Dance Recital

Katherine loves taking dance. This year she took a combo ballet and tap class with one of her best friends. She loves to perform and could not wait for the recital. Her dance was tap and they were to wear their hair in curly ponytails. So, that meant we got to put her hair in sponge curlers for the first time. Of course, if Katherine gets curlers, so does Caroline. They were so excited.

The result of curlers was a Shirley Temple look. It stayed all day.
At the dress rehearsal Katherine was the furthest one from the teacher so she was not always doing the correct move at the correct time but she had a constant large smile on her face. She said it was so much fun to be on stage and dance.



On the night of the rehearsal she was moved to the center of the stage (2nd from right in these pictures). She did better at doing the correct steps and had just as large of a smile.



The girl next to her got bored with the recital (it was over 4 minute long) and so she started doing her own dance. I love preschool recitals. They are so funny.
After the recital we gave her flowers. She acted shocked and excited. It as so cute.

She and her friend Emma were so proud.




Nana and Pops.

Ballet Class

One of the last ballet classes of last semester had a parent show off day. There is only a recital in the spring.

We take ballet at the rec center and our teacher is awesome. This fall Caroline took a mommy and me ballet class and Katherine was able to join in. They both loved it.


Caroline and Katherine love Ms. Michelle
After joining Caroline's class, Katherine had her own class. It was for 3-4 year olds and Katherine was by far the oldest. She has moved up now to the next class.




I don't claim that she is a prima dona but Katherine does seem to have some ballet talent for a 4 year old. She is pretty graceful and really loves it.

Ballet

Katherine has been taking ballet at the rec center for the past year. This year her teacher decided to do a mommy and me class for 2 year olds. Finally, it was Caroline's turn to take ballet, just like big sister. The great thing is that Katherine can join us too. So, she really has 2 ballet classes back to back.
I had to throw this picture in. This is Caroline's classmate, a boy. He wants to be like big sister when she gets ready for ballet so he gets ready as well - in pink leotard, tutu, tights and ballet shoes.

The Nutcracker

Last weekend we took Katherine to her first ballet, the Nutcracker. I knew she would love it and she did. To prepare we had watched several versions of the Nutcracker on video and read a few children's books. I think we did a great job of teaching her the story because she would try to tell me the story during the ballet and insisted that the Sugar Plum Fairy was not in fact the Sugar Plum Fairy because she was not wearing pink. She got all dressed up in her velvet dress and cape which was a special treat for a girl who always wants to wear fancy dresses. During intermission we went to the lobby and arrived right when 2 of the ballet dancers came out to take photos.
This production was perfect for Katherine. It was put on by one of the ballet schools in town and with the exception of a handful of professional dancers it was kids from 1-12 grade. The audience was full of young kids. I look forward to making this an annual tradition.

Too precious!

Here are the videos from Katherine's ballet. I kept having technical difficulties posting these. They were posting the wrong video.

These are actually the dress rehearsal because the file size on the camera I was using is much smaller than the one we used on the night of the performance. And well, she actually danced at the dress rehearsal whereas she pretty much just stood there for the performance.

In the recital #1 clip they are all doing the same thing until Katherine decided to break out into her own twirling moves. Then she does her "rock and roll" moves with a bit more gusto than the other girls.

In the recital #2 clip she does a great job of pointing her toes and tapping her feet. Then she decides to come see me but quickly changes her mind and goes back to her place. Then I thought she was going to do a somersault after her "out and in" move. I love how Camille on the left is dancing beautifully, Katherine is doing an upside down move and Sophia is sucking her thumb (she had just woken up from a nap). Then when they chase to the side they are all looking to find the "x" they are supposed to stand on.

This is the 3rd clip and she does beautiful twirls and beautiful curtsy



I thought that the whole thing was absolutely precious. I can't think of anything cuter than a bunch of 3 year olds doing ballet.

First ballet Recital

Tonight was the big night, Katherine's first ballet recital. Being a rec center ballet class it was more low key than how I remember recitals. For one thing, the classes were almost all preschool. You can imagine the talent on stage! They were all so cute.

Katherine's dance started with each girl flying on stage by themselves.

Katherine pretty much just stood there. She did a little pointing and a little clapping but not a whole lot else. She did however smile very pretty and she did not do anything silly or embarrassing.

The little girls in her class are just precious. Some of us got together today for a play date and it was so much fun. I think that taking ballet and doing the recital was great fun.

Afterwards they all got a trophy. My first thought that it was a piece of clutter for her room. I am sure it will be one of her many treasures.

After the show Daddy gave her some flowers. She posed like she was Miss America.

It was a fun night and I am sure we will do ballet again next year.