Dance Recital 2017

I love to dance.  My foray into step aerobics was a perfect marriage of choreography and fitness.  And I thought I was satisfied with teaching step and giving up on the dance world.  My technique was never that great.

But when I saw the adult Jazz class dance when Libby did her first recital I wanted in!  I  watched and waited for the time to be right.  And it was!  I danced for 2  years.  Then hip surgery and the aftermath of nastiness.  

Finally, this year I made a comeback.  Just at the wrong time.  I came back in January, got my teaching job in February.  I really, really, really wanted to give up dancing and come back next year.  When 8:30 pm would roll around on Thursday nights (after subbing BP at 6:00 am and then teaching a full day of kindergarten, piano, dinner, kids to bed, etc...) I wasn't sure I could make it.  

I missed all of April for various vacations.  But my friend Susan wasn't letting me out of it that easily.   She met me at the studio one afternoon and caught me up on the dance.  And it was fun.  It was hard.  It was good for me.  I'm glad I did it.  The weekend of the recital I was hit with a tremendous cold too!  

When the lights went off after we finished our dance and the applause thundered, I nearly started crying.  I felt like they were all clapping as the finale to the hardest 4 months of my life.

The best quote from the recital was when I came back to greet Libby and family after I danced.  Libby exclaimed, "Mom...I am STUNNED!  STUNNED!  I did not know you could dance like that!  STUNNED!"  

Every year the recital has a theme.  It took me forever to figure it out this year.  Maybe you can guess it from the next few pics.  My dance was called "Brown Derby Jump."

This cutie was one of my kinders.  It was fun to tell her that we had the same dance teacher!  Her dance was called the "Yellow Rose of Texas."

Sarah's dance was "Pink Cadillac"...got the theme yet? Of course you do.  You didn't even need to see the men do the "True Colors" spoof dance to figure it out (like I did)... Spectrum of Color!  

 My mom came from Utah to see the recital, help manage kids while Sarah and I rehearsed, and drove back to Utah with us.  It was a busy weekend.  I'm so glad she came!  (Maybe more than she is glad!)  I have to admit to myself that I am a difficult person to help.  Receiving help creates more stress for me sometimes.

 Watching Sarah was a bright spot of the dance recital for me. Sometimes I think she keeps dancing just because she knows I want her to (I'm pretty sure she is an Obliger).  Seeing her out there on stage, I could feel her sparkling.  She OWNED her dance.  And, I realized (sort of by putting my foot in my mouth) that she advanced into the next level of dance, while many of the girls in her class did not.

This step is the thing that had me the most scared.  It felt like we nailed it.  I can't wait to see the video of the full dance.  I hope it looks like we nailed it.  I am such a scaredy cat.  I had never done anything like this roll over before.  And I had to do it 5 times.


And so, I registered for next year.  What the heck.  That awesome feeling when we all nail the dance together...way better than getting to bed on time on Thursdays!