My Only Sunshine

i Heart Faces - Dance

Wow, this week at i <3 Faces they are doing a dance theme.  Made for me, isn't it?

 
Here's Bitty as the Brown Mouse in this year's Nutcracker.  This was her dream role and she got it.  Go Bitty.

Dancing on Monday

A new season of dance starts on Monday. 

The Girlies will be taking 4 hours a week of dance each.  We got lucky and two of their classes they will be taking together.  Lyrical Jazz and Theatrical Movement will both be classes to share.  That means only a base of 6 hours at the dance studio each week.  I'll probably need to be there a little more and then Nutcracker rehearsals will start.  Having said all that, the kids are terribly excited.  It's very hard to go over a month with no dance.

I Faces - Feet

My entry for "Feet Week" at I Heart Faces just had to be ballet feet.  How could it not be?  This picture is one I took of one of the "Big Girls" at our dance school to potentially be used on a postcard for PR.  Marie has "good feet".

Summer Workshops

For the last two weeks the Girlies have been going to the summer workshop offered by their dance school.  I love summer workshop for them because they get to experience a smaller group of dancers in their class with a wider range of age, race, and skill level.  I also like it because they get a more intensive course of study that really pushes them to learn and grow so quickly.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that they love it too.

Most days at summer workshop include an hour of ballet, an hour of some other dance/craft/dance history, and then an hour of ballet rehearsal.  This year the girls were able to take ballet from 3 different instructors as well as jazz, lyrical jazz, character, pantomime, african, and stretch. In the past they have also gotten instruction in hip hop, hula, and modern.  At the end of the summer session the school puts on a performance at the studio in which each level of girls gets to perform.

 

This year Bug was the oldest in her dance level by two years, with Bit being the second oldest.  This presented Bug with some challenges because she is used to being on the younger end in her dance classes, not the older end.  In the beginning she was embarassed to be "with the babies" but she quickly realized it was fun having so many younger dancers look up to her.  She also realized that having more dance experience than the rest of the class let her skills really shine.

 

This is Bug in fifth position during the final performance.

 

Here's Bug doing ron de jambe a terre.

 

Here's Bug doing a releve' in fifth position at the start of her "solo".  Being the oldest she got to do some things the other kids didn't get to do.  She was very excited about that.

 

Here's Bitty in fifth position.  She had a small spotlight role as well.  It was all very exciting.

 

The day after the performance was a fun day at the dance studio. The girls had a second visit from the very wonderful Ms. Katrisha who teaches African dance and they had a talent show and the dance olympics.  By the time the day was over they could hardly move they were so tired.

 

I have many more pictures of the dance performance, of the lovely little ones and the fantastic big girls.  I'll save those for tomorrow.

Disturbed

Last night was the Summer Workshop final show and it was fantastic.  Stay tuned for more.

Going to the Circus

This year for our annual Spring Dance Recital we had a theme.  Tuzer Ballet's Circus Circus.  It was fantastic.  We had a wonderful backdrop that set the mood and dances based on our theme.  Both of the Girlies did ballet and jazz though they weren't in the same classes.  I have to admit, I do like when we have classes that match up here and there.  Next year I think we will.  I should warn you, these pictures are from the dress rehearsal.  We are not allowed to take pictures during the actual performance.

This is Bug's Lyrical Jazz class. Lyrical is new to Tuzer this year and Bug loved it.  Next year there will be more than one lyrical class and she won't have to be the tiniest little thing in a class of big kids.  I'm betting she will miss the bigger girls though.  Please excuse the tights in this photo.  She had to go straight to her next dance, ballet.

This is the dance of the Black Scarves.  I'm not sure what else to say about this dance other than Bug was lovely and elegant and I was very proud of her.

 

Next up was Bitty in Everybody's Got Their Somethin.  I'm not sure what the Circus tie-in was for this one, but I don't care.  It was WONDERFUL.  Just like Bug's lyrical class, Jazz was taught by Tuzer's new teacher who is a former Tuzer student.  She's terrific.  This class and dance were perfect for Little Bit to just revel in her Sassiness.  She was the cutest thing you have ever seen bopping around that stage in her sparkly outfit.

After jazz, Bitty had ballet.  Her ballet class had an ice skating theme and they were so dang cute.

I can't help but share another pic or two of this class. Their costumes were perfect and they had such a great time with their dance.

Isn't she something else?  The recital was a great success in more way than one.  The dances were great and I was proud of my kids.  More importantly, I think many of our dance issues have been cleared up.  As we got to the end of the year, Bitty started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The payoff for all the hard work she did all year really made her feel good.  Since we got done with the year of dance she has already started working towards next year.  She's practicing dance at home and stretching every day.  I love to see all of this enthusiasm.

I have to include one more picture because it cracks me up.  The last pose for the lyrical class is all of the dancers standing in a long group pointing towards the edge of the stage.  It's a very striking pose but it's even funnier in this picture with Ms. Pat.

Dance Party

It was a busy weekend at my house again.  It started with a Friday night at with the nephews.  My BIL and SIL went out for a nice dinner and some good beer while Dude, The Girlies, and I hung out with my lovely nephews.

Aren't they the most handsome boys you have ever seen?  I love spending time with them and I love watching my little Girlies playing with them.  They are the best of friends.  There isn't much better in the world than cousins!

 On Saturday we had recital pictures with our favorite photographer.  Each year Sharen comes to the dance studio and sets up for a day or two of nonstop dance photography in recital costumes.  We get pictures made in each costume and a couple of shots with both girls together.  It's the perfect way to commemorate a year of dance.  If you took a look at Sharen's website from the link on her name you'll notice that she has my Bitty on her front page slide show.

 In the evening the Girlies went to their first lock-in which was also held at the dance studio.  They ate pizza, painted t-shirts, had their favorite hip-hop teacher teach a class at midnight, and then danced the night away with their dance friends.  Bitty even called me at 2:30 in the morning to tell me she was still awake.  When we went to pick them up at 10am the owner of the studio (who is also their ballet teacher) told us that Bitty was one of only two kids who did not sleep a wink all night.  Silly Bitty.

On Sunday morning, while Bitty was getting a tiny bit of sleep, Bug and I made cupcakes.  We were tasked with bringing the dessert for an end of the season ballet party for Bitty's class.  I had seen a picture of cupcakes simply made to look like mushrooms.  My kids are Mario crazy so that is what Bug and I made, Mario cupcakes.

 

Once the cupcakes were complete we packed them up and headed for the park.  It was the most absolutely perfect day.  Beautiful sunshine, no mosquitoes, not warm, not cold.

 It's also wildflower time right now in Richardson.  You can't beat that.

See, the cupcakes were a hit.  The kids had a great time playing together in the park and eating hotdogs.  We took the kite that Bug got for Easter but didn't have much luck with it.  The kids didn't care, all they needed was a soccor ball or two and open spaces to jump rope and play duck, duck, goose.  I do have to warn you.  If you should try this at home (taking your kids to a party the day after a night of no sleep) you may have moments that look like this.

and this.