I would find out later from Sandy that ballet lessons were fine; nothing completely out of the ordinary. But you have to understand that as Sophie is a first child and we are her first parents (poor child); both of us are a tad more sensitive about her general behavior than we'll be with Lucy or the next child. So Sandy would first tell me about the other little girls who would "toe the line" or bar; do exactly as Miss Sarah asked, and leave class without much trouble. She would also communicate that Sophie really struggled with the idea of ALWAYS doing what the teacher asked. Some days were better than others; but Sandy would get a bit sensitive about Sophie putting her hands over her head, one leg bent, and spin around and around.....when she was supposed to be standing still pointing her toe. I completely understood Sandy's frustration (term used loosely) because I myself was Sophie at age 3 and know how I made my parents feel.
So when I had the opportunity to go to a lesson a few weeks ago; I saw first hand exactly what made these 30 minutes with Miss Sarah not lessons in ballet. I would more accurately describe it this way:"Ballet Teacher corrals 3 year olds in Tutus". I give Miss Sarah all the credit in the world for actually being able to correctly perform the ballet moves choreographed to the Little Mermaid's "Under the Sea" while prancing across the room chasing Josie, telling Sophie not to do somersaults, all the while showing the correct way to "make your heels kiss" (try it, you'll see what's intended). Some of the 3 year olds in tutus were genuinely good at following directions; but none of them ever did so for all of the 30 minutes. Sophie's direction following was 50-50. The point is that, again, these were clearly not ballet lessons; but who did Sandy and I think we were kidding when we assumed that after this 2 month session Sophie would be ready for Swan Lake. So our expectations were too high; but our daughter was gaining extremely valuable experience with disciplined tutelage of someone other than Mom or Dad; and all the while in a fun and social atmosphere. With the above written, today was Sophie's first ballet recital. The performance was designed around the above mentioned "Under the Sea". Sophie, as you'll see, looked adorable. She and I discussed multiple times over the past couple of days the importance of following her teacher's direction, being kind to the other girls, and having fun. Regardless of anything else acheived, these were key. Obedience, kindness, and some laughs. When Sandy and I left the house with our little mermaid I was pretty convinced we'd certainly see more of the latter two.
To move straight ahead to the end of the story. Sandy cried as Sophie ran to her after the performance. Sophie did have one "hands-over-head-spin-around" lapse (seen in the video). But overall she was a perfect little 3 year old ballerina. She even clapped for the other performers while sitting quietly and hugged her teacher at the end. Well worth every penny paid to have Miss Sarah chase our tutu-ed Sophie around during "ballet lessons" for 30 minutes every Tuesday.
Enjoy...
The performance begins.
Watching.
Watching intently.
Watching but not-impressed.
The bean bag dance. Celebratory for a job well done.
Running to Mommy and Daddy.
Proud to be a husband and father. Look at those two.
Miss Sarah
The real motivation.
