Ballerina girl

In case you’ve missed my many, many comments on the subject, Frances had her first dance performance this past weekend.  My world has officially come 360 degrees.

The show itself was as wonderfully cliché as you can get—darling little 3, 4 and 5-year-olds dancing to songs like “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Colors of the Wind,” or Frances’s “Stray Cat Strut,” completely out-of-sync with each other (and the music) with one little girl sitting on the floor, one gazing offstage at who knows what, and one waving to her mother in the audience.  In other words, it was perfect!

And yes, I know I am shamefully biased so I won’t even try to be impartial but Frances was hands-down my favorite dancer up there (not that I even glanced at anyone else on stage when she was dancing).  She performed her routine exactly like she lives her life—she watched her teacher carefully, dutifully did all of the moves just as she was asked, raced to and from her “mark” when the show was over and seemed completely unfazed by the hundreds of eyes looking on her.  I was so proud of her I thought my heart was going to burst.



The four cats (and George who had a small crush on Lily, cat #1)




Teacher extraordinaire, Miss Ashley




George is in heaven




They are actually in sync!



So proud of her post-performance flowers

And while Frances was the star of the stage (again, I realize this comment is not a credible statement), George was the star of the audience.  My 20-month-old sat through 18 routines (1 ½ hours worth) straight as an arrow, clapping after each dance and begging for more when the curtain closed.  Needless to say, we may have a male dancer in the making as well, which would only make sense since I have recently found out that Will actually did take dance when he was around Frances’s age.  This fact only makes me love my husband that much more, which I didn’t think was possible.

Frances’s three sets of grandparents came to her performance—Nana and Pop, Grandma and Grandma, and Gram-E and Mr. Pyles.  And I think it’s safe to say that everyone enjoyed the show!



The fan club, minus Pop (the photographer)



I went into this dance performance weekend debating whether Frances should dance next year.  I didn’t know if she was truly enjoying it and whether she was getting any benefit from it.  About half-way through the show, my mother whispered in my ear, “She has to do this next year.” 

I think she’s right!