2018 Dance Recital

This past weekend was the end of our dance season. The grand finale was the 2018 dance recital. A Saturday-marathon of three dance recital shows with five costume changes and routines. Lauren is completely enamored with dance and all that it has to offer. Our dance journey has been a short one. Lauren started dancing in 1st grade with ballet and jazz. When she was wanting to try contemporary her 2nd-grade year, I knew she was really starting to fall in love with dance. This year she was dancing three nights a week, two hours each night. At the end of last year, she decided to try three new classes; tap, hip-hop, and tumbling.

Tap was completely foreign to her, but as the weeks went on, she was starting to get the rhythm and sounds. Prior to taking the class, she had no idea the difference between a flap and shuffle. (A shuffle, brushes forward and back against the floor- a flap, brushes and then steps/rests on the floor.) It is hard to believe at the beginning of the year, she wasn’t even sure if she could do tap. Jumping right into a level 2/3 class because her schedule didn’t allow for her to take the level 1 class. By the end, my goodness, she was a tapper! (This is my favorite dance recital costume!)

Hip-hop was a similar story. She was wanting to take the class but intimidated by putting herself out there and trying something new. (As many of us can probably relate, the fear of What-if-I can’t-keep-up!) As her mother, I get a kick out of watching my sweet little girl’s face turn mean and tough because it’s hip-hop and you have to throw down every now and again! My husband was even commenting on the changes in her expression during the dance recital performance from the more upbeat numbers to hip-hop. But that is the magic of dance, the ability to express how you are feeling at that moment in time.

Lastly, tumbling is something she tried when she was little. We had her enrolled for a few years, but the most growth came this year. I always try and let my kids know- not everyone blooms at the same moment, but that doesn’t mean that you are never going to bloom. Keep working on what you want to achieve. During the last few months of rehearsal, she was begging her teacher to change her part. She wasn’t sure that she could hit her tricks. I am thankful that her teacher kept encouraging her. During the dance recital, she did her front walkover, back walkover, and a partner trick. I’ll be honest, I held my breath a little during that number because I knew how badly she wanted it.

I cannot wait to see her growth next year. Lauren has fully committed herself to dance and will basically live at the dance studio next year. Which means I will basically live at the dance studio too! Now, if I can just convince Sydney to dance and live with us!! Zach and daddy can stay home and watch sports 🙂

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