Dance Recital 2010

This is the first year that our dance recital was also a play. At least the ballet part. Actually, for our girls, that's all they did this year. Their dance teacher does ballet, character and tap - that's all. No big deal when it's a matter of deciding on modesty for kids (or kids being kept to look like kids) and the alternative. But, because she's also a certified instructor for ballet, she's very strict about making sure the kids really understand and can execute the proper steps. This is also good - but it means that she won't just let the kids do a recital for each dance they are in. The Tap and Character doesn't happen until they are at a certain level with ballet (the classes are combined until then).

That being said, at Christmas time, they kids did get to "put on a show" in the studio for the parents with both tap and ballet. I did not get to enjoy this at the time because I didn't realize just when that was going to happen - and more than that, I had the boys that day. But they pretend to be on stage, there's an audience and they perform. It was neat and they loved it.

Back to this weekend, though - the play was Mother Goose. It was neat to see ballet in action - telling a story - not just a dance. Gabi was a kitten and Beth was a butterfly. After Mother Goose was completed, character and tap danced to Cabaret. It was a neat little recital - finished in an hour and half with intermission (that's really short for what we're use to).

I do have to admit, though, that with all the preforming arts that seem to happen around here, I'm disappointed that there is no preforming arts center - the girls' recital was held in the Veteran's hall (on a stage) and the audience was seated in folding chairs - where heads are easier to see than the stage. I've heard that there has been talk for years about building a real center, but as far as I'm aware, it's still just talk. Oh well... at least the girls had fun!