Greta’s Dance Recital (2015)

I know I'm behind a bit in my blogging duties of late, but, let me tell ya, summer with a six-year-old who is used to the structure of a regular school day is definitely not for the weak of heart. Yikes…it's been one big, crazy event after another since school got out in May. Crazytown!

Anyway, in the spirit of finally getting back on track, here are some of the best pics from Greta's Father's Day weekend dance recital. Enjoy!

 

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Greta’s Ballet Recital (2014)

Greta’s third ballet recital was a couple of weeks ago and, as you can see from the pics below, it was another smashing success. This year Greta’s class danced to “Octopus’s Garden” by The Beatles and though some of the kids struggled a bit with the choreography, Greta was spot on the entire performance. I know I’m supposed to say stuff like that, but, I really mean it…she was awesome!

My Dad put it best when he remarked that this year was the first time you could really see a big improvement in Greta’s dancing. “It’s actually kind of cool to see the growth over time.” he said, adding that “If I hadn’t seen all three shows, I don’t know if I would have noticed it. But, I can definitely see it!” Wow. Those of you who know my Dad know that he is not very free wheeling with the compliments, so, if he says that…he means it. So, thanks, Dad, I totally agree!

Enjoy the pics!

 

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Pee on the Dancefloor…

Having seen it happen many times to other kids and parents at dance class, it was inevitable that Greta would wet herself during class at least once. And today it happened in spades. I’m not kidding, they need to sound a flash flood warning when Greta pees, because, she unleases a torrent.

Luckily for us, it was a “Black Swan” day — that’s what Greta calls herself when she wears her black on black leotard and tights — so the pee running down her legs and filling her tap shoes was hardly visible at all. At least to anyone else. And even luckier still was the fact that Greta wasn’t embarrassed at all about peeing herself in class. Some of the girls run out of the studio in tears, so, I was worried she might do the same. But, actually, I think Greta thought it was kinda funny.

So, I just smiled, whisked her into the bathroom, and quickly changed her from a dripping-wet “Black Swan” to a freshly-scrubbed “White Swan” quicker than you can say spare leotards and tights. Three minutes later, she was back out there dancing her little heart out. And when the class ended, I even got a shout-out from Greta’s teacher, the comely Miss Sommer, who looked me square in the eye and said: “Good recovery, Dad!”

Thank you kindly, Miss Sommer. It’s good to know that sometimes, even I get it right.

Greta’s Dance Recital: The Event

OK, first off, let me tell you that dance recitals are worse than children’s birthday parties on the exhaustion scale. Seriously, Mrs. Yeti and myself felt like we went to war this weekend. Thankfully, Mrs. Yeti is off today (Monday), so she can relax while she, you know, catches up on last week’s laundry and shit. I’ve got a ton of stuff to do too. But, if I could, I would totally sleep all day, not just sleep in, mind you, but, all day long. That’s how tired I am.

That said, the dance recital was incredible. All the dancers were great, everyone showed up on time (even us!) and the show went off without a hitch…until the intermission, when, the announcer said in a very calm voice: “There is no emergency, but, could Cindy Kim’s mother please come to the stage.” I’m not kidding, man, you could actually hear people’s hearts sinking as poor Cindy Kim’s mother hurried backstage. Thank God it wasn’t my kid, I thought.

So, I headed to the bathroom and took my time coming back only to find Mrs. Yeti hurrying down to the backstage entrance in a panic. WTF? Did I miss the non-emergency announcement for Greta Yeti’s parents? Yikes! Stopping at our seats just long enough to grab my backpack full of Greta-sentials, I took off running down the aisle after Mrs. Yeti and found her on the other side of the backstage curtain in a flood of tears.

Mrs. Yeti was holding a sobbing, hysterical Greta while her teacher, Miss Sommer (more about her later) tried in vain to calm her down. Now, I should stop here to say that Greta rarely, if ever, cries that hard. This was like, maybe the third time in her life that she’s been that far gone and with the intermission clock ticking down (her performance wasn’t slated to begin until after the intermission) my heart filled with dread, and as terrible as it is to admit, all I saw were dollar signs. A $150.00 dress she’d never wear onstage, the $25 admission price everyone in our group shelled out to be there, photos, videos…oy, my head was swimming with wasted cash at the thought that she might not take the stage at her first recital. And then there was my second thought (which, most people would say should have been my first) which was, what the hell happened? Why is she so upset?

