Archive for the 'Ballet' Category

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Ballerinas on the other side of the glass

Published on Friday, October 23, 2009 in Ballet and Milestones. 2 Comments Tags: .

Today, Claire and I got to try out a new ballet school. This one is a “real” ballet school, where they take everything very seriously…yet they have fun. This is the perfect combination for my little girl who loved her Rec Center Ballet Classes, but got a little perturbed with the other girls who “don’t pay attention and do the right moves, Momma!” …not to mention the whole fiasco with messing with her hair!

This ballet school isn’t very far from our house, and has come highly recommended. We went last week to take a peek and loved what we saw. We were invited to try it out today before making our decision, but I had a sneaking suspicion it would go well.

And, it did!

Claire LOVED it. The teacher said she did really well, and I’m so proud of her! The most shocking turn of events was when Claire actually allowed me to put her hair in a bun before we left the house. I knew it wasn’t up to “standards,” but I also knew that they allow the preschool class to wear a ponytail if all else fails.

We got to the school a little early so that a professional could help me with the shoes and Claire’s hair. What? Have you ever tried to figure out ballet shoes? Oh, they seem so simple now. (Here’s a hint: There really ISN’T a right and left. They really ARE the same.) And, I could rock a mad bun in my own hair a million years ago, but doing a bun on someone who up until that very morning refused to allow such a pastry-named hairstyle grace her tresses? I needed the help of a third party.

In true form, Claire was a perfect angel for the wonderful lady who came to our rescue. She looked like such a big girl in her outfit, with her hair all done up in a bun.

The class went without incident, and Claire professed her love for it immediately. We went ahead and filled out all the paperwork and made things official.

Before we left, we had a chance to watch the older dancers practicing. One of the ballerinas smiled directly at Claire through the observation window, and Claire was completely mesmerized. The look on her face was priceless. Maybe one day, she’ll be on the other side of that glass smiling at the brand new ballerinas.

Weird animal head hat or not, the First Ballet Recital was a success!

Published on Friday, October 16, 2009 in Ballet, Claire, Milestones, Photos and Random Thoughts. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

Claire had her first Ballet Recital last night!

Over all, it went well. It went exactly as I anticipated a Ballet Recital of this magnitude to go. This wasn’t a professional dance studio, and our main goal was to have fun while learning the basics. She had such a great time that I’ve already signed her up for the next session, too.

The only issue she had with the class was that it was full of 3-yr olds…by design. There was no way around that. Claire wanted to focus and literally learned all the steps in one class. She actually took this seriously, which isn’t what most 3-yr olds do. She was surrounded by little girls who would rather run around and act all crazy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

To be honest, if I could justify the expense, I really think Claire would benefit from a true dance studio.  (Edited to add:  We DID enroll her in a true dance studio!)

Just in case you think she’s uptight and stuffy…that’s not the case!  Here is the face she said she was going to use on stage:

The First Ballet Recital Face

She didn't, but I kinda wished she would have!

Anyway…the Ballet Recital was a hit! But, in the essence of full disclosure, the casual side of my personality had to work double-time to compensate for the perfectionist side.  I think I kept the twitching to a minimum.

I know the girls in her class are only 3-yrs old, and you’re going to get what you get.

  • But if you’ve been practicing the routine by giving them verbal cues, and the music is too loud for them to hear you, what do you think is going to happen?
  • And, if you also practice the routine by giving also them visual cues, but you’re standing where they can’t really see you, what do you think is going to happen?
  • And, if you have them perform in a place that looks totally different than where they’ve practiced for eight weeks, and you don’t even give them a chance to practice one time there, what do you think is going to happen?
  • And, if you’ve specifically given Momma instructions on how to do her little ballerina’s hair just so, and then Momma spends the better portion of the hour before her little ballerina goes on stage telling her not to touch her hair, and then you try to force a weird looking animal head hat on said ballerina’s head, what do you think is going to happen? (Please note: Momma was not told there was going to be a weird looking animal head hat involved!  In fact, the teacher had said she probably wouldn’t use props because they’re too distracting!)

I’ll give you three guesses as to the only ballerina who absolutely refused to wear the weird hat…and the first two guesses don’t count.

Go, Claire!

Oh, wait. I’m supposed to be upset by that? I’m not!

She told me later that she told them, “That hat will mess up my hair, and that is unacceptable.” (Yes, that’s a direct quote.)  I thought it was hilarious and exactly what they deserved. Errr, I mean, she’s three!  Whatterya gonna do?  ;)   Either way, I’m not going to complain about it, because I don’t have time to be on that committee, too. ;)

But, I digress.

In the end, the casual part won, and we’re counting the Ballet Recital as a complete success. We can’t wait for the next one!

Mondays aren’t so bad if you’re a ballerina.

Published on Monday, August 31, 2009 in Ballet, Claire, Fun, Parenting 101 and Photos. 6 Comments Tags: , , .

Mondays are a good day around here. Mondays mean we get to go to Ballet. And, by “we,” I mean Claire gets to go dance, and I get to go watch her on the TV monitor.

Today marks her third class, and she loves it!

First Day of Ballet!

First Day of Ballet!

The parents are not allowed back in the dance room, so we’re relegated to sitting out in the waiting room and watching on a large black and white TV monitor. The screen is split into four sections, so that regardless of where our little ballerinas are standing (or twirling), we’ll be able to see them.

Claire picked out her own leotard and shoes. This is a class through our Rec Center, so they aren’t as stringent on the clothing rules as the “real” ballet schools are. She wanted the hot-pink butterfly one, so that’s the one she got. We both thought the black ballet shoes went well with her ensemble.

I tied her hair up in a ponytail and then tried not to cry.

Just like Claire, I was really excited for the first class to get here. The fact that I needed to hold back tears startled me. My baby is isn’t a baby anymore, and I’m happy about that. But there was just something about watching her follow the teacher’s direction on the screen that nearly made me lose it. She’s like this little girl now…

But, I kept it together, and none of the other moms were the wiser.

She LOVED the class, and she did really well!  She did so well, in fact, that the teacher asked me afterward which other Ballet Classes she’s been in. I was shocked. This was her first Ballet Class. She’s been dancing around the house en pointe for a long time now, and when she asked to take classes, we had to wait for her age to match the criteria.

The teacher told me that she knows the ballet positions already. She showed her once, and she got it…just like that.

I don’t even know the Ballet Positions. In fact, I had to have a friend tell me that what Claire was doing by dancing on the tops of her toes actually had a name (the en pointe I mentioned above…)

Apparently one of the skeletons in our closet is that of a famous Ballerina?

So, we’re going to foster this. She loves it, and she’s really good at it. I’m not enrolling her in a daily routine at a hard-core school, but we are going weekly from now until December. When she’s a bit older, she can decide how much she wants to pursue this.

In the meantime, she’s trying to teach me all her moves…and we actually look forward to Mondays. :)