We start on heavy shoes again this class. The Saint Patrick is still a story full of trouble. The first 7 steps are okay, after that things get difficult. The hop-hop-back step, that also takes me so much effort in the Light Jig, is my showstopper in this dance.

This is one of the first times that I put on my real soft-shoes after stepping around on my heavies for so long. That's an even funnier feeling than putting on my sneakers after 30 minutes on my heavies. The first few minutes thus provides a strong phantom-feeling of the tip I now miss under my toes.

I admire a new beginner who is with us today. In just 1 class she manages to learn the Beginners Reel so good she can dance it at the end of the day with me and the other beginner. But the comparison is off: she already has dance-experience from another genre, I was completely blank and my level of fitness was bad when I started.

A performance

My teacher is a bit confused whether I will be participating in a performance in a few weeks. I apparently did not speak out loud enough last week, but she thinks I'm not in it.

It's slightly annoying as I don't know what to do next. I would be performing as well but the steps proved to be a bridge too far when I saw them. As even some of the Primaries and Intermediates had trouble figuring them out, I would not be participating.

• Lesson 55, February 28, 2015. Slip-Jig-giggles
• Lesson 57, March 13, 2015. Nerves... Nerves...

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