Tiny Dancer

Remember when I had grand plans of teaching my daughter the basic principles of ballet at home? Thanks to Pinterest, I captured many beautiful visual aides. Thanks to YouTube, I saw many fine videos with tutorials I could emulate. We did well, I think. When it became time for me to re-enroll her in soccer, I knew her heart was not in it. Without fail, every game, she wanted to do a ballet performance, not soccer. Instead of trying to fit the square peg in a round hole, I gave in and opted to feed a dream. She's only 3, but very nearly 4. She's already very opinionated. As Don pointed out, she's been doing the dancer "lead-in" start for as long as she could walk. Even before she could walk, she would extend high en pointe. Case in point, here she is at 6 months:

On Thursday, we took her to go sign up. Before going, I explained to her that we were NOT staying for a lesson. Despite my best explanation, she still had a very explosive emotional breakdown when we left and she was not allowed to stay. She thought she was more than ready to jump on in with the 15 year olds. They did give us a tour of the studio and they let her stay a bit to watch. She was mesmerized!

Cinderella & Ballet=favorites

I like to be prepared. I'd long since purchased tap and ballet shoes for her. Well, the night before and I realized she'd outgrown her shoes! Aaack! On the way there, we headed to Payless and picked up a pair of each. After the month's tuition, the registration fee, the costume fee, these shoes were an ouch! YIKES! Ballet and Tap is exponentially more expensive than soccer. It was worth it, though. She was positively giddy and physically vibrating with excitement.

Black leotard, pink tights, hair in a bun was what the rules said. It wasn't until after the fact that I realized those rules were more for the advanced dancers, not my little one. Still, if she is going to be the part, I want her to dress it! Thanks to the sock bun and spin pins, I was able to wrangle that curly mess into a perfect ballet bun.

For one solid hour, she was focused and involved. I was proud and couldn't help but think this was the beginning of something bigger. We will see! Check her out: