Brenna's 1st Dance Recital

Dance Recital Preview

Brenna's Dance Recital is May 21st.  We've been working on the dance routines since January and the costumes came in last week.  So, this past Saturday we had our professional recital pictures taken.  We only have 4 girls in our class (down from 6 at the start of the term).  Brenna is the only one with short hair.  Needless to say it took alot of hair gel, bobby pins, and a hair net to pull off her ballet bun.  Here's a preview of the costumes for her recital.

Brenna Ballet Progress!

Well, we've been in ballet for just over a month now, and even I have to admit that Brenna has come leap and bounds! Literally! Before ballet I would have said she was as graceful as an elephant. Now, with alittle experience under her belt, its more like a monkey (with legs and arms swinging everywhere)!

I took my camera for the first time last week. You'll have to bear with the photos, as they were all taken through the viewing window, and most off the reflection of the mirror. But she's just too stinking cute!

Brenna's First Day of Ballet and Tap

Well, we wrapped up gymnastics for the year at the end of July.  She had a great time with it and had mastered the all the moves for her level and a few above.  We decided rather than take another year of gymnastics, we would give dance a try.  Most dance schools only take children at age 3, so we just squeezed in before the Fall registration last week.

It's already been a learning experience for all of us.  We visited the dance studio for its Open House so Brenna could meet the teacher and get accustomed to her new surroundings.  Ms. Hillary (our new dance instructor) was very nice and spent some time talking to Brenna about what they do in dance class.  As soon as she pulled out the hula hoops, Brenna was sold.  We registered her for a combo ballet and tap class.  Jacob and I quickly learned there quite a few more bell and whistles associated with dance.  Of course there's the registration fee and the monthly tuition, but then there's recital fees, leotards, tutus, tights, ballet shoes, tap shoes........and don't forget the bag to carry it all in!  One week and an undisclosed amount of money later (tap shoes are disgustingly expensive!) we were praying that she really liked dance, because she was onboard for the year whether she liked it or not!

We spent the week talking up how fun dance class would be and how nice Ms. Hillary was.  She had a blast picking out her leotards and modeling each one for the sales clerk at the dancewear store.  We even had a few practice sessions at home so she could appreciate her tap shoes.  When we finally walked in the door of the dance studio, we had nothing to fear.  Brenna ran into the dance room and took her spot on the floor ready to get started!  The dance room has a mirrored wall on one side (of course) and the other three walls have viewing windows, so we can watch the girls.  I took a few photos and video before we left the house and then Jacob got some video of the dance class with his iphone (God bless technology!)