Today was the last day of class for the 2015-16 dance year, our last Monday afternoon and evening at the dance studio. Next week they'll practice on the big stage, and the big day is next Saturday. Hannah Kate is very excited about the recital this year and can't wait to take the stage for her 5-year solo. Ellie claims excitement. But I still have no idea how her first year on stage is going to look. I don't even think she knows!
Last week was parent observation and awards week. Both of my girls received awards, Ellie for her first year of dance and Hannah Kate for her fifth year of dance.
I mean, she had just been so excited to try on her costumes. And she was always talking about dance, always dancing. Her teachers said she always participates in class and knows all of the dance moves. I never expected that to be her reaction. She has definitely been the most outgoing out of all my children at the age of three. Even from the first day, she walked into class all by herself and didn't "need" me to take her. Hannah Kate cried the first three weeks of class because I wasn't in there with her, and no one expected her to dance on the big stage because she was so shy. But she surprised us all, and she did it! So Ellie would be the one I expected to totally DOMINATE that stage come recital day.
But by February, I'd begun to doubt that and began preparing myself to be the parent of the child who either stands on stage crying or refuses to go out there in the first place! Because picture day was in February. And it was a near disaster! We actually had to be at the studio three different times across a five-hour span to get all of our class and individual and family pictures made. Ellie's class was first that morning. We woke up, ate breakfast, and then she and I left to have her class picture taken. I'd already decided I wasn't going to have her individual picture taken at that time but that we would do that when we went back later for Hannah Kate's pictures. Ellie was so excited to get dressed up in her costume and wear make-up for the first time. I dressed her when we got to the studio and put on a little make-up. It came time for her class to line up and head upstairs for their picture. The moms followed along behind her class. I already knew it. As soon as I got up there, she was already BAWLING. She ran over to me, and I knew it was over. I didn't even try. I was walking out with her when one of the teachers came over, took her from me and told me to leave. I have no idea what happened after that, but I was told that she was, indeed, in her class picture and did, indeed, smile. I'll believe it when I see it. Because this is what dance picture day was like:
Needless to say, I didn't have my hopes up for last week's observation. I was expecting more of the same. We really tried to build her up for it, and her Daddy even came. I love many things about dance, but one of them is this cute little bun. She melts my heart.
After they danced, they got their awards. In true Ellie fashion (meaning you just never know what you're going to get with her!), she CRAWLED (yes, on the floor) over to her teachers when they called her name. And then she wouldn't even look up at them!
