Tonight was Avery’s ballet performance. She’s been working toward this with her little friends for weeks. Richard has been driving her into “town” every Tuesday night and she has worked so hard. The performance was part of The Messiah Project’s Christmas program and it was in a large performance hall. I was so proud of her for being so big and doing this on her own. However….
…Before you get any Grand visions of what something called “The Messiah Project” might entail, or start daydreaming about dancing fairies and sugar plums and the like, let me begin by telling you how our evening began.
Getting Avery’s hair and makeup just right and according to direct and exact specifications was something of trial. For one thing, she had to wear eyeliner. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of putting eyeliner on a four-year-old, but she may as well have been a greased pig with all the wiggling and squealing that was going on. At one point, I actually was holding her down on the bathroom floor while she was kicking and crying (with tiny tears smearing the eyeliner) with me standing over her saying all manner of sweet motherly things like “If you don’t HUSH right NOW this is going to be a DISASTER!” It’s a wonder she didn’t come out looking like a raccoon. And, please don’t even get me started on the whole hair in a bun thing. She cries when I brush her hair, so getting it up into a proper bun with bobby pins…geesh!
Then, of course, came the actual performance. She participated in two numbers during which most of her time was to be spent running with her hands outstretched in front of her follow-the-leader style with the other little ones and sitting with her hands folded in her lap. That doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? Well it isn’t…for most adults….and for the majority of her little ballet companions. However, it seemed a bit much for Avery. At one point during one of the sitting moments, she took it upon her nurturing self to reach over to her pint-sized neighbor, tap her on the shoulder and very demonstratively tell her to SCOOT BACK…YOU’RE NOT ON THE LINE. Ah well.
All in all, however, I was SO proud of her. She looked so beautiful in her little dress. She received high praises from her teachers. They’re very gracious souls. J If there are more ballet performances in our future, we have a few things to work on. But, we’ll get there. For our amateur shot, I’d say we did pretty well!
…Before you get any Grand visions of what something called “The Messiah Project” might entail, or start daydreaming about dancing fairies and sugar plums and the like, let me begin by telling you how our evening began.
Getting Avery’s hair and makeup just right and according to direct and exact specifications was something of trial. For one thing, she had to wear eyeliner. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of putting eyeliner on a four-year-old, but she may as well have been a greased pig with all the wiggling and squealing that was going on. At one point, I actually was holding her down on the bathroom floor while she was kicking and crying (with tiny tears smearing the eyeliner) with me standing over her saying all manner of sweet motherly things like “If you don’t HUSH right NOW this is going to be a DISASTER!” It’s a wonder she didn’t come out looking like a raccoon. And, please don’t even get me started on the whole hair in a bun thing. She cries when I brush her hair, so getting it up into a proper bun with bobby pins…geesh!
Then, of course, came the actual performance. She participated in two numbers during which most of her time was to be spent running with her hands outstretched in front of her follow-the-leader style with the other little ones and sitting with her hands folded in her lap. That doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? Well it isn’t…for most adults….and for the majority of her little ballet companions. However, it seemed a bit much for Avery. At one point during one of the sitting moments, she took it upon her nurturing self to reach over to her pint-sized neighbor, tap her on the shoulder and very demonstratively tell her to SCOOT BACK…YOU’RE NOT ON THE LINE. Ah well.
All in all, however, I was SO proud of her. She looked so beautiful in her little dress. She received high praises from her teachers. They’re very gracious souls. J If there are more ballet performances in our future, we have a few things to work on. But, we’ll get there. For our amateur shot, I’d say we did pretty well!
No comments:
Post a Comment