Elaina's dance recital

Monday, June 9, 2008

Well, after much stress and tension (mine), Elaina had her dance recital yseterday. The reason for all the stress is that she refused to dance in class a few times, and threw a complete tantrum at picture day. I was soooooo embarrassed. The dance teachers, the freaking director of the studio, the photographers, and of course - all the parents were witness to my humiliation at the hands of my precious princess. So I was basically white-knuckled the whole time we were at rehearsal. At first she took one look at the stage and said, "I dont want to do that." Shit. I of course was all "oh its so fun and you love to dance" blah blah blah. By the time it was her turn (26 numbers into the show, for the love of god) she couldnt wait for her turn. Great! But then she realized that mommy isnt going up there with her. She refused to go on. I ended up walking her all the way backstage, any closer and I would have actually been onstage. We talked, I talked, I listened, I explained, I commiserated, I understood. Finally I threatened, as any good parent does, and on she went. And she had a blast. She was jumping around, "flying" (she is a butterfly, in case you didnt know) and bowing. Not so much dancing, but hey - she was up there, and who am I to be picky?
After the rehearsal she realized the joys of performing and having all that attention. Oh yes. Needless to say, she went quite willingly when the time came for the actual performace later in the day.
(the stage photos here are from dress rehearsal, the teachers were not on with them during the show)
By the way, the theme to the show was "A Trip to New York"... her dance was "Central Park Zoo" and she was a panda bear.