KiminChicago
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 926
My DD is 10 and has been dancing since she was three. Today she was in her 7th ballet recital. She has always attended ballet classes through our local park district and a lot of the girls she dances with have also been with the park district for years.
This year my DD decided that she wanted to start lyrical ballet. Normally this class is only offered to girls 12 and up, but the ballet teacher really likes my daughter and allowed her to take the class. The next youngest girl in the class is 12 and the oldest is 17. As I said, most of these girls have been together for years. They are a terrific bunch, and after getting to know all the moms this year, I can honestly say that they are a warm and welcoming group too. My daughter became almost like a kid sister to all of the older girls.
As I said, today was the big recital. Due to the increase in the number of classes she's taking, DD had 3 costume changes. Due to the current economy, there are very few younger children taking classes, so DD only had one number (about 2 minutes) between each of her dances. The older girls in the company made sure that DD had all the right costume pieces on and helped her with all the extra accessories (flowers in her hair, sashes, etc.)
This was a difficult year for all of them. The ballet instructor managed to miss deadlines for the only convention and competition these girls do all year, and although she has now scheduled a convention and competition for July, several of the girls will not be able to attend or compete after all their hard work all year. Because of this, some of the moms have decided to register their girls in different dance schools next fall.
So right now I'm sitting here, so very proud of all the girls I got to know this year, and so sad that this could be the end of their close-knit group. I haven't yet decided what to do myself come fall. DD doesn't want to even think about moving to a different school, but I'm not even sure if enough girls will be staying on to even make up a class.
This year my DD decided that she wanted to start lyrical ballet. Normally this class is only offered to girls 12 and up, but the ballet teacher really likes my daughter and allowed her to take the class. The next youngest girl in the class is 12 and the oldest is 17. As I said, most of these girls have been together for years. They are a terrific bunch, and after getting to know all the moms this year, I can honestly say that they are a warm and welcoming group too. My daughter became almost like a kid sister to all of the older girls.
As I said, today was the big recital. Due to the increase in the number of classes she's taking, DD had 3 costume changes. Due to the current economy, there are very few younger children taking classes, so DD only had one number (about 2 minutes) between each of her dances. The older girls in the company made sure that DD had all the right costume pieces on and helped her with all the extra accessories (flowers in her hair, sashes, etc.)
This was a difficult year for all of them. The ballet instructor managed to miss deadlines for the only convention and competition these girls do all year, and although she has now scheduled a convention and competition for July, several of the girls will not be able to attend or compete after all their hard work all year. Because of this, some of the moms have decided to register their girls in different dance schools next fall.
So right now I'm sitting here, so very proud of all the girls I got to know this year, and so sad that this could be the end of their close-knit group. I haven't yet decided what to do myself come fall. DD doesn't want to even think about moving to a different school, but I'm not even sure if enough girls will be staying on to even make up a class.
