Dancing the Night Away

Lucy has been taking a ballet/tap class once a week since September, every Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. It's perhaps not the most convenient time (we are usually scrambling to get everyone dressed and in the car right as my body is screaming for another cup of coffee and a seat on the couch), but we do it because she absolutely loves it. She is an enthusiastic participant, even if some of the finer points of instruction pass her by :-). And on Friday, her dance school had a "Winter Dance Review," a sort of informal recital that gave all the students a chance to dance onstage without those expensive dance costumes (never fear, those ARE coming - in June).

Lucy's class of 2-5 year olds performed a tap number, and I captured it on film, for your enjoyment. The performance gives a very clear picture of exactly what each Saturday is like, where at any given moment some of the girls might be following the teacher's instructions, caught up doing a previous dance move, singing to themselves, lying on the floor, or refusing to participate altogether. Lucy, bless her heart, managed to do a fair number of the steps (at least, when she was actually watching her teacher who was hiding in the wings), though she did get a bit caught up "flashing" the audience for a few beats of the song. She is the one in the middle with a blond pony tail, 5 girls in from the right (just to the left of the girl holding her hands over her ears). Enjoy!



Lucy was not nervous at all, but Finn was nervous enough FOR her. He kept asking her if she was afraid that she would mess up, despite my repeated attempts to get him to shut the hell up. Luckily, he didn't phase her at all - she was excited at every step of the way.

Here she is with her proud/nervous big brother, before we left for the theater:

 

And a rare still-ish moment backstage, where she mostly ran around like a monkey on speed:

 

Man she likes playing with that skirt ;-):

 

At the end, everyone came out to take a bow. Lucy wiggled her way to the front, and then saw us sitting in the audience:

 

I know that next time, when she will have TWO! COSTUMES! (a hot pink tutu for ballet and a "duck" outfit for tap), she will be just over the moon. Here's hoping that she and her classmates remember a few more of the steps by then ;-).