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:
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!
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