That answer was easy. Greta was playing and coloring with the other kids backstage and got a little bored, so, she laid down and fell asleep. Yes, she can and does sleep anywhere. It’s a gift and a curse. The problem was, when she woke up in a sea of strangely-costumed-toddlers, puffy foam stickers and coloring books, she didn’t know where she was and she flipped out. Luckily for her, mommy and Miss Sommer were there to save the day.

Sure, I provided provisions from my backpack (“You need a Kleenex? Got it! Cuppy? Right here!”) and did my best to make her laugh, but, those two did the heavy-lifting in the child calming department and what do you know? Greta actually stopped crying and calmed down. Then I jumped in with a little dance parent pressure: “You know, if you don’t dance, your friend Fiona might not know how to do the routine.” Almost instantly, Greta looked up like: “Oh, wow, I can’t do that to my friend. The show must go on!”

And then, to really slam it home, I told her that her beloved Uncle Guy-Guy and Aunt Laura were videotaping the show in the balcony and wanted desperately to see her dance. A professional toddler-whisperer from way back, Miss Sommer put it a bit more eloquently: “Look to the sky when you dance, they’ll be up there watching you, Greta!” And once again, that brave “show-must-go-on” look flickered across Greta’s face as she wiped away her tears and told us she’d stay and dance. Which was great, because, the way Miss Sommer said it, I was ready to get up there and dance in Greta’s place myself.

Anyway, the lobby lights flickering on and off outside, Mrs. Yeti and hurried back to our seats and waited to see if Greta would, in fact, take the stage with her class. And four sets later, she did. And she was beautiful. I told her later on that I thought she was very brave to go up there on stage in front of all those people after she’d been crying and she just shook her head and said: “I’m not brave, Daddy. I’m Greta.”

She most certainly is…

Greta’s Dance Recital: The Dress Rehearsal

NOTE: I actually wrote this post last night, but was so tired when I wrote it that I literally fell asleep at the keyboard. Yep…it’s been that kind of week. Anyway, let’s pretend it’s very late Saturday night and I am posting this before the dance recital that took place Sunday afternoon. Here’s goes nothing…

Today was the dress rehearsal for Greta’s first dance recital and, man, was it insane. Rushing around getting ready this morning, Mrs. Yeti and I were completely unprepared for the flood of mixed emotions that came over us when we saw Greta in her costume and make-up — she wore hot pink lip pencil and a smidge of blush on her cheeks, nothing too kinder-whorish — for the first time. Mrs. Yeti actually called out to me from the next room: “Oh my God, I am a dance mom…and I’m crying!” I could not have put it any better. I know it was only a tiny bit of stage makeup, but, man, I felt like one of those crazy pageant parents: “Now, you shine real purty for them folks out there, ya hear! I said shine, dammit! Shine!” So crazy…

Anyway, the rehearsal went really well — a couple of the girls in Greta’s class didn’t follow the hair and dress-code, but, nothing major — and we were outta there in just a little over an hour. Which is good, because Greta was wearing panties, not diapers, and, well, you can just imagine what might have happened had she had an accident in her black velvet show dress the day before the show. “No Go-Go Juice for you, Greta! Now wash that paint off your face and git to bed!”

Unfortunately, my pictures and video of the dress rehearsal were pretty lame, so, instead of posting them here, I’ll show you the footage I shot earlier in the week during class. You don’t get to see the snazzy costumes yet, but, the dance moves should be enough to tide you over for a while.

And for everyone who set aside their busy lives (and a whopping $25 admission fee!) to come to the show, thank you in advance for coming. It means the world to Greta to have you all here. And to those of you who can’t be here, here’s hoping this video gives you a little taste of the magic set to unfold Sunday afternoon at 2:00PM. Enjoy!