Recital Time.

Last month, Lola danced in her second recital! You may remember last year’s recital and this year was equal parts amazing/exciting/confusing!

This year, she danced in Let Me Entertain You for Tap and Genevieve, The Giraffe for Ballet. She looked beautiful, knew the moves and was SO excited for all things recital.

She had a dance rehearsal the night before the recital and her numbers were 2nd and 6th during the rehearsal. Imagine my surprise, when we arrived on recital day and her numbers were scheduled for 14th during the first half and 22nd in the second half… after a 25 minute intermission. ha! We definitely didn’t plan for it to be that long. (I also had her dressed for Tap upon arrival because that’s what was requested during rehearsal… so when got there and got yelled at because BALLET was first, I was stunned!)

I managed to successfully slick back her hair with gel, hairspray and bobby pins upon direction. This was no small feat! She loved her hair and her makeup… especially the lipstick.

Around the 8th number and right about when she needed to line up for Genevieve, The Giraffe she told me her foot hurt and then she developed some type of leg limp. Sean and I were laughing the whole performance because even from the back of the auditorium (those were the best seats I could buy during the TICKET SALE — literally, less people were lined up for the last concert I attended than were lined up to buy these recital tickets! it was crazy) we could see her limp on stage. I can’t wait to get back the recital video footage (it was mandatory to purchase it at $45.) 🙂

She definitely loved the recital and being on stage but I really saw her shine when she was backstage with all the girls — hundreds of them ranging from 2 years old to 18 year olds. All the older dancers knew her name and kept telling her how pretty she was and how brave she was being and all the younger dancers were inviting her to play little games with them like rock, paper, scissors. I was hanging around because I felt odd just leaving her in a place so unfamiliar but at one point she looked at me and said “you can go now”. ha.

I’m not exaggerating when I say we spent $2,000 for her to be in this recital — between classes, costumes plus accessories which are not included, recital tickets for everyone (including her even though she sat in her seat for like 11 minutes), the video, the t-shirt she’s wear in this photo, professional photos, the flowers… I mean, it was sort of ridiculous.

But her eyes light up. I’m obsessed with watching her… watch it and take it all in. She loves it so much. She’s already said that next season (which starts in September) she’s doing everything: ballet, tap, hip hop and jazz. (oh, and she does gymnastics at the same place.)

I’ve upped my hours at work (I kid, I kid… but not really.)