Recital

This is Micaela ready for rehearsal

This is when they are supposed to be singing, but Micaela thought the black lights (that made their wands glow and the tape on the stage glow) was much more interesting.

Here she is singing 'like a diamond'

This is Micaela pointing her toe. She forgot to point the wand at her toe.

I didn't get Micaela's plie, but you can see she was going to do it.

Micaela performed at her first recital yesterday. There were two showings, but no flash photography, so I have no photos. Sorry! I have a friend who took pictures using a digital camera with a massive lens (as big as Ian's palm). I spent half the time wondering exactly how much light that lens could gather in the dim room. It didn't use flash, but she said she's very slow to email, so I don't know when I'll get the pictures. I have a few of the dress rehearsal, but the lighting was really bad. Micaela's group was first. They were standing on stage when the curtain lifted, and during the rehearsal, they were still playing around with the lights while the little ones practiced.

Her class were twinkle stars. They had black leotards, sheer pink skirts, and sparkly star wands. Their music was Mozart's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It went through the song twice, and the first time, they were supposed to sing and do hand motions with their wands. The second time they actually had little steps to do. During the first performance, only one girl did any of the hand movements to their song. Micaela was standing on the end of the line away from the teacher (who was hiding in the wings), and she kept leaning out to see what the teacher was doing during the steps. The oldest girl in the class (who is also the shortest) kept telling the girl next to her she was in the wrong spot and pointing at the tape on the stage. It was really cute, but exhibited virtually no skill or design.

Ian and the boys came to the second performance. The girls did much better because their teacher had learned that they needed to practice right before they went on. Micaela did several of the hand motions and all of the steps, but in the wrong direction. She and her neighbor pointed their toes and wands at each other and laughed at how silly it was. She did a very studied plie, forgot to do the second, leaned out to look at the teacher, did a very exaggerated bow, and ran off stage. She was supposed to have been the last on stage, but she managed to come in third. It was really cute, and I was proud of her. Ian was extremely proud of her. Isn't it silly? I met her at the dressing room at intermission with a pink rose and told her she was beautiful. We ran outside to ask Daddy if he liked it, and he gave her two more roses. She was very excited, and she made everyone stay to see the older girls perform. She had made me sit through nearly the entire dress rehearsal the day before and the whole performance that afternoon. She absolutely loves the dancing.

The boys were very good during the ballet- when the lights were out. As soon as the lights came on they seemed to be always yelling or crying. That was pretty funny too.

Also, Micaela got to wear make-up. She was thrilled. Her favorite was the mascara because she'd never gotten to have any before.