Tag Archive for 'Ballet Recitals'

Finding balance and staying on your toes

Published on Friday, May 14, 2010 in Ballet, Claire and Photos. 0 Comments Tags: , .

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.”

Published on Thursday, May 13, 2010 in Ballet, Claire and Photos. 0 Comments Tags: , .

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

Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 in Ballet, Claire and Photos. 0 Comments Tags: , .

You know you’re a Ballet Mom when…

Published on Monday, May 10, 2010 in Ballet. 2 Comments Tags: , .
  • 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.

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!