Ella's Ballet Recital

I'm sorry to say, but Ella and the rest of her dance class were pretty much the worst 3-year old performance of the evening. The girls did pretty good during practices, and we all figured there'd be a few bumps in the road, but tonight was a M-E-S-S! The audience applauded afterwards with full adoration and recognition of the attempt. I guess with an audience filled with mostly parents, they all know the hard work that goes into a performance like that first hand...even with an unpleasant outcome. :)

In Ella's defense, she didn't notice her teacher in stage right leading them until halfway through the performance. Until then, she seemed pretty lost without a leader to guide her through her moves.

Also, the teacher instilled in those girls how important their dots were. Ella was to skip to a blue dot and stay on it while dancing. If you watch the video, she backtracks to where she's supposed to be, losing focus on the dance steps she's to be performing at that time!

Sometime during the performance, the girls are to twirl to a front dot, and surprisingly, Ella was the only one who did it! That was the hardest part of the routine for her to get down and I was ecstatic that she actually did it! I was videotaping with the proudest grin on my face! But, as soon as she noticed none of the other girls did as they were supposed to, she went back to the original line. Good job, though, Ella! You rock!

All in all, though, I give the girls' attempt a standing ovation. They all enjoyed each other (parents included) and the past 10 weeks have been a lot of fun for us all. Ella grew a lot with this experience, and even if the performance tonight stunk, the lessons she learned will stick with her for quite some time.

When I told Ella today was her last day of ballet, I asked her if that makes her happy or sad. She made a pouty face and said that it made her sad. So, I asked her if she'd want to do a different ballet class. Her response was an excited, "Yes!"

So, I'm looking into dance studios as we speak! Even though it seems classes will be about $45.00/month (plus cost of shoes, leotards and costumes), you can't put a price on a child's happiness. And, since she has shown great interest in continuing ballet (unlike soccer!!!), we have to support her passion and keep it going until she tells us otherwise.

Okay, everybody...enjoy the performance! If you choose to leave a comment...be nice! :)