In The Spotlight!

The theme of the Academy of Dance's Show this year, was "In The Spotlight" and boy, does Claire love being in the spotlight! Since she only studies Ballet this year, she was only in one dance. Her class danced to "Waltz of the Flowers" as part of a 20 minute dance medley of the Ballet by Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker Suite". She danced with her class, and then the class danced with the advanced class and the class one level below, in a finale with the "sugar plum fairy" who was en pointe. It went so well. The applause was thunderous. And Claire smiled!!

The above picture shows her in full costume minus the pink and red flowers in the hair. (I think if you click on the pic it will enlarge it?)
She is standing in the very back of our backyard, in 3rd position.


This picture shows her in a dance position (the first part of the Waltz of the Flowers) in our front yard. Isn't this costume gorgeous? But....now what do I do with a $50.00 tutu and leotard she won't wear again???

This picture shows her class. This year there were 6 girls in her class (intermediate ballet). Last year there were 8 of them.

From left to right: Ariel (grade 3), Karah (grade 5), Courtney (grade 2), Claire (grade 3), Sarah (grade 4), Sarah (grade 3).

The 2 Sarah's attend the school where I teach. Claire's friend Courtney rides the same bus/attends the same school, and the girl named Ariel often has my teenager as a babysitter! It is so nice to be in an Academy of Dance where the girls are all in the same school district and are close in age. Some of the academies or studios I looked at when Claire was 4 were a half hour's drive (or more) and had kids from all over the capital region. I wanted something closer to home, and with girls from her school. Isn't God awesome for giving us our hearts' desire?? AND...He gave me a daughter who LOVES ballet...yeah! My parents couldn't afford both piano and ballet so I had just piano. But I have always loved ballet. My oldest had no interest when I asked her at age 4 if she wanted to study it. All she had interest in was horses. I have to say: that interest cost us plenty. The cost of a month's worth of ballet lessons is just a little over half of what it cost me per week for riding lessons. I was secretly glad when the horse riding craze only lasted 6 years. She still loves horses but no longer takes lessons or competes. It's just as well....she is busy with so many other things.

My mom asked me if Claire would continue. The answer? A loud YES. Her goal is to dance solo en pointe. (I wonder how much those shoes will cost me??)

For now.....summer is almost here. No more dance lessons until September.
For now...we are waiting patiently for the end of the week when we find out if she gets the dance part that she audtioned for at church this past weekend.
We are on to another show!
She sure loves being on stage, in that spotlight!
And we love watching her and cheering her on.
Thank you God for the gift of music and dance!!