Ballet Recital Weekend

This past weekend was the big ballet recital weekend for our studio, Turning Pointe Dance.  After the dry run on Wednesday night and the dress rehearsal on Thursday night, the girls were more than ready for the "real thing" on Friday and Saturday nights.  Both Abby and Caroline LOVED dancing on the big high school stage.  It was so such joy to watch Abby run (there's probably a ballet word for that) across the stage at the beginning of her first dance with a giant grin on her face.  It was one of those huge, silly grins that told me she was having the time of her life.

Pre-Recital Pose

Caroline also spent a lot of time grinning on Friday night, except for the part where she was supposed to stare at the audience as part of the dance.  On Saturday, though, I thought Caroline looked more intense. Her partner for the dance didn't show up for the second performance.  So, instead of being #2 in all the lines, she was the "line leader." I could actually see her (most of the time, more on that later) thinking about what to do next while seated in the audience.  I have to give her credit though, she filled in pretty well!

Look at my curls!

It really was a wonderful recital.  This is our third year at the studio and I continued to be impressed with the joy on the faces of the kids dancing, the costumes, the variety of dances, and the fun music.  And the final pointe number.  WOW!  I never danced "en pointe" so I find the senior girls very impressive to watch. At the Thursday dress rehearsal the director has all the little girls sit close to the stage and watch the big girls dance the pointe number at the very beginning of the evening (otherwise they would never see it since they are backstage).  It is the highlight of the whole dancing season for them.  I wish I had a picture of their faces while they were watching -- hundreds of little girls completely rapt with attention.  A total ballet high!      

Abby spent the ride home on Saturday night alternating between saying how sad she was that dance was over for the summer with figuring out how many dances she would get to do next year as a Junior II (final verdict is 4, if she is in the ballet ensemble again).

I spent the ride how wondering how the person sitting in front of me for the recital could really be so completely rude or completely oblivious of standard performance etiquette.  Theoretically, everyone in the audience has a child/friend/relative that dances at Turning Pointe, so one would think we'd all be considerate of one another.  After all, we will cross paths again.  This woman was having a detailed conversations with the people sitting next to her for a good percentage of the show -- in full voice and with giant hand motions.  And, every time she talked, she leaned her big head over with her big puffy hair that I couldn't see through.  Boo to you, super-loud, puffy-haired lady.  Didn't your parents teach you any manners??!! I thought about whopping her on the head with my program, but decided to take the high road, albeit the road with less visibility.  Next year:  Aisle seats.