The Casual Perfectionist » Ballet

Look out, Juilliard!

JoAnn — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:41:51 +0000

Yesterday, Claire and I were going to take a little break and watch the latest episode of So You Think You Can Dance. Because of her fondness for all things Ballet and Dance-related, we enjoy this show.

We were having lunch and talking about our plan for the afternoon. That’s when she turned and looked at me.

“You know,” she says in all seriousness. “If I was on that show, it wouldn’t be called that. It would be called, ‘I KNOW I Can Dance.’”

Ha!

Well, I can say one thing: What she lacks in years of experience, she makes up for in confidence!

Finding balance and staying on your toes

JoAnn — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:00:51 +0000

I love these photos, individually and in succession.

…and so ends Ballet Week here at The Casual Perfectionist.

Until next time! Let’s take some advice from a little ballerina I know: “It’s important to find balance and be good at staying on your toes.” That sounds like a great plan to me!

Maybe there’s a reason it’s “common.”

JoAnn — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:00:06 +0000

When we were looking at all the photos from the Ballerina Claire Photo Shoot, I was immediately drawn to one in particular.

My husband scoffed and said it had been over-done.

What? What is he talking about?

Okay, so he’s right. So, I’ve picked the “common tummy pose” before…more than once. I mean, the above are just a few examples…of the ones I had readily available. In the end, I agreed to forgo printing the common (albeit “ballerina”) tummy pose and saved that real estate for other poses in the collection.

Still, maybe it’s such a common pose because it’s awesome.

It’s Ballet Week here at The Casual Perfectionist

JoAnn — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:00:01 +0000

That Look

JoAnn — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:00:29 +0000

We had Claire’s Ballet Gala on Saturday and took her in for a Ballerina Photo Shoot on Sunday.

This time, rather than stick to the one-pose-only deal, Daddy bought Momma a set of photos for Mother’s Day. This time, we have a CD full of images, some of which we had printed, and others we only have in electronic form.

It’s so hard to choose, especially when given free reign. To be honest, they were all good, but we printed ones that show our little ballerina in ballerina-form. I’ll be posting little photos of our Ballerina all week. (Lucky you! *cough*)

When looking at the disc last night, I came across one of my favorite images that didn’t show Claire as a ballerina, but as Claire.

You know when you come across one that just captures a person’s true essence?

Well, here it is.

That look? That smile? The laugh that is just starting to bubble up, but it hasn’t escaped yet? The mischief brewing and plots thickening?

THIS is Typical Claire.

You know you’re a Ballet Mom when…

JoAnn — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:00:53 +0000

You see a group of other ballet moms and their ballerinas in the waiting room and say, “Nice buns!” and no one even laughs out loud.
You put your daughter’s lipstick on last, because it’s the carrot needed to get her to hold still for her eyeliner.
You know the trick to putting eyeliner on a 4-year old.
You say, “That’s great, but don’t rub your head on anything!” a couple hundred times before getting to the dance studio.
Your daughter has more product in her hair for one event than you’ve worn in the last three months combined.
You can do a ballet bun in your sleep.
What you lack in ballet bun making skills can be made up for in practice…and aquanet.
You know how to clean pink tights with a baby wipe.
…and you’ve done so more than once.
All the tights hanging in your shower belong to someone half your height and a third your weight.
You know that the place to buy the light colored hairnets is at the nearest King Soopers, a grocery store.
You can say, “If you pick your nose, please don’t smudge your lipstick” with a straight face.

And then we talked about the difference between creative story-telling and lying.

JoAnn — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:40:26 +0000

Saturday after Ballet Class, Claire told me that she jumped so high her head got stuck in the ceiling! She said it was “a disaster!” and that Miss Michelle couldn’t even get her down!

Apparently, I’m getting better at doing the Ballet Bun, because not a single hair on her head had moved after such an adventure.

How do you say “nickel and dime” in French?

JoAnn — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:00:42 +0000

For the record, we love Claire’s Ballet School. We do. We also knew that when you choose an “extracurricular activity,” there will be some costs not presented (or fully itemized) up front. We also feel these costs are worth it.

Whether it be sports equipment or uniforms or whatnot, the benefit of the activity far outweighs the cost.

