that a long term dream that not so long ago had seemed so unachievable, had actually just come true."
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| 2nd at the Worlds Click the photo to follow Ceili on Instagram |
How many hours per week do you practice leading up to a major? Coming up to a major I am usually dancing 6 days a week. When I am in a dancing class I am doing 4 dance classes a week and practicing for 1-2 hours each day. In a lead up to a major when I am not in a class, I try to do 6 days a week with up to 3 hours of practice each day. This isn't always possible with my busy schedule, but i try to practice as much as possible.
What do you do outside of Irish dance to prepare for a competition? I do ab work, feet strengthening, skipping, workouts at the gym and I also watch inspirational movies. These all help me in my preparation for a major.
Big Accomplishments: 2nd at the world championships 2013, All Ireland Champion 2013, North American National Champion 2013, North East England Regional Champion 2013, 4 x Australian National Champion, 4 x NSW State Championship, 4th All Scotland Championships 2013 and Dancer in Heartbeat of Home.
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| All Ireland Champion Click the photo to follow Ceili on Tumblr |
Favorite Dance? Vanishing Lake
If you could change something about Irish dancing, what would it be? Nothing. I love it all!
What is your favorite thing about Irish dancing? I love how we get to travel all over the world and I love the amazing friendships we make. I have so many great memories and friendships made through Irish dance and I will remember them forever!
Have you ever experienced a slump in your results? If so, how did you overcome it?
What did you have to do to get into Heartbeat of Home? "I first put up a video of me auditioning online where people were able to vote for their favorite videos. From these videos, 10 public votes, and 10 judges vote videos were chosen and those people were flown over to Dublin for a live audition. Dublin consisted of a two day intensive audition process in which we performed 36 bars in our heavies, 36 bars in our lights and we then a minute and a half to show the judges what we were best at. We then all did a movement class with David Bolger, and learnt 2 routines from John Carey. John Carey's second audition piece was so tricky, and such an experience! During this period we also all became such great friends and made memories in which I will always remember."
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| Heart Beat of Home Click on the photo |
What was your reaction when you found out you were excepted into Heart beat of Home? I received a call at 730 in the morning . I rolled over and looked at the number, but as I didn't recognize it, I went back to bed. I then spent the day worrying as it was an Irish number and I thought it must have been Padraic Moyles, the Assistant Director of Heartbeat of Home. At 430 that afternoon, the number called and I immediately picked it up. Padraic told me I had been accepted into Heartbeat and my heart jumped. When I got off the phone, I started crying. It was a life changing moment and after the audition experience, I couldn't have been more excited to work for such a wonderful company
Do you think Heart beat of Home has helped improve your competitive dancing? If so how? Heartbeat of Home has definitely helped me improve my competitive dancing, especially in the aspect of performance. As a competitive dancer I always focused on my dancing completely and not at all on the performance aspect. Heartbeat has taught me the importance of performance as well as enjoying your performance. I have also improved my competitive dancing through watching all the dancers in Heartbeat. They are so incredible talented and you can learn something from each and every one of them.
What was it like working with John Carey and Ciara Sexton in Heartbeat of home? It was such an amazing experience to work with both John and Ciara. John is one of the most talented choreographers and dancers I have ever met and I have learnt so much from him on both a dancing and choreographic level. Ciara is and has always been one of my favourite dancers of all time, and it was a dream come true to be working with her. I have learnt so much from her, as both a dancer and a person during this period. I am very grateful for all that Ciara and John have taught me with Heartbeat.
Who are your inspirations or motivators? I am lucky to have had so many people in my life who have inspired and motivated me to be both a better dancer and person, all for different reasons. My mum, Ciara Sexton, Geraldine French, Nicole Zepcevksi, Conor O'Sullivan, Ellie Maguire, Beth Monaghan and Aliyah O'Hare are a few people among many who have inspired me to be both better dancers and people.
What are your plans for the future? I hope to continue to dance with shows for quite a few years to come and I also want to be a dance teacher. I am currently doing my Master In Training (Personal Training) at the Australian Institute of Fitness online, and plan to do Health Sciences majoring in sport and exercise. Later on in life it would be my dream to be a Sport and Exercise Therapist who specializes in Nutrition, Personal Training, Physiotherapy and Sports Psychology while also teaching Irish Dance.
What is your biggest goal for 2014? In 2014, I hope to see myself grow as both a competition dancer, and performer and I would really like to maintain or improve on my place at all major competitions. I would also like to finish my degree.
What advice would you give first time World Qualifiers? Have fun, work hard and never give up! Having fun is definitely the most important thing. If you enjoy your performance, the judges will enjoy it too! Secondly, work hard. Make sure you have no regrets. If you work your hardest and do your very best that's all you can do!! And thirdly, never ever give up. There will be times where you honestly think you cant keep going and when that time comes, push yourself a little harder. You will never know how good you could be, if you never tried!!
"You pushed. You Practiced. You pushed some more. 'Cause there's a favorite and there's everyone else. But this isn't you versus them. This is you verses you. You don't care what the odds say. You don't care who's suppose to win. Favorites don't shock the world. You do."
"What are you afraid of? Passing out? You'll live. Not being able to breathe? You can when you're done. Feeling the pain? It'll eventually go away. Not being able to finish? You'll find strength in the end. Are you afraid of the competition? Whatever it id, don't be afraid to get out there and compete. Because as soon as you cross the finish line, you should know that you have nothing left. Be fearless from start to finish"
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