Grace's First Ballet Recital

Grace had her first ballet recital this weekend! What an ordeal awesome event!

Last Tuesday was her dress rehearsal. I got a sneak peak at what's to come in future years if you sticks with ballet. Rehearsals stretching late into the night several nights the week before the show! And speaking of show, there were three of them! Two of which lasted over three hours! Luckily, the ballet teacher has wee ones of her own so she knows the "babies" can't endure that can't of schedule - nor can their cranky mothers - so Grace was able to get in and get out during the rehearsals. I did manage to video one of her dress rehearsal performances as I figured I wouldn't be able to video tape during the performance nor did I want to spend $30 on a video when her "role" was less than two minutes long!

Finally, the weekend of the big show! On Friday, there was evening performance. Kids had to be backstage at six with the performance starting at seven and not ending until well after 10 pm. Luckily, I had the foresight NOT to sign Grace up for that performance. We opted for the Saturday matinee performance. For about a month, I had been having heart burn about dropping Grace off in the green room at noon and not seeing her again until after 4 pm. I could just imagine what the green room would be like with over 50 ballerinas running around with little supervision. I asked the instructor for another option but wasn't given one. On the morning of the performance, I think I channeled my dad. There was never a time any of us kids were ever made to do anything that was wrong or unreasonable because we knew we had our dad in our corner. He was never out of line but he was never a push over. (A truly admirable and appreciated quality I might add!)

In my heart of hearts, I knew Grace couldn't be in the green room for that amount of time with that amount of strangers with that little of supervision. And in the scheme of life, this two minute dance performance was not worth putting Grace or myself in a compromising position. 

Luckily a friend of mine, who had three daughters performing in the recital, attended the Friday evening performance and tipped me off that the "babies" were going right after the intermission. So Grace sat with me and Mana during the first half of the show. At intermission, we headed back to the green room - which was NUTS! - she went own stage, danced her little heart out and then we left! It was perfect! All that worrying for nothing! Glad dear-old-Dad paved the way for not being a push-over parent. Thanks Dad!

Mana - that's what Grace calls her paternal grandmother for those of you who are wondering - bestowed upon Grace a pink carnation after the performance. Grace was elated! After a few hours at home, we headed back to the theater, for another performance albeit a condensed version. Just the "babies" and a few solo performances. This time, Daddy, Boppa and Charlotte got to watch. Again, Grace received a flower after the show. Grace did a great job! Dancing and smiling and just having FUN!! We are so, so proud of her!

We celebrated a fun successful ballet performance - a first for all of us! - by going out to dinner! Upon arriving home, the owls serenaded Grace by flying all over the yard. It was beautiful! A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Side note: I drove Grace to the matinee show. When we left the house, it was warm and sunny. She wore only her Lady Bug costume and her ballet slippers. I had on a white t-shirt and jeans. Upon arriving at the theater, it was a DELUGE! A deluge of biblical portions! Of course, I had to park a mile away so I wasn't sure how we were going to get into the theater in "one piece." We had no coats. No umbrellas. No nothing. Looking around my car, I noticed my dry cleaning bag. Inside, was an empty (clean) white plastic trash bag. I ripped three holes in it - for my head and arms and then tucked Grace inside with her head sticking out the head hole! We were a sight I tell ya! I wish I had gotten a picture of that!! Nothing like crazy, summer storms!