(And it’s the whatnot that will get you every time…)

She loves her school.
She really does.

And, that’s a good thing, because there are times when I feel like we’re being nickel & dimed.

Again, I mean no disrespect to the school.

Still…why tiptoe around some of these fees? We’d still participate in the school; I promise.

Case in point…

We picked up her packet for her participation in the End of Year Gala Celebration. Participation in this event is free. “There is no fee to be in this show.” I’m quoting a sentence out of the packet.

However, everyone needs a costume to participate in the Gala, and those are NOT free. Those, in fact, are far from free. (Granted, they are cheaper than other schools charge, but anything greater than ZERO is indeed a “fee.”)

Again, I love this school. In an effort to help the parents justify the cost of costumes, part of the costumes used in the Gala can be used in her regular classes. That’s awesome. That’s a good use of fundage. Those are nickels and dimes we would have been paying eventually anyway.

But, to say there is “no fee” on one page of the packet and then turn around and tell me the price I need to pay for the costume, in order for her to participate in the Gala, on another page leaves me a little bewildered.

I hate to break it to them, but if one of the requirements costs something, participation in the overall activity is not free.

Why not just say that? Or say it in French, at least. It would sound so pretty then.

It took me ages to hand-paint this portrait of Claire.*

JoAnn — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:41:10 +0000

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit in on Claire’s ballet class. This was a big deal, because the ballet school Claire attends does not normally allow parents to watch their little ballerinas in action. Once a month, we can peek through a one-way mirror while standing quietly in the hallway, but this was the first time I’d be able to sit in on the class and see what they do firsthand.

I didn’t know if we’d be able to take photos, so I didn’t bring my camera. Of course, when we got there, the teacher said we could! But, never fear! Glenda is always with me, and she’s always more than happy to oblige.

Claire had a blast showing off her moves, and in true Diva-style, the audience didn’t bother her in the least!

Did I mention that Daddy and Claire got me a fancy-schmancy photo-editing software program for Christmas? Well, they did, and I’m having a blast learning all about it.

So, I thought I’d try my hand at some of the cool stuff I can do with photos now.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wash these paintbrushes.

*Okay, not really.

I am not a Stage Mom. No, really. I’m not.

JoAnn — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:01:50 +0000

For real.
I have never used AquaNet on my child.

Okay, except that one time…back in July…but it was for a wedding! She was the star of the show Diva Flower Princess flower girl! And, it wasn’t even my AquaNet!

Anyway…

I learned a long time ago that battles over hair are not ones I’m going to put much tactical effort or resources into fighting.

I told Claire she could have her hair however she wanted it. She decided she wanted to grow it long, so that’s what we’re doing. She flips back and forth about what she wants to do with her bangs, but I have a rule: Clip it or cut it. If you can’t keep your bangs out of your eyes with a clip of some sort, we get them cut. Period. Hair falling into her eyes drives me absolutely crazy and makes me twitch.

This, of course, is information she’ll use against me one day.

Her Ballet School has rules about hair. All the girls are required to have their hair up in a Ballet Bun. She’s allowed to have bangs in her Preschool Ballet class (and a pony-tail if it’s a particularly challenging day on the Hair Front), but the older levels have different rules: Ballet Bun and no bangs. When she reaches that point, we’ll discuss her options, and it will be up to her.

Lately, Claire has been begging to have her hair curled. One day, I did that before school. With a curling iron. I gave us plenty of time to get ready, but I knew something wasn’t quite right when I’d officially spent more time on her hair than mine.

Her hair doesn’t hold curl very well, so imagine my joy at seeing her relatively curl-less hair when I picked her up from Preschool. She doesn’t know her hair doesn’t hold curl very well, so she had no idea that it wasn’t as curly as before.

We did discover that when we take her hair down from her Ballet Bun, it’s the perfect curliness. When it’s curled like that, it tends to stay a little bit longer. So, we’ve been doing that at night. I position the bun so that it won’t hurt her little head why she’s sleeping, and in the morning, once we’ve had breakfast, donned our attire, and the bun is unfurled, we’re greeted with perfect curls.

She thinks she looks like Sleeping Beauty.

…and I look like a Stage Mom.

…even without the AquaNet.