Hadley's weekly ballet class has been a highlight of our past year. The night before each class, we would get her ballet gear out and pack it in her frilly bag. She always had opinions about what she wanted to wear and was not a big fan of leg warmers during the cold months. Every Thursday, I would rush to pick her up from the babysitter, get her changed, and make it to class by 4:15. This recital was a big deal y'all. Dress rehearsal on Thursday evening and three hour long recitals on both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, we were worn out when it was all over.
While we haven't seen evidence of a prima ballerina on our hands, we have enjoyed watching her growth and development throughout the year. Her balance and coordination have certainly improved. The theme of this year's recital was "Dance to the Music." Hadley's routine was to "Love is like a Butterfly" by Dolly Parton.
My first attempt at bun creation was interesting, to say the least. Um, I don't really "do" hair. Yes, I have a little girl, but I am not good at fixing hair. I was elated to find a tool at Wal-Mart, for less than $5.00, to assist in my bun making. Between that and TONS of hairspray, we got 'er done.
Miss Adrienne has been the sweetest, most patient teacher ever. I really don't know how she does it. Funny...I am a teacher, right? But seriously...coordinating so many different routines with little ones must be very difficult. She handled it like a champ! Our littles had to sit for two hours before they took the stage. We packed toys for them to play with while they were in a holding room, backstage, with stage moms. I got a text on Saturday from one of the stage moms saying Hadley was complaining of not feeling well and that I might want to come check on her. I figured she was a little nervous, and I was right. I sat with her for awhile, until she assured me she was just fine.
I was a little curious at how Hadley might respond when she got up on the stage, bright spotlights shining, and looked out at the huge crowd in the theater. I was more than relieved when the music came on and she started dancing to the music. Whew!
She was quite slow making her way through the bridge because she was worried about her wings getting messed up.
One of my precious fourth graders made Hadley a special dum-dum sucker bouquet. Molly is one of those students you wish you could clone...she is perfect. Hadley was pretty much speechless, but I was able to coax a thank-you out of her. Such a kind gesture, though!
In tradition with the dance community, we greeted our little ballerina with a bouquet of flowers at the end of her performance. I really think she was more excited about getting the flowers than the fact she finished her recital. What a sweet first year of dance we have had. This recital has been the perfect ending to our schoolyear!
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