It's recital season which means quite a number of blogs are sporting images of the darlings doing 'their thing'. This past weekend was our first recital event - Amelia is 11 and took a Beginner Ballet Technique class for 11-15 year olds at the local arts center this past school year.
Amelia first tried a ballet class when she was about 6 or 7. She was so excited! And then she marched out of there and said "I'm never coming back here again." Oh. OK then. I was just a tad livid with the instructor - a particularly cold fish (& heaven knows the ballet world is a veritable sea of them), for ruining it for Amelia. It took until last September before she said she'd try ballet again. She's successfully finished this class & the recommendation is in the mail. She can, if she likes, enroll in Ballet 5 (2 classes per week) or in recreational ballet (1 class per week). Exactly where she'd be if she had gone all along. Just think of all the money I've saved! And the endless hours of driving to & fro, and waiting in hallways, keeping a little boy amused - all averted!!!
I think there's a moral to this story.
Oh, and the day of the recital? Several boohooing small children having attacks of nerves. Parents shoving them towards the marshalling area where the kids are locked in with the volunteers for costume changes etc. Kids crying. Parents pushing. Ick. Glad to not have done that.
Amelia marched in, cool as a cucumber. She says she and the girls had a big giggle fest in the back while waiting their turn. They were silly and goofy and put on make-up and had an absolute blast. They did 2 shows, one each on Saturday and Sunday. Their instructor did wonderful choreography for them to Ella Fitzgerald's "Mack the Knife" from the Live in Berlin album. If you don't know this song, you can hear a snippet of it here. Jazzy girls out on the town. The choreography was designed to show off the students & she made them all look good.
I understand we got off easy too. Tickets for the show were $5 each and we were allowed to video and take photos (hence these poor shots inflicted upon you). I heard of a recital out east where there were no video or cameras allowed and instead an unedited video was available for purchase for $45. And who wouldn't buy the tape of their baby? What a money grab......
Enjoy your children's recitals everyone!
p.s. There are 3 photos in this post but when I've checked, blogger sometimes doesn't display them all. What is that about? Anyhooo, if that's the case, click refresh & see more of my girl!
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4 comments:
She's a lovely young lady - I think the poise she has and ability to carry herself well are such wonderful, powerful attributes.
So glad to hear you have a reasonable group (I hate the money grabs for things like videos, photos, etc.) and that she enjoyed the season.
Dy
Wow! She looks like she's been doing ballet for years! How poised.
Ours was the money-grab. I still haven't sent away for the $45 DVD but I'm afraid I will have to cave in. What a racket here.
Jazzy pics :).
Hurray for Our Dancing June Amelia!
She looks great. Glad she enjoyed it (which seems to me to be the important thing). And what you learned is what we all should remember -- kids learn faster when they are ready. Congratulations for saving yourself (and her) all that money and grief.
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